Let's Walk Through The Summary of The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
This page provides a detailed summary of The Necklace, a renowned short story by Guy de Maupassant. This timeless tale revolves around themes of pride, materialism, and the pursuit of social status, ultimately delivering a powerful message about contentment and the consequences of vanity. Ideal for students and literature enthusiasts, this summary captures the essence of the story, its key events, and its underlying moral, making it a valuable resource for understanding this literary masterpiece.
About the Author
Guy De Maupassant was a great French writer. He was one of the best short story writers in the world. He was a representative of the naturalist school of writers. He depicted human lives often in pessimistic terms. He wrote more than three hundred stories. He also wrote novels, travel books, and poetry.
Theme of the Story
The humorous tale of "The Necklace" conveys a powerful message about human values. The first lesson we learn from this is that everyone should be happy with what little they have in life. Living within one's means is essential to avoiding needless issues, worries, and uncertainty in life. The most important message of the story is that we should be what we are. There is a facade among most of the individuals that they just want to be like someone who they are not so that they can be liked by people. But all individuals need to learn the fact that you can't change what your policy doesn't even need to be like someone. You are best as you are and you are unique in your own way. Every individual has his/ her own style and if you change that also, then what will make you unique from others will not be there anymore. So you just need to accept yourself and move forward to improve yourself by inculcating good qualities in yourself. If you want to improve yourself then you need to cultivate good qualities in yourself so that you can lead the life of a respectable person.
It is often observed that people tend to be the ones whom they think people like more and in that process, they eventually lose their own identity. Self-acceptance is what is lacking in today's generation. It is not about thinking someone can not be superior to you, it is realizing and accepting the fact that you are not inferior to anyone. You should be proud of yourself and learn to accept your flaws and weaknesses. Only when you accept your weakness can you improve yourself. If you seriously want to make some positive changes in your life, then start accepting yourself just the way you are. False pride or show-off is the cause of our sufferings. Mrs Loisel had lost the necklace that she had borrowed from her friend and instead of confessing it to the owner, she got into more debt and poverty to repay the amount. The story tells us about the negative effects of pride and vanity and emphasizes the importance of being content with what one has.
Summary of ‘The Necklace’
"The Necklace" is a short story that highlights the themes of pride, greed, and the consequences of misplaced values. It is set in 19th-century France and revolves around the life of Mathilde Loisel, a woman who dreams of a glamorous life beyond her modest circumstances.
Mathilde Loisel is a young, charming woman born into a modest middle-class family. She marries a simple, hardworking clerk at the Ministry of Education. Mathilde is deeply dissatisfied with her life, feeling that she was meant for luxury and wealth. She longs for a life filled with elegant clothes, exquisite jewellery, and opulent parties. Her modest apartment and modest lifestyle constantly frustrate her.
One day, her husband surprises Mathilde by bringing home an invitation to a grand party at the Ministry of Education. He hopes to make her happy, but instead, Mathilde becomes upset. She laments that she has nothing appropriate to wear to such a prestigious event. Her husband, ever accommodating, sacrifices his savings of 400 francs, which he had set aside to buy a rifle, and gives it to Mathilde to buy a beautiful dress.
Despite the new dress, Mathilde feels incomplete without jewellery to adorn herself. When she expresses her dissatisfaction, her husband suggests borrowing something from her wealthy friend, Madame Forestier. Mathilde visits Madame Forestier and chooses a stunning diamond necklace to complete her look.
At the party, Mathilde is a vision of beauty and grace. She becomes the center of attention, with everyone admiring her elegance. For one glorious evening, she feels like the wealthy, glamorous woman she always dreamed of being. She enjoys the party thoroughly and leaves with her husband in the early hours of the morning.
Upon returning home, Mathilde discovers that the diamond necklace is missing. In a panic, she and her husband retrace their steps but fail to find it. Distraught and desperate, they decide to replace the necklace to avoid disgracing themselves. They visit jewelry shops and find a similar necklace priced at 36,000 francs.
To buy the replacement, the Loisels borrow money from various sources, including moneylenders, plunging themselves into immense debt. They return the replacement necklace to Madame Forestier without revealing the loss.
To repay the debt, the Loisels drastically alter their lifestyle. They dismiss their maid, move to a smaller apartment, and take on arduous jobs. Mathilde does all the housework herself, while her husband works overtime and takes on additional jobs. The years of hardship take a toll on Mathilde, who loses her youthful beauty, becoming aged, rough, and weary.
After ten years of struggle, the Loisels finally repay their debt. One day, Mathilde encounters Madame Forestier on the street and decides to reveal the truth about the lost necklace. Mathilde explains how the loss of the necklace changed her life and the sacrifices she and her husband made to replace it.
Madame Forestier, shocked and moved, reveals a devastating truth: the original necklace was a fake, worth no more than 500 francs.
