Describe Mathilde.

Mathilde's physical appearance is not
described much in the first part of the story. When she has the eponymous necklace around her
neck, she is said to be "prettier than all the other women, elegant, gracious, smiling, and
full of joy." We might infer from this description that Mathilde is, at least at this point
in the story, rather beautiful.

In the second half of the story, however,
after ten years of abject poverty, Mathilde is described as "look[ing] old." She has
become "strong, hard, and rough like all women of impoverished households." Her hair
is "half-combed," and her hands are "reddened."

There is
much more description, throughout the story, of Mathilde's personality. At the beginning of the
story, for example, she is described as "unhappy" and "suffer[ing]
endlessly" because of "the poorness of her house." The poor furnishings in her
house "torment ... her and [make] her resentful," and she dreams enviously of
"vast living rooms furnished in rare old silks [and] elegant furniture loaded with
priceless ornaments."

In the second half of the story, after she has
been reduced to a state of even greater poverty, Mathilde is described in more positive terms.
She is described as adapting to her altered circumstances "heroically." She might also
be described as stoical. Indeed, she doesn't complain or try to avoid her debt; rather, she
accepts that "the dreadful debt must be paid." She works hard every day for ten years,
"fighting over every miserable sou," until the debt is paid off.