1

The Necklace
Guy de Maupassant

Ideas

Madame Mathilde Loisel was born into a lower-middle-class family but she aspires for a better life. After
marrying a low-paid clerk, he aims to please his wife and manages to receive an invitation for the Ministry
of Education party. Embarrassed that she has nothing to wear, her husband sacrifices the hunting rifle that
he was going to buy and gives his wife 400 francs. Matilde buys a dress but this is not enough for her and
her greed makes her desire more. She wants some jewellery and she borrows a necklace from a friend
(Madame Jeanne Forestier); however, at the party, it goes missing from her neck. Mathilde shops for a
extremely expensive replacement that she cannot afford. The couple sell all their belongings to pay for it.

10 years later, she sees Madame Forestier and she is embarrassed by her poor attire. As they talk, Forestier
informs her that it was a fake and she paid no more than 500 francs.

Context

Maupassant lived in a time when women had few rights, including the vote. The role of women was to be
subservient to men and to obey them. Women were unable to have their independence and they were
expected to marry and produce children. Many women felt trapped at the time and they were not free to
have career paths. Women controlled the social status of their family, which was as important a role as the
men earning the money. Mathilde would have been trying to impress her friends with the expensive
necklace.

Author’s purpose

Guy de Maupassant published the story on 17th February 1884 in a newspaper. It was an immediate
success and it was a fine example of the ‘Realist’ genre (when fiction reflects reality). Maupassant wrote the
story at the height of his career. He never married and died in 1893.

Language

Symbolism

Symbolism is a linguistic device that is used when one object represents another. Within the story, the
necklace represents a desire to for Mathilde to become a higher class and she sees it as a way of presenting
her social status. The loss of the necklace shows that she will never become a higher class and achieve her
dream. She spends all her money replacing the necklace, showing the energy, time and money required to
achieve this high status that is desired. Mathilde has a desire to be rich, as she feels as though she will be
happier because of it. However, it does not suggest that she will be noble or respected any more. The
ending itself suggests that she would be respected more if she was honest and told the truth.

Important Quotation

In the middle of the story, Mathilde is described as:

‘She danced madly, ecstatically, drunk with pleasure, with no thought for anything, in the triumph of her
beauty, in the pride of her success, in a cloud of happiness made up of this universal homage and
admiration, of the desires she had aroused, of the completeness of a victory so dear to her feminine heart.’
 2

It appears as though Mathilde is at her most happiest and free at this point: she feels as though she is now
successful because she is amongst people who she desires to be like. Note the lengthy and emotive
description that is involved in this quote.

Structure

Title

‘The Necklace’ stems from ‘La Parure’, which actually translates to ‘the finery’ or ‘jewels’.

Ending

The most obvious structural point is the twist at the end of the story:

‘Oh, my poor Mathilde! But it was only an imitation necklace. It couldn’t have been worth much more than
five hundred francs! …’

It emphasises the desire of Mathilde to please earlier in the story, rather than being honest about her status
at the time.

Short paragraphs vs Long paragraphs

The writer uses short paragraphs to move the story quickly. The story covers over 10 years, despite the fact
it is only 4 pages:

‘A week later they had lost all hope.’

He successfully manages to move the story forward by a week in one simple sentence, which is also a one-
line paragraph.

Yet, he also intertwines this with longer paragraphs to emphasise Mathilde’s character:

“When she sat down to dinner at the round table spread with a three-day-old cloth, facing her husband
who always lifted the lid of the soup-tureen and declared delightedly: ‘Ah! Stew! Splendid! There’s nothing I
like better than a nice stew…’, she dreamed of elegant dinners, gleaming silverware, and tapestries which
peopled the walls with mythical characters and strange birds in enchanted forests; she dreamed of exquisite
dishes served on fabulous china plates, of pretty compliments whispered into willing ears and received with
Sphinx-like smiles over the pink flesh of a trout or the wings of a hazel hen.”

It is interesting how he uses the short paragaphs for time and the long paragraphs for description of
character.

Exam practice

The sense of greed in ‘The Necklace’

In Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace," the theme of greed plays a central role in the story's development.
The protagonist, Mathilde Loisel, is dissatisfied with her middle-class life and yearns for a wealthier, more
luxurious existence. Her desire for material possessions and social status leads her to borrow an expensive
necklace from her wealthy friend Madame Forestier to wear to a high-society event.

