What is the theme of "The Necklace"?

Of course, any text opens itself to a multiplicity of
given themes and meanings, and this masterful short story is no exception. However, you
might like to consider the topic of avarice and what the story says about this important
theme. The presentation of avarice necessarily focuses on the character of Madame
Loisel, who, in spite of what she has the relative comfort that she enjoys, never
appears to be satisfied and is always shown to want more. We are told that things that
"anotehr woman of her class would not even have noticed" ate at her soul and frustrated
her. Although she has clothes to wear, food to eat and a servant to help around the
house and a comfortable life, she is always plagued by the desire for more and a feeling
of dissatisfaction. She is fixated on always having more and enjoying a better style of
life, as her daydreams show. She always longs for what she does not
have:

She had
no evening clothes, no jewels, nothing. But those were the things she wanted; she felt
that was the kind of life for her. She so much longed to please, be envied, be
fascinating and sought
after.

Her attitude when her
husband receives the invitation thus supports this presentation of her character. Note
how she is determined to have jewelry to go with the gown that her husband can only just
afford. When she looks at the diamond necklace, we are told that her "pulse beat faster
with longing." Avarice dominates her character. We can therefore say that the fate she
suffers is perhaps just in terms of her determination to be unsatisfied with the
comfortable life she leads, although we might feel pity at the way that she drags her
poor, generous husband with her to share the same fate.