7 The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant. 10

7  The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant 10

 1. Word Meanings – The Necklace

 Moral of the Story:

• Be honest. One lie can change your whole life.

• Don’t live in false pride or show-off. It can ruin your happiness.

• Learn to value what you have instead of wishing for more.

Word / Phrase	Meaning
Modest	Simple; not fancy or expensive
Elegant	Stylish and graceful
Luxury	A comfortable and rich lifestyle
Grieved	Felt deep sadness
Frightened	Very scared
Dismay	Shock and worry
Attic	A small room just below the roof
Clasp	A hook or lock to fasten jewelry
Stammered	Spoke with pauses due to fear or nervousness
Distress	Extreme pain or worry
Ruinous	Causing great damage or loss
Horrible life	A life full of suffering and struggle
Mme. (Madame)	Mrs. in French
Loisel	The surname of the main characters (Mathilde & her husband)

2. Textbook Questions & Answers

Q1. What kind of a person is Mme Loisel — why is she unhappy?

Answer: Mme Loisel is a beautiful but dissatisfied woman. She is born into a poor family and marries a simple clerk. Even though she has everything she needs to live, she dreams of a rich and luxurious life. She feels unhappy because she thinks she deserves more — expensive clothes, jewelry, and a rich lifestyle.

Q2. What kind of a person is her husband?

Answer: Her husband, Monsieur Loisel, is a simple, caring, and supportive man. He works as a clerk and tries his best to make his wife happy. He doesn’t complain and is even ready to sacrifice his savings to buy her a new dress. When the necklace is lost, he helps replace it and works hard for years to repay the loan. He is honest and loving, unlike his wife who dreams of riches.

Q3. What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?

Answer: After enjoying the party, Mme Loisel is shocked to find that the necklace is missing. She had borrowed it from her friend and now she and her husband are terrified. This becomes the main problem of the story — they must replace the necklace but don’t have enough money.

Q4. How is the problem solved?

Answer: They decide to buy a similar necklace and return it to Mme Forestier without telling her the truth. To pay for it, they borrow money, take loans, and work very hard for 10 years. They live a poor and tough life, doing everything they can to repay the debt.

Q5. What do they do next?

Answer: They give the new necklace to Mme Forestier and say nothing about the original one being lost. Then, for the next ten years, they live in extreme poverty, working day and night to repay the debt. Their life changes completely — full of hard work and suffering.

Q6. How does the story end? What is the twist?

Answer: The story ends with a surprising twist. After 10 years, Mme Loisel meets Mme Forestier and tells her the truth — that they had replaced the necklace and suffered for it. Mme Forestier is shocked and tells her that the original necklace was fake, made of imitation diamonds and not expensive at all.
This irony makes the story powerful — they suffered for nothing.

 

Character Sketch of Mathilde Loisel

Mathilde Loisel is a beautiful but unhappy woman. She is not rich, but she dreams of living a life full of luxury, expensive clothes, and jewelry. She feels upset that she was born into a middle-class family and married a simple clerk. Mathilde is proud and cares too much about appearances. When she gets a chance to attend a fancy party, she borrows a necklace to look rich. But when she loses the necklace, her life changes completely. She and her husband work hard for ten long years to repay the debt. In the end, she finds out that the necklace was fake. This teaches her a big lesson. Mathilde changes from a proud woman to a hardworking and responsible one.

Character Sketch of Monsieur Loisel

Monsieur Loisel is Mathilde’s husband. He is a simple, kind, and caring man who works as a clerk. Unlike his wife, he is happy with what he has. He loves Mathilde and tries his best to make her happy. He even gives up his savings to buy her a new dress for the party. When the necklace is lost, he doesn’t blame her. Instead, he helps her look for it and borrows money to replace it. He works extra jobs and lives a hard life for ten years to repay the money. He is a loyal, loving, and responsible husband who sacrifices everything for his wife.

Character Sketch of Madame Forestier

Madame Forestier is Mathilde’s rich friend. She is kind, generous, and helpful. When Mathilde asks for jewellery, she happily lends her a beautiful necklace. She is friendly and does not look down on Mathilde, even though she is richer than her. At the end of the story, she is shocked to learn that Mathilde suffered for ten years over a fake necklace. She feels sorry for her. Madame Forestier is a good person whose small action has a big impact on Mathilde’s life.

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

The cause of Matilda’s ruin was her pride and desire for wealth. She was not satisfied with her simple life and always dreamt of luxury. When she borrowed a necklace from her friend Madame Forestier for the ball, she lost it. Instead of telling her friend the truth, she and her husband borrowed a huge sum of money and bought a new necklace to replace it. For ten years, they suffered poverty to repay the debt. At the end, Matilda discovered that the necklace was only imitation. She could have avoided her ruin if she had been honest with Madame Forestier from the beginning, instead of letting her pride and greed guide her actions.

2. What changes came in the lifestyle of Matilda after she had lost the necklace?

After losing the necklace, Matilda’s life changed completely. Earlier she lived comfortably with a maid and dreamed of a rich life. But after replacing the necklace, she and her husband had to repay a huge debt. They dismissed the maid, shifted to a cheap room, and Matilda began doing all the household chores herself—washing, cooking, and shopping. She grew old, rough, and tired because of hard work. She lost her beauty, charm, and elegance, becoming an ordinary woman. Her husband also worked extra jobs to repay the loan. From a dreamy woman who longed for luxury, Matilda became a worn-out, poor housewife. Thus, losing the necklace completely ruined her lifestyle and happiness.