Is Madame Loisel’s ten years of poverty and labor the result of fate or her own actions and character?

I would have to says that the years of poverty are a result of Madame Loisel's own characters. She insisted upon borrowing an expensive piece of jewelry, in her own mind..... a rich woman would never own or wear a "fake". Her pride kept her from admitting the loss of the necklace and brought both her and her husband, M. Loisel, to ruin. In the end, she learns that all was for naught..... had she admitted to her mistake..... she might have been embarrassed, but those ten years wouold likely have been very different.