English Class 10 - X CBSE SR 7 - The Necklace Material

INTRODUCTION

'The Necklace' is one of the well-known stories of Guy De Maupassant. The story centers around Matilda Loisel, who is a beautiful woman. She suffers greatly because of her desire to appear rich and fashionable. 

GIST + OVERVIEW

She is married to a clerk and leads an ordinary life. But she wants to be rich and famous. Her husband gets an invitation to attend a dance party given by the Minister of Public Instruction. 

Matilda borrows a diamond necklace from her rich friend Madame Forestier to wear at the party. She looks charming and everybody praises her. 

But when she returns home, she finds that she has lost the necklace. She and her husband borrowed a large amount of money to replace the necklace. 

Both of them worked hard for ten years to pay off their debt. Their life becomes miserable. One day, after the debt, is paid off. Matilda comes across Madame Forestier. 

Matilda is shocked to learn from her that the necklace was made of artificial diamonds and its price was not more than 500 francs.

'The Necklace' is a mild satire but with a strong message. It is ridiculous for people of ordinary means to copy the rich. One should live within one‘s means. Otherwise, he or she invites unnecessary problems, anxieties, and confusion in his or her life.

The main message of the story is that we should be what we are. False pride is the cause of our suffering. The loss of a false necklace by Mrs. Loisel was not a big loss. Things could have been settled right if she had confessed the loss of the necklace to the owner, Madame Forestier. This small lapse or mistake of Mrs. Loisel makes her whole life miserable and dark. And the irony was that the cause of all these sufferings was a false necklace.

Main Characters

1. Matilda:

Matilda is a pretty, young lady. She wanted to lead a rich and luxurious life. But she was born into a humble family and had to marry an ordinary man. She felt sad about her petty economic and social status. When Matilda gets an invitation to a ball, she wants to pretend as a rich woman. She was lost in self-admiration. She disregarded the advice of her good husband. She is a woman who sought the praise and admiration of others. 

She feels very happy when men appreciate her beauty and grace at the dance ball. Matilda is a woman lacking wisdom and prudence. Just to show off a day at the ball, she loses her borrowed necklace. This led to enormous suffering for her and her husband for a number of years. She does not understand the importance of living within one‘s means.

2. Mr. Loisel:

Mr. Loisel is a simple man working as a clerk. He loves his wife and does everything to make her happy. He gets an invitation to a ball with his wife. When his wife wants a costly necklace, he suggests she should borrow a necklace from her rich friend, Madame Forestier. When Matilda loses her necklace, he uses his hard-earned savings to buy a new necklace. He starts working very hard to repay the debt they had incurred. Mr. Loisel is ready to make an enormous sacrifice to maintain his family. He is a man who believes in living a life within one‘s means. Unfortunately, because he is lenient towards his wife, he has to undergo much suffering.


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