The Necklace

 About the Author

Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) was a French writer. He is known as a master of the short story form.

Introduction

The story is about a lady named Matilda, who is unsatisfied with her life. She wants a wealthy husband. As her family is unable to give dowry she is married to an ordinary clerk. She wants to lead a luxurious life.

Meanings

Error= a mistake.

Clerk= a person employed in an office or bank to keep records, accounts, and undertake other routine administrative duties

Dowry= an amount of property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage

Petty= of little importance; trivial

Incessantly= without interruption; constantly

Delicacies= fineness or intricacy of texture or structure

Shabby= in poor condition through long use or lack of care

Tureen= a deep covered dish

Pot pie= a savory pie baked in a deep dish

Elegant= graceful and stylish in appearance or manner.

Exquisite= extremely beautiful and delicate.

Marvellous= causing great wonder

Convent= a school attached to and run by a convent

Elated= make (someone) ecstatically happy

M.= Mr. in French

Mme.= Mrs. in French

Delighted= feeling or showing great pleasure.

Spitefully= showing or caused by malice.

Murmuring= a low or indistinct continuous sound.

Stammered= speak with sudden involuntary pauses and a tendency to repeat the initial letters of words.

Stupefy= make (someone) unable to think or feel properly

Dismay= concern and distress caused by something unexpected

Weeping= shedding tears.

Vexation= the state of being annoyed, frustrated, or worried

Affair= an event or sequence of events of a specified kind

Colleague= a person with whom one works in a profession or business.

Grieve= feel intense sorrow.

Francs= the basic monetary unit of France

Pale= light in colour or shade; containing little colour or pigment.

Larks= a bird

Anxious= feeling or showing worry, nervousness

Vexed= annoyed, frustrated, or worried

Adorn= decorate, make more beautiful or attractive

Stricken= seriously affected by an undesirable condition or unpleasant feeling.

Chic= elegantly and stylishly fashionable.

Shabby= in poor condition through long use or lack of care.

Midst= in between

Admirable= arousing or deserving respect and approval.

Satin= a smooth, glossy fabric, usually of silk, produced by a weave in which the threads of the warp are caught and looped by the weft only at certain intervals.

Ecstatic= feeling or expressing overwhelming happiness or joyful excitement.

Embraced= hold (someone) closely in one's arms, especially as a sign of affection.

Elegant= graceful and stylish in appearance or manner.

Enthusiasm= intense and eager, interest

Admiration= respect

Salons= a reception room in a large house.

Furs= the short, fine, soft hair of certain animals used in garment making

Detain= keep (someone) from proceeding

Descend= move or fall downwards.

Coachmen= a driver of a horse-drawn carriage.

Shivering= shaking slightly and uncontrollably as a result of being cold, frightened, or excited.

Nightfall= the onset of night; dusk.

Wearily= with extreme tiredness.

Cloak= a sleeveless outdoor coat like garment that hangs loosely from the shoulders.

Cast down= sad or worried

Gown= a long elegant dress worn on formal occasions

Bewilderment= a feeling of being perplexed and confused

Frightful= very unpleasant, serious, or shocking

Clasp= grasp (something) tightly with one's hand

Dictate= state or order authoritatively

Chaplet= a garland or circlet for a person's head.

Ruinous= disastrous or destructive

Usurers= a person who lends money at unreasonably high rates of interest

Frigid= stiff or formal (in behavior or style)

Perceive= become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand.

Substitution= the action of replacing someone or something with another person or thing.

Necessity= the state or fact of being required.

Frightful= very unpleasant, serious, or shocking.

Lodgings= temporary accommodation.

Attic= a space or room inside or partly inside the roof of a building.

Odious= extremely unpleasant; repulsive.

Haggling= dispute or bargain persistently, especially over the cost of something.

Sous= small value coin in France

Crude= in a natural or raw state; not yet processed or refined.

Awry= out of the normal or correct position

Pails= a bucket.

Flattered= lavish praise and compliments on (someone)

Singular= denoting or referring to just one person or thing.

Astonished= greatly surprised or impressed; amazed.

Personage= a person (used to express importance or elevated status)

Recall= bring (a fact, event, or situation) back into one's mind; remember.