However, when Mathilde loses the necklace, instead of confessing the truth to Madame Forestier, she and
her husband embark on a desperate quest to replace it. They go into significant debt, sacrifice their comfort
and well-being, and spend years working tirelessly to repay the loan they took to buy a replacement
necklace. Throughout this ordeal, Mathilde's relentless pursuit of material wealth and social standing blinds
her to the value of the life she already has.
 3

The story's climax, where Mathilde learns that the necklace she replaced was merely a cheap imitation,
serves as a poignant commentary on the consequences of greed. Mathilde's insatiable desire for luxury and
status ultimately leads to her downfall, as she and her husband suffer immensely for a mistake born out of
vanity and greed.

"The Necklace" serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of coveting material possessions and the
importance of appreciating what one has. Mathilde's obsession with wealth and social status ultimately
brings her only misery and regret, highlighting the destructive nature of greed.

The sense of hope in ‘The Necklace’

While "The Necklace" primarily explores themes of greed, there are also elements of hope present in the
story, particularly in the character of Mathilde Loisel. Despite her dissatisfaction with her modest life and
longing for luxury, Mathilde's aspirations and dreams symbolize a sense of hope for something better.

At the beginning of the story, Mathilde dreams of a life filled with elegance, wealth, and social status. Her
desire to attend the high-society event and her excitement at borrowing the necklace from Madame
Forestier reflect her hope that this experience will elevate her position in society and fulfill her longing for a
more glamorous existence.

Even after the necklace is lost, Mathilde and her husband cling to hope as they desperately search for a way
to replace it. Their belief that they can overcome this setback and restore their lives to normalcy drives
them to extreme measures, such as taking on debt and working tirelessly to repay it. Their perseverance in
the face of adversity demonstrates a resilient sense of hope.

Furthermore, Mathilde's fantasy about how her life could have been different had she not lost the necklace
suggests a continued hope for a better future, even in the midst of her despair. Despite the harsh reality of
their situation, Mathilde and her husband maintain hope that they can somehow recover from their
mistake and regain their former happiness.

However, the revelation at the end of the story shatters Mathilde's illusions and extinguishes the hope she
had clung to. Learning that the necklace they sacrificed so much for was merely an inexpensive imitation
dashes any remaining optimism and plunges Mathilde into a profound sense of despair.

In "The Necklace," hope serves as a driving force for the characters, propelling them to pursue their dreams
and overcome challenges. However, the story also underscores the fragile nature of hope and the
devastating consequences when it is built on false assumptions or misplaced desires.

How are women presented in ‘The Necklace’?

In "The Necklace," women are presented in various roles that reflect societal expectations and norms of the
time period in which the story is set. Guy de Maupassant offers a nuanced portrayal of women, particularly
through the character of Mathilde Loisel, the protagonist.

1. Mathilde Loisel: Mathilde is depicted as a complex character who embodies both the desire for
social mobility and the consequences of vanity and materialism. She is dissatisfied with her middle-
class life and yearns for wealth and luxury, reflecting a common theme of female aspiration in
literature. Mathilde's obsession with appearance and social status is characteristic of the societal
pressures on women to conform to certain standards of beauty and social standing.

2. Madame Forestier: Madame Forestier represents the ideal of wealth and elegance that Mathilde
aspires to attain. She is described as graceful and well-off, embodying the image of a successful
 4

woman in high society. However, her character also serves as a contrast to Mathilde, highlighting
the consequences of excessive materialism. Madame Forestier's revelation at the end of the story
about the true value of the necklace emphasizes the superficiality of appearances and the folly of
pursuing wealth at any cost.

3. Other Female Characters: While Mathilde and Madame Forestier are the central female characters
in the story, there are brief mentions of other women who attend the high-society event. These
women serve as background figures, reinforcing the social hierarchy and the importance of
appearances within French society during the late 19th century.

Overall, "The Necklace" presents a nuanced portrayal of women, highlighting the pressures they face to
conform to societal expectations of beauty, wealth, and status. Through characters like Mathilde and
Madame Forestier, the story explores the complexities of female identity and the consequences of
prioritizing materialistic desires over personal fulfillment and integrity.