Fate is defined by Dictionary.com as "the supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events, and as the inevitable events predestined by this force." Ones' fate is the overall circumstances or conditions in life, including everything that happens to an individual. Fate is believed in by many and questioned by few. In "The Necklace," Guy DeMaupassant depicts how the traits of desire, vanity, and dishonesty can change ones' fate forever.

As the reader begins his journey through this story, he immediately sees the complex emotion of desire. Mathilde Loisel longs to be part of a world of which she is not. She is "one of those pretty and charming girls...born in a family of clerks" (101), yet she wishes she were "born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries" (101). Her desires cause her to "suffer ceaselessly" (101). Mathilde Loisel's husband desires to make her...