links

http://www.ballroomatstleon.org/
http://www.dancealotballroom.com/
http://www.boweryballroom.com/

Mme. Loisel

I am Mme. Loisel. My husband is a clerk which is unfortunate for my life style. I love the look of elegance and the happy feeling that comes with it. I dream of flawless houses and priceless items.

extravagant dearms

I am Mme. Loisel, I am the wife of a clerk. I am "one of those pretty and charming girls who are sometimes, as if by a mistake of destiny, born in a family of clerks." (Guy De Maupassant). I have "no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, wedded, by any rich and distinguished man" (Guy De Maupassant). I had let myself "be married to a little clerk at the Ministry of Public Instruction."(Guy De Maupassant). I dress very plain for I have no money to dress well.  I am "as unhappy as though" I "had really fallen from" my "proper station; since with women there is neither caste nor rank; and beauty, grace, and charm act instead of family and birth. Natural fineness, instinct for what is elegant, suppleness of wit, are the sole hierarchy, and make from women of the people the equals of the very greatest ladies." (Guy De Maupassant). I feel like i should be "born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries." (Guy De Maupassant). I suffer from the "poverty" of my household, "from the wretched look of the walls, from the worn-out chairs, from the ugliness of the curtains." (Guy De Maupassant).  I think "of the silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry, lit by tall bronze candelabra, and of the two great footmen in knee breeches who sleep in the big armchairs, made drowsy by the heavy warmth of the hot-air stove." and "the long salons fatted up with ancient silk, of the delicate furniture carrying priceless curiosities, and of the coquettish perfumed boudoirs made for talks at five o'clock with intimate friends, with men famous and sought after, whom all women envy and whose attention they all desire." (Guy De Maupassant). This is the life I should be living in, the life I dream of.

The Ball

My husband had returned home this evening with a large envelope in his hand. "'There,' said he, 'here is something for you.'" (Guy De Maupassant). I had opened the envolope which beautifully printed, read these words:

"'The Minister of Public Instruction and Mme. Georges Ramponneau request the honor of M. and Mme. Loisel's company at the palace of the Ministry on Monday evening, January 18th.'" (Guy De Maupassant).

To my husbands surprised I was not happy. I had said "'What do you want me to do with that?'"(Guy De Maupassant). He had responded, "'But, my dear, I thought you would be glad. You never go out, and this is such a fine opportunity. I had awful trouble to get it. Everyone wants to go; it is very select, and they are not giving many invitations to clerks. The whole official world will be there.'"(Guy De Maupassant).  Impatiently I replied with, "'And what do you want me to put on my back?'"(Guy De Maupassant).  He had realized i was right and began giving suggestions; I started to cry. Sadly i had told him, "'I have no dress, and therefore I can't go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better equipped than I.'"(Guy De Maupassant).  

He had generously gave me money to nuy a new dress and gave me an idea to borrow jewelery from my friend Mme. Forestier, a beautiful diamond necklace! It was perfect! The ball was everythig I have ever dreamed of I was the life of the ball, all the attention was on me! I was so happy until I got home and saw that the necklace was no longer there! I had lost it!

We had to find a new one to replace it. When we finally found one we asked for loans to pay for it. Now we are drowning in debt!

Hard work pays off

Finally! It has been a long, miserable ten years but finally I had paid off the debt I had been drowning in for, oh, so many years! My dear friend, Mme. Forestier, who had loaned me a beautiful piece of jewlery, did not even see a difference! Now everything is paid back and I can go on happy and stress free. "I was not happy to dismiss my servant, change my lodgings, or rent a garret", but whatever I needed to pay I would pay it. I came to know what heavy housework ment and "the odious cares of the kitchen." I washed dishes, including greasy pots and pans. I "washed the dirty linen, the skirts, and the dish-cloths, which dried upon a line;" I "carried the slops down to the street every morning, and carried up the water, stopping for breath at every landing. And, dressed like a women of the people," I "went to the fruiterer, the grocer, the butcher," with my basket "bargaining, insulted," it was not something I would have ever wished for. 

--- All quotes by Guy De Maupassant