The story ends on a tragic note, with Mathilde realizing that her misplaced priorities and obsession with appearances led to her downfall. The irony of the situation underscores the futility of valuing material possessions over contentment and honesty.
The Necklace Summary in 100 Words
If you are looking for a short summary here is a quick recap!!
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant is a story about Madame Loisel, a middle-class woman dissatisfied with her modest life. She dreams of wealth and glamour. When her husband secures an invitation to a grand party, she borrows a beautiful necklace from her wealthy friend, Madame Forestier. At the party, she dazzles everyone, but on returning home, she realises the necklace is lost. To replace it, the couple borrows money and spends ten years in poverty, repaying the debt. Later, Madame Loisel learns the original necklace was fake, worth only a fraction of the suffering it caused. The story highlights the dangers of vanity and materialism.
Conclusion:
The conclusion of "The Necklace" delivers a powerful irony. Mathilde Loisel, after enduring ten years of poverty and hardship to replace the lost necklace, learns it was a fake and worth very little. This twist highlights the futility of her sacrifices and critiques her misplaced value on material wealth.
Through Mathilde’s journey from vanity to hardship, Maupassant reveals the dangers of valuing appearances over reality and the societal pressures that fuel such desires. The story serves as a cautionary tale about contentment and the harsh consequences of chasing illusions, leaving readers with a lasting reflection on human folly.
Also Check for
FAQs on The Necklace Summary: A Story by Guy de Maupassant
1. What Kind of a Person is Mrs. Loisel? Why is She Always Unhappy?
Mrs Loisel was a young, pretty, and ordinary but discontented woman. She was of a simple and ordinary background but dreamed of riches and comforts. Besides this, she was a lady who believed that showing off your worth is more important. She always was n't interested in being the centre of attraction, this is the main reason that she led herself into such a disaster after living a poor life for almost 10 years. We can also observe that she lacks a sense of honesty. She was proud of her beauty and wanted to be admired. Her meagre resources were not enough to satisfy her expensive cravings, making her angry all the time.
2. How Did Mrs Loisel Manage to Buy a Diamond Necklace to Return it to Jeanne Forestier? What Were the Consequences?
Mr and Mrs Loisel spent all their savings, i.e., eighteen thousand francs which Mr Loisel inherited from his father. They borrowed the rest of the money from usurers at high interest. They had to arrange thirty-six thousand francs for the new diamond necklace. All this ruined their life. They rented a small room in the attic and they had to let their maid go. Matilda did all the household chores herself and also did odd jobs besides. Mr Loisel had to do multiple jobs to save money. He worked late at night after office hours, putting the books of some merchants or copying pages at five soups a page to earn extra money. Thus, a little act of carelessness and dishonesty by Matilda led her to 10 years of having a miserable state. Here, we learn that it is fine if you make a mistake but you need to learn thus that honesty is the best policy. If you commit errors, it is always advisable to accept the mistake.
3. What would have happened to Matilda, if She Had Confessed to Her Friend that She had Lost Her Necklace?
If Matilda were being honest to her friend about her mistake then she would have been saved from her doom. If only she dared to confess to her friend about the truth of the necklace, she would have come to know that the necklace was not made of real diamonds and that it was only worth five hundred francs. She would not have spent her husband’s entire savings that he had inherited from his father and borrowed eighteen thousand francs to pay for its replacement. She would have saved herself and her husband from ten long years of miserable life. If only she had been considerate, she could have continued living her normal life, instead of the one that she lived after her carelessness but this incident indeed was a turning point in her life.
4. What Kind of a Husband was Mr Loisel?
Mr Loisel was a simple man and he was a clerk in the office of the Board of Education. He knew his limitations but he was very generous and kind to sacrifice his savings to make his wife happy. He was a caring and loving husband who always stood by his wife. From the story, we conclude that even when his wife committed such a grave mistake, he was ready to save her. This proves how good a husband he was. It is not only this, but he also just spent all his inherited money and even became indebted just to save his wife and repent for the mistakes of his wife.
5. What lesson have you learnt from this chapter?
This chapter gives you the lesson that you should be honest and even if you have committed any mistake, you should have enough courage to accept your mistake. Maybe accepting your mistake can prevent you from facing hard situations with repentance. As in this story, we know that it was not a grave mistake committed by Matilda but just that she lacked the courage to accept her fault and be honest in front of her friend.
6. How does the necklace teach a moral lesson on the importance of contentment?
The short story "The Necklace" teaches a moral lesson on the importance of contentment by highlighting the dangers of excessive desire and the value of appreciating what one already has. Madame Loisel's dissatisfaction with her modest life and longing for wealth leads her to borrow a necklace to appear affluent. This act results in years of hardship when she loses the necklace and must replace it, only to later discover it was fake. The story emphasises that chasing superficial desires can lead to unnecessary suffering and that true happiness lies in contentment and gratitude for what we have.
