The Necklace
“The Necklace.”
Read and Find Out (Page 1)
1. What kind of a person is Mme Loisel? Why is she always unhappy? 1.1. Mme Loisel is a “pretty, young” woman who, “as if through an error of destiny,” was born into a family of clerks. 1.2. She is unhappy because she “suffered incessantly, feeling herself born for all delicacies and luxuries”. 1.3. She is “tortured and angered” by the “poverty of her apartment, the shabby walls and the worn chairs”. 1.4. She “had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing,” and she “loved only those things”.
2. What kind of a person is her husband? 2.1. Her husband is a “petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education”. 2.2. He is a simple man who seems content with his life. He is delighted by a simple dinner, exclaiming, “Oh! the good potpie! I know nothing better than that”. 2.3. He is also kind and wishes to make his wife happy, bringing her the invitation to the party thinking “it would make you happy”. 2.4. He is “economical”, having saved 400 francs to buy a gun, but he generously gives this money to his wife for a new dress.
Read and Find Out (Page 3)
3. What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel? 3.1. Although her dress is “nearly ready”, Mme Loisel is “sad, disturbed, anxious”. 3.2. The new problem is that she has no jewels. She tells her husband, “I am vexed not to have a jewel, nothing to adorn myself with. I shall have such a poverty-stricken look”.
4. How is the problem solved? 4.1. Her husband suggests, “Go and find your friend Mme Forestier and ask her to lend you her jewels”. 4.2. Mme Loisel does this, and her friend allows her to choose from a “large jewel-case”. 4.3. Mme Loisel ultimately borrows “a superb necklace of diamonds”.
Read and Find Out (Page 4)
5. What do M. and Mme Loisel do next? 5.1. After discovering the necklace is missing, they search “in the folds of the dress, in the folds of the cloak, in the pockets, everywhere,” but “could not find it”. 5.2. M. Loisel goes out to retrace their steps but “found nothing”. 5.3. He then “went to the police and to the cab offices, and put an advertisement in the newspapers, offering a reward”. 5.4. To buy time, M. Loisel tells his wife to “write to your friend that you have broken the clasp of the necklace and that you will have it repaired”.
6. How do they replace the necklace? 6.1. After a week, they lose all hope and decide they “must replace this jewel”. 6.2. They find a similar diamond necklace valued at 40,000 francs, which they could get for 36,000. 6.3. M. Loisel had 18,000 francs from his father, and he “borrowed the rest”, making “ruinous promises” and taking money from “usurers and the whole race of lenders”. 6.4. He then used this money to buy the new necklace.
Think about it (Page 8)
7. The course of the Loisels’ life changed due to the necklace. Comment. 7.1. The necklace changed their lives completely. To pay the “frightful debt” for the replacement, they had to live a “horrible life of necessity”. 7.2. They “sent away the maid” and “changed their lodgings,” renting “some rooms in an attic”. 7.3. Mme Loisel “learned the odious work of a kitchen,” washed dishes, did the laundry, and took the “refuse to the street each morning”. She haggled with shopkeepers “to the last sou of her miserable money”. 7.4. M. Loisel “worked evenings” and did “copying at five sous a page” at night. 7.5. This hardship lasted for “ten years”. Mme Loisel “became a strong, hard woman, the crude woman of the poor household” and “seemed old now”.
8. What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it? 8.1. Cause of ruin: The immediate cause was losing the necklace and taking on a massive 36,000-franc debt to replace it. The root cause was her pride and dissatisfaction; she “suffered incessantly, feeling herself born for all delicacies and luxuries” and could not bear to “have a shabby air in the midst of rich women”, which is why she borrowed the necklace. 8.2. How she could have avoided it: She could have avoided ruin by either (1) not borrowing the necklace in the first place and being content with her husband’s suggestion to “wear some natural flowers”, or (2) confessing the loss immediately to Mme Forestier. If she had confessed, she would have learned the necklace was “false” and “not worth over five hundred francs”, a sum they could have replaced easily.
9. What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace? If she had confessed, she would have learned the necklace was a fake. Mme Forestier would have told her it was “not worth over five hundred francs!”. Instead of spending ten years in “horrible life” paying off a 36,000-franc debt, Matilda and her husband would have only needed to pay 500 francs, which they could have managed without ruining their lives.
10. If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it? (This question asks for a personal opinion, but the story strongly suggests one answer.) Based on the story’s lesson, the best course of action would be to deal with it honestly. I would have gone to Mme Forestier immediately, confessed that I had lost the necklace, apologized, and offered to pay for a replacement. This honesty would have revealed the necklace’s true value and prevented the subsequent disaster.
Talk about it (Page 8)
11. The characters in this story speak in English. Do you think this is their language? What clues are there in the story about the language its characters must be speaking in? 11.1. No, their language is almost certainly French. The story is written in English for the reader, but several clues point to a French setting and language: 11.1.1. Names: The characters have French names like “Mme Loisel”, “Mme Forestier”, “Jeanne”, and “Madame George Ramponneau”. 11.1.2. Abbreviations: The text uses “M.” for ‘Monsieur’ and “Mme” for ‘Madame’, which are French forms of address. 11.1.3. Currency: The currency mentioned is “francs” and “sou”, which are former French coins. 11.1.4. Locations: The story mentions specific places in Paris, such as the “Palais-Royal” and the “Champs-Elysees”.
12. Honesty is the best policy. (This is a discussion topic.) The story strongly supports this proverb. The Loisels’ dishonesty was their downfall. By lying to Mme Forestier and saying they were repairing a “broken… clasp”, they locked themselves into replacing the necklace without ever learning it was fake. Their decision to hide the truth led directly to “ten years” of “horrible life”.
13. We should be content with what life gives us. (This is a discussion topic.) The story also strongly supports this idea. Matilda’s tragedy begins with her discontent. She “suffered incessantly” because she believed she was “born for all delicacies and luxuries” rather than her simple life with her husband (who was content). This dissatisfaction is what made her desperate for the dress and the jewels, leading to her ruin.
Glossary (Grammar and Vocabulary)
14. incessantly: continuously 15. tureen: covered dish from which soup is served at the table 16. M.: abbreviation for ‘Monsieur’ (form of address for a man in French) 17. Mme: abbreviation for ‘Madame’ (form of address for a woman in French) 18. vexation: state of being distressed 19. ruinous: disastrous 20. usurers: money-lenders, especially those who lend money on a high rate of interest 21. sou: a former French coin of low value 22. awry: not in the correct position or shape; twisted