The Necklace

Class : X (2021-22)
Term : 1
Subject : English
Teacher : Lidia Hilda Gomes
Dates : 21ST June -26h June
Prepared by Lidia Hilda Gomes

About the Author
+ Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (5 August 1850 – 6
July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered
as a master of the short story form.
+ Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and his
stories are characterized by economy of style and efficient,
seemingly effortless dénouements.
+ Many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the
1870s, describing the futility of war and the innocent
civilians who, caught up in events beyond their control, are
permanently changed by their experiences.
+ He delighted in clever plotting and served as a model for
Somerset Maugham and O. Henry in this respect.
+ He wrote 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books,
and one volume of verse. His first published story, "Boule
de Suif" ("The Dumpling", 1880), is often considered his
masterpiece.
READ THE TEXT
DETAILED SUMMARY
+ Mathilde Loisel is “pretty and charming” but feels she has
been born into a family of unfavorable economic status. She
was married off to a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Education,
who can afford to provide her only with a modest though not
uncomfortable lifestyle. Mathilde feels the burden of her
poverty intensely. She regrets her lot in life and spends
endless hours imagining a more extravagant existence. She
possesses no fancy jewels or clothing. She has one wealthy
friend, Madame Forestier.
+ One night, her husband returns home proudly bearing an
invitation to a formal party hosted by the Ministry of
Education. He hopes that Mathilde will be thrilled with the
chance to attend an event of this sort, but she is instantly
angry and begins to cry. Through her tears, she tells him that
she has nothing to wear and he ought to give the invitation
to one of his friends whose wife can afford better clothing.
Her husband is upset by her reaction. She confesses that the
reason for her behavior is her lack of jewels. Monsieur Loisel
suggests that she wear flowers, but she refuses. He implores
her to visit Madame Forestier and borrow something from
her. Madame Forestier agrees to lend Mathilde her jewels,
and Mathilde selects a diamond necklace. She is overcome
with gratitude at Madame Forestier’s generosity.
+ At the party, Mathilde is the most beautiful woman in
attendance, and everyone notices her. She is intoxicated by
the attention and has an overwhelming sense of self-
satisfaction. At 4 a.m., she finally looks for Monsieur Loisel,
who has been dozing for hours in a deserted room. He cloaks
her bare shoulders in a wrap and cautions her to wait inside,
away from the cold night air, while he fetches a cab. But she
is ashamed at the shabbiness of her wrap and follows
Monsieur Loisel outside. They walk for a while before hailing
a cab.
+ When they finally return home, Mathilde is saddened that
the night has ended. As she removes her wrap, she discovers
that her necklace is no longer around her neck. In a panic,
Monsieur Loisel goes outside and retraces their steps.
Terrified, she sits and waits for him. He returns home much
later in an even greater panic—he has not found the
necklace. He instructs her to write to Madame Forestier and
say that she has broken the clasp of the necklace and is
getting it mended.
+ They continue to look for the necklace. After a week,
Monsieur Loisel says they have to see about replacing it.
They visit many jewelers, searching for a similar necklace,
and finally find one. It costs 40,000 francs, although the
jeweler says he will give it to them for 36,000. The Loisels
spend a week scraping up money from all kinds of sources,
mortgaging the rest of their existence. After three days,
Monsieur Loisel purchases the necklace. When Mathilde
returns the necklace, in its case, to Madame Forestier,
Madame Forestier is annoyed at how long it has taken to get
it back but does not open the case to inspect it. Mathilde is
relieved.
+ The Loisels began to live a life of crippling poverty. They
dismiss their servant and move into an even smaller
apartment. Monsieur Loisel works three jobs, and
Mathilde spends all her time doing the heavy housework.
This misery lasts ten years, but at the end they have
repaid their financial debts. Mathilde’s extraordinary
beauty is now gone: she looks just likes the other women
of poor households. They are both tired and irrevocably
damaged from these years of hardship.
+ One Sunday, while she is out for a walk, Mathilde spots
Madame Forestier. Feeling emotional, she approaches
her and offers greetings. Madame Forestier does not
recognize her, and when Mathilde identifies herself,
Madame Forestier cannot help but exclaim that she
looks different. Mathilde says that the change was on
her account and explains to her the long saga of losing
the necklace, replacing it, and working for ten years to
repay the debts. At the end of her story, Madame
Forestier clasps her hands and tells Mathilde the original
necklace was just costume jewelry and not worth
anything.
ANALYSIS: REALISM
• “The Necklace” clearly demonstrates

