Summary of “The Necklace”#
The story is about Matilda Loisel, a pretty, young lady born into a family of clerks. Despite being simple, she was always unhappy, feeling she was born for luxuries and suffering from the poverty of her surroundings. She felt tortured and angered by her shabby apartment. She married a petty clerk in the Board of Education office, as she had no means to become known or married by a rich or distinguished man.
One evening, her husband came home with an invitation to a grand party at the Minister’s residence. Instead of being delighted, Matilda was irritated and upset because she felt she had nothing suitable to wear. Her husband gave her four hundred francs he had saved for a gun so she could buy a dress.
However, a new problem arose: she had no jewellery to wear with the dress and felt she would look poverty-stricken. Her husband suggested she borrow some jewels from her friend, Mme Forestier. Matilda went to Mme Forestier, who allowed her to choose from her jewel-case. Matilda discovered a superb necklace of diamonds in a black satin box and borrowed it, feeling ecstatic.
At the ball, Mme Loisel was a great success, the prettiest and most admired woman there, filled with joy and dancing with enthusiasm.
Upon returning home around four in the morning, she discovered the necklace was gone from her neck. She and her husband searched everywhere but could not find it. Believing it must have been lost in the cab they took, her husband went out to search the route, the police, cab offices, and put an advertisement in the newspapers, but found nothing.
After losing hope, they decided they must replace the necklace. They found a diamond necklace in a shop that looked exactly like the lost one, valued at forty thousand francs but available for thirty-six thousand. Loisel had eighteen thousand francs inherited from his father and borrowed the rest, making ruinous promises to usurers and lenders. They bought the new necklace and Mme Loisel returned it to Mme Forestier, who remarked frigidly that she should have returned it sooner.
To pay back the huge debt, the Loisels began a horrible life of necessity. They sent away their maid, changed their lodgings to an attic, and Mme Loisel took on the difficult, crude work of a poor household – washing dishes and laundry, carrying refuse, fetching water, and haggling over every sou when shopping. Her husband worked extra hours copying books at night. This life lasted for ten years, during which Mme Loisel became a strong, hard, old-looking woman.
One Sunday, she met Mme Forestier, who was still young and attractive, in the Champs-Elysées. Matilda decided to tell her the truth. Mme Forestier did not recognise her due to her drastic change. Matilda explained her hard life was because of the lost necklace. Mme Forestier was touched and revealed that her original necklace was false and not worth more than five hundred francs.
Questions and Answers
Here are the questions from the chapter and their answers, drawn directly from the sources provided:
READ AND FIND OUT
- What kind of a person is Mme Loisel — why is she always unhappy? 🤔😔 Mme Loisel is described as a pretty, young lady, born into a family of clerks. She was unhappy because she felt she was born for all delicacies and luxuries, but suffered from the poverty of her apartment and the lack of means to be known or married by a rich or distinguished man.
- What kind of a person is her husband? ❤️😊 Her husband is a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education. He seems to be a kind and considerate person who tries to make his wife happy. He brought her an invitation to a grand party and gave her his savings so she could buy a dress. He also suggested borrowing jewellery from her friend. He was supportive during their hardship, working extra hours to pay the debt.
- What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel? 😟✨ The fresh problem that disturbs Mme Loisel is that she has no jewel, nothing to adorn herself with, to wear with her beautiful dress to the party. She feels she will have a “poverty-stricken look”.
- How is the problem solved? 🙏💎 The problem is solved when her husband suggests she go to her friend Mme Forestier and ask her to lend her jewels. Mme Forestier agrees and lets her choose a necklace from her jewel-case.
- What do M. and Mme Loisel do next [after losing the necklace]? 🏃🔍📰 Next, M. and Mme Loisel search for the necklace everywhere – in the folds of the dress, cloak, and pockets. When they cannot find it, M. Loisel goes back over the route they walked to see if he can find it. He also goes to the police, cab offices, and puts an advertisement in the newspapers, offering a reward.
- How do they replace the necklace? 💰😥🤝 They replace the necklace by finding a similar diamond necklace in a shop. It cost thirty-six thousand francs. M. Loisel used the eighteen thousand francs his father left him and borrowed the rest, making ruinous promises and taking money from various lenders.
Think About It
- The course of the Loisels’ life changed due to the necklace. Comment. 🔄😞✨ Yes, the course of the Loisels’ life drastically changed due to the necklace. Before losing it, they lived a modest but comfortable life, with a maid and regular lodgings. The loss of the necklace forced them into ten years of extreme poverty, hardship, and manual labour to pay off the debt for the replacement necklace. Mme Loisel physically changed, becoming hard and aged. This decade of suffering was a direct consequence of losing the necklace and choosing to replace it rather than confessing.
- What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it? 🤔🚧💡
Matilda’s ruin was caused by her dissatisfaction with her social status and constant desire for wealth and luxury. This led her to insist on having an expensive dress and borrowing a diamond necklace to appear wealthy at the party. Her fear of appearing poor prevented her from confessing to Mme Forestier immediately after losing the necklace.
She could have avoided her ruin by:
- Being content with her life and accepting the invitation without excessive complaint.
- Wearing natural flowers as her husband suggested instead of needing expensive jewellery.
- Confessing to Mme Forestier immediately after losing the necklace. Had she done so, she would have learned that the original necklace was false and only worth about five hundred francs, avoiding the enormous debt and hardship.
- What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace? 🙏🗣️🔑 If Matilda had confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace, the sources indicate that Mme Forestier would have told her the necklace was false and only worth about five hundred francs. This would have allowed Matilda and her husband to relatively easily purchase a replacement false necklace, thus avoiding the ten years of poverty and ruin they suffered.
- If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it? (This is a question for your personal reflection and discussion, based on the story’s themes) 🤔💡😊
Talk About It
- The characters in this story speak in English. Do you think this is their language? What clues are there in the story about the language its characters must be speaking in? 🤔🗣️🗺️ The sources present the dialogue in English. However, several clues suggest the characters are likely speaking French. The characters’ names are French (Mme Loisel, M. Loisel, Mme Forestier). The story mentions locations and terms associated with Paris, France (Minister’s residence, Palais-Royal, sou, Champs-Elysees). The abbreviations “M.” and “Mme” are French forms of address. The original author, Guy de Maupassant, is French. These details point towards the story being set in France with characters speaking French.
- Honesty is the best policy. (This is a proverb related to the story’s theme for discussion) ✨ honesty ✨
- We should be content with what life gives us. (This is a theme related to the story for discussion) 😊🙏🌟