AUTHOR

Guy de Maupassant
5 August 1850 – 6 July
1893) was a 19th-century
French author, remembered
as a master of the short
story form, and as a
representative of the
Naturalist school, who
depicted human lives and
destinies and social forces
in disillusioned and often
pessimistic terms.
CHARACTERS
Mathilde Loisel
The protagonist of the story. Mathilde has been blessed
with physical beauty but not with the affluent lifestyle
she yearns for, and she feels deeply discontented with
her lot in life. When she prepares to attend a fancy party,
she borrows a diamond necklace from her friend
Madame Forestier, then loses the necklace and must
work for ten years to pay off a replacement. Her one
night of radiance cost her and Monsieur Loisel any
chance for future happiness.
Monsieur Loisel
Mathilde’s husband. Monsieur Loisel is content
with the small pleasures of his life but does his
best to appease Mathilde’s demands and assuage
her complaints. He loves Mathilde immensely but
does not truly understand her, and he seems to
underestimate the depth of her unhappiness.
When Mathilde loses the necklace, Monsieur
Loisel sacrifices his own future to help her repay
the debt. He pays dearly for something he had
never wanted in the first place.
Madame Forestier
Mathilde’s wealthy friend. Madame Forestier
treats Mathilde kindly, but Mathilde is
bitterly jealous of Madame Forestier’s
wealth, and the kindness pains her. Madame
Forestier lends Mathilde the necklace for the
party and does not inspect it when Mathilde
returns it. She is horrified to realize that
Mathilde has wasted her life trying to pay for
a replacement necklace, when the original
necklace had actually been worth nothing.
 THEMES
Reality and Illusion
Ambition, Greed, and Material Possessions

Sacrifice, Suffering, and Martyrdom

Happiness
The Necklace
Summary
A lady, Mathilde Loisel lived in a flat with her
husband. He worked as a clerk for the Ministry
of Education. They were not able to live a
luxurious life. However, they were not poor,
merely simple. However, Mathilde’s desire was
to be rich. She felt irritated, disappointed and
sad of not having a large house. Moreover, she
desired to have good dresses, lots of jewelry
which made her sad.
One day his husband brings her an invitation to a
fancy party. It was an invitation to the ball. He
thought his wife would be very excited about seeing
the invitation letter. However, his wife, instead of
being happy, threw away the invitation letter and
started crying. She complained about not having a
pretty dress to wear on such a great occasion. She
wanted to seek admiration for everyone. Also, she
wanted to be a success at the party. His gentle
husband gave her four hundred francs to buy a
pretty dress. He had saved the money to buy a rifle.
The week of the party approached. His
wife seemed to be anxious again. She
was upset as she felt that she didn’t
have any jewelry to wear with the dress.
Her husband suggests her to ask the
same from his friend Jeanne Forestier.
Mathilde went to her house and
borrowed a sparkling necklace.
Mathilde, along with his husband enjoyed a
lot at the party. She was successful in
seeking everyone’s attention to her. Then,
they headed for home during the odd hours
in the morning. On reaching home,
Mathilde was surprised on not finding a
necklace around her neck. They both felt
that it might have fallen down in the cab
which they took to reach home. Also, he
searched on the streets they have come
through.
Moreover, he approached the police, gave
advertisement but all in vain. Her husband
asked her to write a letter to her friend. She
wrote that she had the clasp broken and is
getting it repaired. Meanwhile, they were
successful in searching for a similar
necklace. However, it cost thirty-six
thousand francs. His husband has inherited
eighteen thousand francs from his father.
However, they had to borrow the remaining
money. They managed to buy the necklace
through inherited and borrowed money.
But it took them a period of ten years to repay the
borrowed amount. In these years, their lives have
drastically changed. They moved to a smaller
apartment, cleaned and cooked herself. Moreover,
his husband did multiple jobs to repay the amount.
Also, she looked like a strong woman of a poor
household. She looked very aged. One day she saw
Miss Jeanne Forestier on the street. She decided to
tell her the truth about the necklace. The latter was
stunned by the rough appearance of the former.
Moreover, on learning the truth of necklace, Jeanne
Forestier told that it was a fake one. The worth of
the same was no more than five hundred francs.
QUESTION- ANSWERS
1. How did Loisels manage to pay for the
necklace?
Answer: The necklace cost Loisels thirty six thousand
francs. Loisel had to chip in his entire his inheritance of
eighteen thousand francs and the rest he had to
borrow from the usurers. This cost them a fortune and
they had to spend the rest of their lives in misery and
poverty.
2. Describe Mme Loisel after ten years.
Answer: Ten years of poverty and hardship steal
away Matilda’s youth and beauty. She becomes
strong and and hard woman, who is poorly
dressed with untidy hair and reg ragged hands.
As she has to live a hard life after the lost
necklace of Mme Forestier that she returned
and it cost her a fortune.
3.Why did Matilda not want to see her rich friends?
Answer:
Matilda did not want to see her rich friends because she
did not have jewels, nothing to adorn herself with.
Besides, she did not have any suitable dress for the
party. She thought that without having these valuable
things she would have a poverty-stricken look in the
midst of rich friends.