The Necklace Summary

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

The Necklace Summary

In the short story “The Necklace” author Guy de Maupassant tells a sad story of a middle class woman whose dreams of wealth and glamor end in disaster. This author is known for using twisted endings in order to deliver his point and opinion.

In this short story, we see the life that Mathilde Loisel lives and we can conclude that she is one desperate house wife. She loathes her middle class life even though she has one kind man for a husband and a maid. She spends all her days grief stricken and day dreaming about living in a fantasy world of glamor, wealth, and beautiful people.

And here is the sad story;

Mathilde Loisel is a pretty and charming lady who feels as if she’s been born into a family that is going through financial and economic trouble. She also feels low since she got married to a simple clerk who works in the Ministry of Education who can only afford to provide a simple lifestyle for Mathilde Loisel.

The events and circumstances that Mathilde Loisel has to go through have made her regret the way her life turned out as she finds herself spending hours on end wishing she had a much more lavish lifestyle.

She feels awful every time her husband appreciates the small cooking and little things she has done around the house to please him as she dreams of a great meal she would have served him maybe of china plates that are fancy as they enjoy a hearty meal in the company of well to do friends.

Although she has no expensive jewelry nor expensive clothing but the things that keep her alive are such things and she feels she is not pretty enough since she does not possess such

things. She lives in denial and doesn’t like visiting her rich friend Madame Forestier for she feels she does not belong in the same class as her dear friend belongs.

Her husband came home one day bearing good news where he informed her that they were both invited to a formal party hosted by the ministry of education with the hope that Mathilde would be glad to be invited to attend such a function.

Mathilde’s reaction was that of anger followed by constant crying and in her anger confronted her husband by telling him that she has nothing adorable to wear and that he should have invited one of his friends whose wife could afford luxurious clothing.

Her husband sympathizes with her and they both agree that 400 francs would be enough for her to get a fancy dress to wear for the occasion. As the day of the occasion nears she becomes moody telling her rich friend that she lacks jewelry of which her rich friend asks her to wear flowers instead at which she refuses to oblige.

Madame Forestier agrees to lend her jewelry at which point Mathilde selects a diamond necklace and is pretty touched by her friends’ generosity. When she graced the party she was the most outstanding woman in attendance.

After the party ended Mathilde is sad and takes a cab home and upon arrival she discovers that the necklace she had borrowed had gone missing and is worried of Madame Forestier reaction if she finds out that she lost her necklace.

Monsieur Loisel tells her to write to Madame Forestier and asks her to lie to her and to tell her that the clasp of the necklace got broken and she was having it mended. The Loisels’ spend an entire week looking for a necklace to replace the one she lost and finally get one that costs 36,000 francs and they are left borrowing money and mortgaging their home in-order to come up with funds needed to buy the necklace.

She finally returns the new necklace to her rich friend who is angry at her but relieved that she finally returned her necklace. This experience subjects them to more poverty which makes them leave for ten year in abject poverty.

Ten years later she meets with Madame Forestier who confesses to her that the original necklace that she lost was just costume jewelry that was not worth anything. Antony and Cleopatra summary.