The Necklace

by Guy de Maupassant
Characters:

M. Loisel, the simple clerk who was married to a materialistic woman.

Madame Mathilde Loisel, the unsatisfied and unhappy woman.
Madame Forestier, Loisel’s family friend who owns the diamond necklace.
The Story:

There was a pretty and charming girl, Mathilde Loisel, who was born into a family of clerks. She
married a little clerk at the Ministry of Public Instruction since; she had no dowry, no
expectations and no means of being known.

She dressed plainly because she could not dress well. She was unhappy due to poverty. She had
no fine dresses, no jewels, nothing.

She had a wealthy friend whom she could not go to see. Her heart swept with disappointment,
regret, distress, and despair.

One evening, her husband came with an envelope. It was an invitation from The Minister of
Public Instruction and Mme. Gorges Ramponneau. M. and Mme. Loisel were invited to pass the
evening at the Ministerial Palace on Monday, January 8th.

Instead of being overjoyed, Mathilde got mad because she didn't have an elegant dress to wear.
Her husband answered her with hesitation, “Yes, I'll give you four hundred francs for the pretty
dress.”

The day of the ball was near and the dress was ready, but Madame Loisel still seemed sad. Her
husband asked her why, and she said that she was worried she that didn’t have jewels or even a
single stone to put on. The husband convinced her to wear natural flowers instead, but she was
not convinced. Her husband then told her to go to Madame Forestier and ask her to lend her
some jewels.

On the night of the ball, Madame Loisel had triumphed. She was prettier than any of the other
guests. All the clerks in the department wanted to waltz with her, and even the minister noticed
her.

When they got home, Madame Loisel found out that she had lost Madame Forestier's necklace.
They tried looking for it to no avail. In despair, the husband and wife decided to replace the
jewel.

At Palais, Royal, they found a string of diamonds that looked absolutely like the one Mathilde
had lost. It was worth forty thousand francs, but they got it for thirty-six thousand. Madame
Loisel brought the necklace to Madame Forestier.

After that, Madame Loisel and her husband suffered as they tried everything to the pay their
debt. It took them ten years to pay for it. She thought to herself, what would have happened if
she had not lost the necklace.
One day, she saw Madame Forestier, still so young and beautiful. Madame Forestier was not able
to recognize her at first as Madame Loisel had already seemed like an old woman. Madame
Loisel told Madame Forestier about the story of the necklace, and how her family suffered for
years paying for the necklace they had bought to replace the one she had lost. After hearing her
story, Madame Forestier, deeply moved, grasped both her hands and told her that the necklace
was only worth at most five hundred francs.
Comment:

In the story, I learned that we should always be true to ourselves. We don’t have to pretend to be
rich or be someone we are not just to please others. Like Madame Loisel, if she had just listened
to her husband and stayed simple, they would not have suffered for years paying for the
necklace, which at the end they discovered only cost five hundred francs.

Report Source: http://free-book-reports.blogspot.com/2009/06/necklace.html