The Necklace Summary
The Necklace was written by Guy de Maupassant. He was a famous
19th-century author popularly remembered for his short stories based
on real-life situations. This fictional short story is about a pretty lady,
Matilda Loisel, who lives in a small yet cosy flat with her husband.
He worked as a clerk in the office of the Board of Education and
loved his wife very much. They were not so well-off to be able to
have a luxurious lifestyle. They led a simple life. Matilda was
unhappy about her condition and always desired to be rich. She often
felt disappointed and brooded about her financial condition for not
having a huge mansion to live in and riches to splurge on. She always
desired to wear beautiful dresses with matching jewellery, but she had
none of it.
One fine day, Mme Loisel’s husband brought her an invitation to a
grand ball party at the Minister’s residence. He expected his wife to
be excited upon seeing the invitation letter. On the contrary, when his
wife saw the invite, she expressed her resentment over it and threw
the letter aside and started sobbing over her condition. When asked,
she complained about not having a pretty dress to wear on such a
grand occasion. She wanted to look beautiful and well-groomed at the
party such that everyone should admire her. Feeling pity for Matilda,
her loving husband gave her all his savings of four hundred francs to
buy a beautiful dress. He had saved that amount to buy a rifle for
himself but gave the money to his wife to buy her dress.
Soon, the week of the grand party approached. Matilda seemed to be
anxious again. This time she felt that she didn’t have any matching
jewellery to pair with her lovely dress. To this, her husband suggested
she request her friend, Mme Jeanne Forestier, for a neckpiece. Matilda
went to Jeanne’s house immediately and borrowed a sparkling
diamond necklace.
Mme Loisel went to the ball party with her husband and was happy
about her appearance. She was elated that she was successful in
garnering the attention of the attendees at the reception. They enjoyed
a gala time at the party. Soon, they were ready to head back home in
the wee hours of the morning. When they reached home, Matilda
realised that the necklace was missing around her neck. She and her
husband were panic-stricken that it might have fallen in the cab which
they had boarded while returning from the party. Her husband
immediately went to search the streets just in case it might have fallen
there but to no avail.
Soon after, he approached the police and put up an advertisement in
the newspapers offering a reward, but all went in vain. With no option
left, Matilda’s husband asked her to write a letter to Mme Forestier
and mention that the clasp had broken and she would return it once
repaired. In the meantime, they had successfully found a replica of the
necklace and decided to replace it with the old one. However, the new
necklace was very expensive and cost thirty-six thousand francs.
Matilda’s father-in-law had left eighteen thousand francs for his son.
They decided to borrow the rest of the money to buy the expensive
necklace. They bought the necklace with all the money they had and
borrowed funds.
In the next few years, their condition worsened as their lives took a
drastic turn due to the huge loan. They moved to a smaller place to
live in, and Matilda did all the household chores by herself. Her
husband worked odd hours in multiple jobs to repay the loan. Ten
years passed, and with that, their appearances also changed due to the
extreme workload. One day, Matilda met Mme Jeanne Forestier, who
couldn’t identify her as she looked weary and aged. Mme Loisel
revealed the truth to her friend about how she and her husband were
left in ruins to repay the loan of the expensive necklace. Hearing this,
Mme Forestier was stunned and told her that the necklace that she
gave her for the ball party was a fake necklace that was worth not
more than five hundred francs.
Conclusion of The Necklace
The Necklace focuses that one should be content and satisfied with
their belongings and not crave expensive items that are not within
their economic capabilities. Extreme desire for lavish items leads to
unhappiness and loss of peace of mind. We are hoping that this CBSE
Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Prose Summary of The
Necklace has helped students to have a deep insight into the chapter
and understand the purpose of the lesson.
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