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)
