The Necklace
The Necklace is a realistic fiction short
story written by Guy de Maupassant in
19th century Paris, France. This short
story is told from 3rd person. At the
beginning of the story, we meet
Mathilde Loisel, a middle-class girl who
always feels upset about born in a poor
family and she desires to be rich.
Because of her economical condition,
she marries a poor clerk, Monsieur
Loisel, in the Ministry of Education. He
is able to provide her only with a
modest lifestyle. Mathilde is so
convinced she must be rich that she detests her real life and spends all day
dreaming about the fabulous life she's not having. She had a rich friend named
Forestier. But she avoided visiting her because she suffered a lot after visiting
her and seeing her wealthy lifestyle.
One day M. Loisel comes home with an
invitation to a fancy ball hosted by his
boss, the Minister of Education. He
hopes that Mathilde will be happy to
attend that party, but she feels angry
and begins to cry. She tells him that she
has nothing to wear. He tells her he will
buy her a nice dress, even though it will
mean sacrificing his own pleasure. Later
she starts to behave oddly because she
has no jewels to wear with the dress.
So, M. Loisel suggests her to visit Madam Forestier who could lend her some
jewelry. Forestier agrees to lend Mathilde her jewels, and Mathilde selects a
diamond necklace. She feels happy at Madame Forestier’s generosity.
At the party, Mathilde looks very
beautiful, and everyone notices her
beauty. She feels happy about others
attention on her. She becomes the center
of attraction for everybody at the party.
She loves the party and dances
incredibly all night while her husband
falls asleep in the other room. At 4 am,
Madame Loisel rushes out into a street,
so no one can see that she has no fancy
fur coat. When they finally return home,
she discovers that her necklace is
missing. M. Loisel goes outside and
searches but he could not find it. He goes to the police and the cab offices. He
also puts an advertisement in the newspapers, but the necklace was not found.
They realize that they will have to replace the necklace, whatever the cost. So,
Mathilde writes to her friend that she has lost the necklace and she is ready to
buy another one for her. “What a surprise!” Madame Forestier explains that her
necklace was fake and worth nothing. At this point, Mathilde is very happy and
tells her friend that is good news. Mathilde buys two necklaces, one for her
friend and the second for herself. She decides to make a box of jewelry for
herself like her friend and she will go to the parties without borrowing jewelry.
It’s a good lesson for her.
Done by: Selim Elmasry
Grade: 8