Maupassant’s fixation with facts and
observations.
• Rather than explore Mathilde’s yearning for
wealth or unhappiness with her life,
Maupaussant simply tells us about her
unhappiness and all the things she desires.
• At the end of the story, he provides no moral
commentary or explanation about Mathilde’s
reaction to Madame Forestier’s shocking
revelation; he simply reports events as they
happen. There is no pretense, idealizing, or
artifice to Maupaussant’s prose or treatment
of his characters.
ANALYSIS: The
Surprise Ending and
Irony
+ “The Necklace” is most famous for its “whip-crack” or “O. Henry” ending. O.
Henry, who wrote during the late 1800s, was famous for his twist endings that
turned stories on their heads. In “The Necklace,” the surprise ending unhinges the
previously implied premise of the story. Until this point, the reader has been able
to interpret Mathilde’s ten years of poverty as penance for her stolen night of
pleasure at the party and for carelessly losing the borrowed necklace.
+ The ending shatters that illusion, revealing that the ten years of misery were
unnecessary and could have been avoided if only Mathilde had been honest with
Madame Forestier. Losing the necklace had seemed to be Mathilde’s fatal
mistake, but it was actually Mathilde’s failure to be truthful with Madame
Forestier that sealed her fate. This shocking realization sheds new light on the
previous events and suggests that Mathilde’s future—even though her debts are
now repaid—will be none too rosy.
+ The horrible irony of the fact that the Loisels spent years paying off a replacement
for what was actually a worthless necklace is just one instance of irony evident in
“The Necklace.” Also ironic is the fact that Mathilde’s beauty, which had been her
only valued asset, disappears as a result of her labor for the necklace. She had
borrowed the necklace to be seen as more beautiful and winds up losing her looks
completely. Perhaps the most bitter irony of “The Necklace” is that the arduous
life that Mathilde must assume after losing the necklace makes her old life—the
one she resented so fully—seem luxurious. She borrows Madame Forestier’s
necklace to give the appearance of having more money than she really does, only
to then lose what she does have. She pays doubly, with her money and looks, for
something that had no value to begin with.
ANALYSIS: CHARACTERS
Mathilde Loisel Madame Forestier Monsieur Loisel
Mathilde’s husband. Monsieur Loisel is content The protagonist of the story. Mathilde has been
with the small pleasures of his life but does his blessed with physical beauty but not with the Mathilde’s wealthy friend. Madame Forestier
best to appease Mathilde’s demands and assuage affluent lifestyle she yearns for, and she feels treats Mathilde kindly and lends Mathilde the
her complaints. He loves Mathilde immensely but deeply discontented with her lot in life. When necklace for the party and does not inspect it
does not truly understand her, and he seems to she prepares to attend a fancy party, she borrows when Mathilde returns it. She is horrified to
underestimate the depth of her unhappiness. a diamond necklace from her friend Madame realize that Mathilde has wasted her life trying to
When Mathilde loses the necklace, Monsieur Forestier, then loses the necklace and must work pay for a replacement necklace, when the
Loisel sacrifices his own future to help her repay for ten years to pay off a replacement. Her one original necklace had actually been worth
the debt. He pays dearly for something he had night of radiance cost her and Monsieur Loisel nothing.
never wanted in the first place. any chance for future happiness.
z
ANALYSIS: Symbols
The Necklace
The necklace, beautiful but worthless, represents the
power of perception and the split between
appearances and reality. Mathilde borrows the
necklace because she wants to give the appearance of
being wealthy; Madame Forestier does not tell her up
front that the necklace is fake, perhaps because she,
too, wants to give the illusion of being wealthier than
she actually is. Because Mathilde is so envious of
Madame Forestier and believes her to be wealthy, she
never doubts the necklace’s authenticity—she expects
diamonds, so diamonds are what she perceives. She
enters willingly and unknowingly into this deception,
and her complete belief in her borrowed wealth allows
her to convey an appearance of wealth to others.
Because she believes herself rich for one night, she
becomes rich in others’ eyes. The fact that the
necklace is at the center of the deception that leads
to Mathilde’s downfall suggests that only trouble can
come from denying the reality of one’s situation.
CBSE PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. How did Mme Loisel now know the life of necessity? [CBSE 2016]
2. Mme Forestier was touched and took both her hands as she replied, “Oh! My poor Matilda! Mine were false. They were not worth
over five hundred francs.” [CBSE2015]
(a) Why was Mme Forestier touched?
(b) “Mine were false.” What does ‘mine’ refer to in these words?
(c) Find the word from the extract that means same as ‘agitated’.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘poor’?
3.Describe Mme Loisel’s success at the ball.
OR
Do you think M Loisel had an enjoyable evening at the ball? Give reasons for your answer. [CBSE 2014]
4.Why was Matilda’s friend astonished to see her at the end of the story? [CBSE 2012]
OR
Why did Jeanne not recognise her friend, Matilda?
5. Mme Forestier proved to be a true friend. Elucidate. [CBSE2015]
MOVIE TIME!
+ WATCH AN ANIMATED VIDEO OF

THE NECKLACE FOR A QUICK
REVISION OF THE CHAPTER.
+ CLICK ON THE ICON.
Think
• Do you think that the relationship between the
author and his grandmother changed over
time? Do you think this changed their feelings
for each other?
• Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard
to someone whom you have loved and lost?


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Class : X (2021-22)

Prepared by Lidia Hilda Gomes

• “The Necklace” clearly demonstrates

Mathilde Loisel Madame Forestier Monsieur Loisel

+ WATCH AN ANIMATED VIDEO OF

Prepared by Lidia Hilda Gomes

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