Loan= lend (a sum of money or item of property).

Decently= in a way that conforms with generally accepted standards of respectable or moral behavior.

Content= being in a state of peaceful happiness

Summary

Mme. Matilda Loisel lived in an apartment with her husband M. Loisel and was very unhappy with what life had given her. She was sad with the apartment’s shabby walls and the worn-out furniture. She dreamt of royal dinners served in exquisite silver dishes. They were neither rich nor poor. She had to marry a clerk in the office of the board of education just because her family couldn't afford to give her dowry. She also hated visiting her old friend Mme. Jeanne Forestier as she was a rich lady and Matilda envied her.

One day her husband got an invitation to a party at the house of minister of public instruction. Contrary to his expectation, Matilda was irritated and angry and threw the card away. She was upset because she didn't have anything to wear at such an extravagant party. Her husband gave her 400 francs to buy a new dress, that he had been saving to buy a gun so that he could go hunting with his friends. After buying the dress she was worried because she did not have jewelry. Upon her husband’s suggestion, she borrowed a necklace from her friend Mme. Forestier.

They went to the minister’s party and all the men admired her as she was looking gorgeous in her new dress and necklace. They returned at 4 in the morning in a carriage. Matilda realized that she did not have the necklace. Her husband went out to search the railway tracks for the necklace. He also went to the police station, cab offices and also gave an advertisement announcing a reward to the person who returned the necklace. Finally, they decided to replace it with a similar one. They found a similar necklace priced at 36000 francs. They had to take loans to pay for it.

It took them ten years to repay the loans.  They moved to a smaller apartment. She did all the household chores herself. Her husband did multiple jobs to repay the borrowed money. In these years, Mme. Loisel started looking much older. One day she met her friend Jeanne with a child and decided to tell her the truth and explained how she was indirectly responsible for her aged looks and her living conditions. She explained how she lost the borrowed necklace and had to take a loan for replacing it. On hearing this, Jeanne told Matilda that the necklace that she had borrowed was a fake one and was not worth more than 500 francs.

Textual Questions and Answers [Short Answer Questions - Word count around 30]

1. What kind of a person is Mme Loisel — why is she always unhappy?

Mme Loisel is an unhappy and unsatisfied person. She keeps on dreaming about how her life would have been if she were born in a rich house, married in a rich house. [33 words]

2. What kind of a person is M. Loisel?

M. Loisel is a caring and a loving man. He appreciates the little things of life. He wants to make his wife happy and ready to sacrifice his own needs. [31 words]

3. What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?

Mme Lionel’s husband agrees to buy her a dress worth 400 francs. Now she has a fresh problem as she is not having any jewelry to match her new dress. [30 words]

4. How is the problem solved?

Mme Loisel does not agree to wear flowers to the party. Then her husband suggests that she should try to borrow the jewelry from her rich friend Mme Forestier. [29 words]

5. What do M. and Mme Loisel do after losing the necklace?

M and Mme. Loisel make a lot of efforts to find the necklace. But they could not find the necklace. So they finally decide to replace the necklace with another similar looking necklace.  [33 words]

 6. How do they replace the necklace?

They buy a necklace from a shop for 36000 francs. They have only 18000 francs with them. They borrow the rest of the money by taking loans from a lot of lenders. [32 words]

Think About It (Answers to the questions given on Page 46)

1. The course of Loisel’s life changed due to the necklace. Comment.

It took Loisels a decade to pay back the money they borrowed to buy the necklace. They had to move to the poorest quarters of the city. With no maids or assistance, Matilda had to do all the work to save money. The husband worked overtime. Like this, their life changed. (51 words)

2. What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it?

Matilda’s pride and false prestige had paved the way for her ruin. She could have avoided it by accepting her situation and being content with what she had. (28 words)

3. What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace?

Truth and honesty would have saved Matilda from her doom. If only she has been courageous enough to confess to her friend the truth of the necklace, she would have come to know that it was a fake one that cost a mere five hundred francs. Ten long years of crushing poverty, misery, and hard work would have been avoided.

4. If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it?

I would have avoided the trap of false prestige. If I was caught in such a situation, I would have been honest by telling the truth. (26 words)