“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant
Introduce the author
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant
Born: August 5, 1850, Dieppe, France
Died: July 6, 1893, Passy, France
Occupation: writer
Give a brief biographical note
Guy de Maupassant is regarded as one of the fathers of the modern short story. He wrote in the
realist style, as well as other styles of writing. He was a master of the plot, and influenced
Somerset Maugham and O. Henry with the unexpected, surprise ending. Maugham and Henry
James both imitate de Maupassant with stories of jewelry with clever plot twists of their own—
Maugham with “Mr. Know-All” and James with “Paste”). Gustave Flaubert was his mentor and
took him under his wing. Flaubert introduced him to Émile Zola and the Russian writer Ivan
Turgenev, all advocates of the realist and naturalist schools.
de Maupassant’s contemporaries—Émile Zola, April 2, 1840—September 29, 1902; Alphonse
Daudet, May 13, 1840—December 16, 1897
Pre-reading Activity
Tell students that “The Necklace” is full of irony, and that they will identify irony as they read
through the story. Irony occurs when what happens is the opposite of what you want to happen.
Example: Ted wants to play a joke on his brother Joey. He puts a bucketful of water at the top of
the door, and waits for his brother to walk through. But he forgets about it, and when the
doorbell rings, Ted goes to answer it, walks through the door, and the bucketful of water comes
down on him. Have students come up with their anecdotes of irony, sometimes called situational
irony.
Skills to be taught in the worksheets and test for “The Necklace”
situational irony
As students read through the text, stop, discuss aspects of the story, and teach examples of the
skills found in the worksheets and tests
Supplemental enrichment
BBC World Service—Remembering Maupassant
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/highlights/000808_maupassant.shtml
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Class work / Homework
“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant
Irony
Irony occurs when what happens is the opposite of what you want to happen. The
following are examples of irony:
In Cyrano de Bergerac, Christian wants Roxane to love him so he gets Cyrano to write his
love letters for him, and she winds up loving the man who wrote the letters instead of Christian.
Cyrano selflessly wants to make Roxane happy by writing the letters for Christian. In the end,
Roxane feels as if she has ruined Cyrano’s life, and is miserable because of it.
In Old Yeller, Travis tries to get rid of the dog because he thinks he is not good for their
family. In the end, Yeller turns out to be indispensible to the whole family’s survival.
1. In “The necklace,” what is ironic about Madame Loisel happily dancing the night away
wearing Madame Forestier’s necklace?
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2. What is ironic about Madame Loisel thinking that her middle class life is so humdrum?
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3. What is ironic about Madame Loisel thinking that she is too pretty and delicate for her
middle class life?
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4. Find an ironic situation in “The Necklace” and write it on the lines below.
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Open Book Test /
“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant
Larger Ideas in “The Necklace”
1. Name two things that Madame Loisel coveted. Explain.
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2. Describe a deception in the story.
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3. What was authentic and what was fake in the story?
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4. Mathilde Loisel thought she was a martyr because of what she had sacrificed to pay off the
necklace, but who was the real martyr, and why?
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5. Madame Forestier is just as fake as Mathilde and can’t discern real from fake any better than
Mathilde. Explain.
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6. What is ironic about Mathilde’s station in life at the end of the story?
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7. What is “paste” in the story?
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8. Name one positive character trait of Madame Loisel.
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9. Name a positive character trait of Monsieur Loisel.
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10. What could be another appropriate title for this story?
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