“The Necklace” by: Guy De Maupassant Questions

By: Ferdaws Sulaiman

Please answer the following as clearly and concisely as you can. Point form is totally fine.
1. Imagine a plot graph for this story. What are the climax, denouement and
conclusion? Is there a resolution?
● Climax: After 10 years of hard work and effort made by Mathilde and M.
Loisel, all of their debts are finally paid off.
● Denouement: Mathilde Loisel reflects on the hard work she put in for the
past 10 years, which has made her age quickly. She comes across Mme.
Forestier, whom she borrowed the necklace from, and notices how young
and beautiful she still looks. Matilde tells her that she and her husband
worked effortlessly to pay back for the replacement necklace that she
returned to Mme Forestier, as she had lost the original one.
● Conclusion: Mme Forestier admits the original necklace was not real
diamond, and that the necklace must've cost “five hundred francs”, a fraction
of the new necklace that the Loisels worked terribly hard to pay for.
● Resolution: Is there really a resolution? I personally believe that the ironic
twist at the end of the short story is the resolution. Even though it feels
incomplete, as we don’t know how Mme Loisel reacts to this news, but the
realization that the Loisel’s hard work, was for nothing, is enough to instill a
conclusion in the reader- Mme Loisel’s greed for a a material life, ruined her
and caused her to plummet even further in socioeconomic standing.

2. Does this story have a theme? If so, what is it? If not, what is the topic?
● I believe there are several themes that can be derived from this story:
● Greed and Materialism: Mme Loisel, a middle class woman, is constantly
depressed and jealous, unhappy with her socioeconomic standing. She
continuously longs for a luxurious life unlike her own.
● Appearances do not reflect reality: Mme Loisel dresses in a lovely expensive
woman’s dress with a gorgeous “diamond” necklace. She is admired by
others. However, in reality, she is a middle class woman, and is borrowing the
necklace, and her dress was bought using money that was carefully saved.
Furthermore, the necklace she borrowed from Mme Forestier, whom Mme
Loisel believed lived a very luxurious life (it is not confirmed she really does),
turned out to be a fake.
3. How is the theme developed? Be specific. For example, is it through the
characterization of a particular character? If so, what is it about that character —
what quality or personality trait?
● The theme of Materialism and greed recur throughout the short story, and
are presented largely through Mme Loisel’s characterization
● At the start of the short story, we learn about Mme Loisel’s socioeconomic
standing, that her husband works at the ministry
● She longs for the life of the elite, and was largely depressed and unsatisfied,
“She had no wardrobe, no jewels, nothing.”
● She doesn't realize how lucky she is to have her husband, who, realizing his
wife’s disappointment (she wanted a beautiful dress), decides to spend the
money he had been saving for recreation, on his wife in order to make her
happy
● She is not fully happy though- she wears this mask of wealth at the party in
order to deceive others into thinking she is wealthy and glamorous
● She is then thrown back into her true life; and realizing that materials are
only materials, worked hard for, and nothing more
4. Consider the epitaph from the author’s grave. Based on this alone, how do you
think the author relates to Mme. Loisel?
● Guy de Maupassant’s epitaph says, “I have coveted everything and taken
pleasure in nothing”
○ Related to happiness, and to The Necklace’s main character Mme
Loisel
○ “I have coveted everything” most likely refers to his success (maybe
financial), due to his writing. He is considered to be one of the best
short story writers of all time.
○ However, he “[has] taken pleasure in nothing” he was not happy.
Which sort of makes sense, as his cause of death was suicide,
suggesting he want happy with his life depsite the fame+money
○ Similar to Mme Loisel, she had a kind and caring husband, a well-off
life, but she was still unhappy-she wanted to be rich, and live in luxury
5. This story inspired many similar stories at the time, and has remained an
enduring topic for exploration. Can you think of any works that have a similar
theme/topic? Give an example.
● Some stories that were inspired and had similar thematic values as Guy de
Maupassant’s The Necklace include W. Somerset Maughan’s A String of Beads,
written in 1943. Similarities include:
○ Takes place in France
○ About a lower class woman, Ms Robinson (A governess) who goes to a
party full of rich people
○ Ms Robinson is wearing pearl earrings, that the other guests insist are
costly, but Ms Robinson had gotten cheap
○ The guests at the party thought she was a thief, but explained she
bought them for a low price
○ They offered her a lot of money for them, She accepts and travels
South of France, where she marries a wealthy man
○ There is a plot twist, like that of Maupassant’s The Necklace, which is,
people thought that Ms Robinson completely wasted her money by
going on the trip, when she could have saved it as she was poor
○ But, unlike how the others thought, after that trip she met her
husband, who was awfully rich, and lived a much better life