The Necklace

BY GUY DE MAUPASSANT

Activity 1
Direction: Answer the given question.
1. Is the story fiction or non-fiction? Why do you say so?
On this matter, there cannot be any doubt that “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant is a short-
fiction story. This is based on the following factors of consideration. Many features of fictitious
literature are seen in the story such as well-constructed personalities, complexity of themes, and a
major twist. The work features characters and various events that have been developed with the
purpose of delivering social and moral concerns of society meaning that the work is fictional.

The storyline is rather compelling yet the key events are further stretched on the thin wire of
plausibility. This is not to say that the use of dramatic irony in regard to the necklace being fake is
employed for the progression of the plot and the advancement of the story but rather to underscore
the motifs of the play. One could also deduce that “The Necklace” is a work of fiction aimed at
demonstrating the social pressure, arrogance, and consequences for vanity.

Activity 2
Direction: Make a summary and write an interpretation and analysis of the story “The Necklace” by
Guy de Maupassant. A minimum of 300 words is required for the summary. For the review/analysis,
400-500 words.

Summary
The short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant tells the reader about Mathilde Loisel, a
beautiful woman who believes she was destined to live a rich and luxurious life. Living with a clerk
husband, Mathilde is unfulfilled and yearns for the life of affluence and prestige. When her husband
manages to obtain an invitation to an exclusive ball, Mathilde feels sad because she had no dress and
jewelry to wear. Her husband spends all his savings to buy her a gown and Mathilde borrows a
splendid diamond necklace from her rich neighbor, Madame Forestier.

Mathilde is the queen of the ball getting all the attention and enjoying the moment of luxury and
pretty as a flower experience. But she starts mourning as she realizes that she has misplaced the
borrowed necklace. Failing to find the necklace, the Loisels are forced to pay for a new one which puts
them in such a big amount of debt. They buy a replacement for 36,000 francs, which is an amount that
they cannot afford to pay, and take over ten years to pay for it.

During these years, Mathilde’s life turns into a heavy burden as she becomes a low-wage worker
facing poverty. Many years later, Mathilde meets the old lady, Madame Forestier , and tells her the
truth about the necklace. Incredibly, the old lady tells her that the actual necklace was a imitation
which cost 500 francs. The final consequence of Mathilde’s desire for wealth and status is depicted as
years of suffering that could have been avoided.
Interpretation
In “The Necklace” a short story by Guy De Maupassant we can see a story embedded with themes
such as vanity, illusion and pride. Firstly, and fundamentally, the plot centers around the life of
Mathilde Loisel, a woman in her thirties who becomes disillusioned with her life as a wife of a clerk
and dreams of becoming a lady of a higher rank.

This feeling of Mathilde being dissatisfied with her status quo is evident right from the start. She is
angry with fate as she is born in a poor and serf family not belonging to the aristocracy. Instead of
helping her to rise in the social ranking, her beauty and charm become sources of resentment in a life
of lower-middle class existence. This resentment is summed up in her response to an invitation to a
ball at the Ministry of Public Instruction-an opportunity she sees as a way to change her bleak
existence but loses due to lack of a suitable dress.

Her husband, Monsieur Loisel, tries to oblige her by giving her the money he had set aside in
preparing for a duck hunting trip so they could buy her a dress. Ironically, the beautiful Mathilde
secure a diamond necklace from a friend by the name Madame Forestier in order to accomplish her
status as the elite woman. She realizes her dream for one night at the ball where she shines and enjoys
the eyes of everyone on her. However, the evening simultaneously turns tragic for her when she fails
to find the borrowed necklace.

The subsequent ten years become a narrative of the tragic downfall as the Loisels borrow heavily to
replace the lost necklace and then find out that the original was not an expensive jewel but a cheap
imitation of the gemstone they were indebted for. This narration portrays the events of the story as
tragic hence depicting the outcomes of Mathilde’s pride.

It’s clear that Maupassant’s short story is not simply an elaborate parable of avarice; it also delves into
the philosophical concepts of who we are, and how we are seen. Mathilde’s superficial pursuit of a rich
and sophisticated life robs her of the real happiness that could have been hers in an honest but loving
marriage with her husband, simple but comfortable living conditions, and perhaps, a simple, heartfelt
appreciation of the things she has been given in life. She becomes pragmatic and selfish in her quest
for status and material opulence and turns into a hard-boiled woman who can weather all the despair,
hardship, and sacrifice of a decade.

In the end, the story's power lies in its universal themes and the timeless lesson it imparts:
materialism and greed and desire for position over personal integrity and the ones they love will only
result in suffering and on the rocks. Mathilde Loisel’s trajectory is a cautionary tale for the readers as
to the vices of illusion and especially the need to be thankful for the things we have in life, no matter
how simple and ordinary they might be.

Analysis
In “The Necklace,” Guy de Maupassant presents audiences with a study of human beings and their life
and culture, a commentary on the pitfalls of pride and arrogance. Building up the simple but
meaningful plot, accompanied by the unornamented language and the twist at the end, the story
demonstrates the intended moral well. Hence, Mathilde Loisel is depicted as an imperfect but realistic
protagonist whose actions are her own downfall according to Maupassant.

Mathilde’s disappointment in her life is expressed through her desire for a luxurious life from the very
beginning of the story. Her husband is loving and supportive, but still cannot satisfy her opulent
needs. These differences create the premise for the plot of the story. In this aspect, while Maupassant
condemns Mathilde’s jealousy and obsession with the wealthy class, the author empathizes with the
main character. He does not pass a moral judgment on her but paints her picture as a woman who has
been conditioned by the society in which beauty and social standing are highly valued.
The loss of the necklace, which is the climactic point of the plot is what throws the Loisels into ten
years of misery. In this story, Maupassant describes the couple’s decline into the poverty step by step,
which emphasises the gap between Mathilde’s desire and her experience. This period of suffering
causes an important change in Mathilde and she becomes a hardworking, down to earth person who
also has aged significantly. The author employs this change to amplify the topic of loss and the steep
price of pride.

The story reaches its climax when the reader learns that the necklace is a fake one. This twist is not
only illustrative of Mathilde’s wasted sacrifices but also of the values upheld by society which glorifies
wealth over all else. The irony is poignant: Mathilde’s desire for a better and a more luxurious lifestyle
makes her experience the other extreme of poverty. This outcome puts the reader into a position
where they can start to question the worth of the material of this world and the pressures that force
people to such measures.

Maupassant tells a story, which is familiar to readers and listens to the present day, at the same time
presenting such problems as desire, social pressure, and search for individuality. It is an allegory for
vanity and the folly of avarice, thereby teaching the reader that there is more to life than physical
possessions to make one happy. It is indeed these factors that make “The Necklace” one of the
timeless stories influencing the readers through the power of its characters and narrative irony.

Maupassant, G. de. (n.d.). The necklace. American Literature. Retrieved June 27, 2024, from
https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace/