The Necklace

Guy de Maupassant

Characters (Personality and Appearance):

a. Mathilde Loisel – Beautiful and materialistic, she’s not contented with her middle-class
life. She dreams of a more wealthy lifestyle.

b. Monsieur Loisel – Mathilde's husband. A government clerk, He is a kind and hardworking

man who loves his wife but is unable to provide her with the lifestyle she desires.

c. Madame Forestier – Mathilde's wealthy friend. She lends Mathilde a fake diamond
necklace for a ball, but the necklace is lost.

Setting:

1884 Paris, France Loisel’s apartment,

Party at the Ministry of Education’s Mansion.

Plot:

Conflict

The main conflict in the story is between Mathilde's desire for a more wealthy lifestyle and
material possessions and her husband's humble manners. Mathilde’s attitude of not being
contented and wanting too much is what made their life become poor.

Climax

The climax of the story is when Mathilde and her husband realize that they have been
tricked into buying an expensive necklace to replace the borrowed fake necklace. They are
devastated, and they realize that they have wasted ten years of their lives working to pay for
something worthless.

Falling Action

After ten years Mathilde and Madame Forestier meet again, and she tells the truth about the
lost necklace they replace it with an expensive one, and that makes their life become poor
and pay debts for the past ten years. Madame Forestier also says that the necklace is just
fake and worthless compared to the replacement.

Denouement

Mathilde and her husband eventually find happiness, but they do so by learning to be
content with what they have and living a simple life.