It is presumed that social class is predetermined by the amount of wealth one possesses. Within social classes there is also a division between men and women. However, in today’s society, social constructs are becoming more gender neutral, and women are taking on roles that were once solely performed by men. In Le Guin's “The Necklace” readers are given a clear picture of how social class and gender roles are manipulated by the amount of wealth one has. This picture is drawn when the main character, Semley, challenges the patriarchal norms of her own society. Semley, a poor young woman whose ancestors are the first kings of Angyar, spends the entire story feeling socially inadequate about the amount of wealth she has compared to those around her. While Semley is sitting among her husband’s wealthy family, the author states, “Semley’s own face hardened when she looked down the hall and saw, in seats far below hers, even down among the halfbreeds and the midmen, against white skins and black hair, the gleam and flash of precious stones. She herself brought nothing in dowry to her husband, not even a silver hairpin” (Le Guin 5-6). This shows that though she is now a part of the Hallanlords, an extremely rich family, she was still not content because she hasn’t contributed a single piece of wealth to her husband’s family. However, right before these thoughts cross Semley’s mind, the author states that after the shameful war the Angyar had with the Starlords, “their daughters marry poor men, even midmen, having no dowry of heroic loot to bring a noble husband” (Le Guin 5). Even with the knowledge of this fact and still being accepted and courted by a man as wealthy as Duhar of Hallan, Semley feels as though she has to prove that she is worthy of marrying Duhar by gaining the wealth those around her seemed to have. Wealth also seems to relate to how gender roles are portrayed in the story. Though wealth gives someon