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The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant: Full Plot Summary | Short Story
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
ABOUT THE STORY
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
The short story "Necklace" was written by French writer Guy de Maupassant. This story is mainly known for its twist ending. We find a very unexpected result in the end. The story was first published on 17th February 1884. It first appeared in the French newspaper Le Gaulois. This story is about Mathilde Loisel, a young woman. She borrows a necklace from a wealthy friend Madame Forestier to wear in a high-society event. But she loses it and spends the next ten years of her life in poverty trying to pay the debt she has taken it. The main themes in the story are vanity and greed.
FULL PLOT SUMMARY
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
The main character Mathilde Loisel is a quite beautiful and charming woman. But she feels that she has been born in such family which isn't of well economic status. She was married to a minor clerk who works in the Ministry of Education. He provides her a simple, though not uncomfortable, life. Mathilde has a strong feeling of burden spending her life in intense poverty. She regrets a lot in her life and wishes for a more luxurious life. She spends much time imagining a luxurious life.
One day, her husband expresses his happiness with the simple dinner she has prepared for him. But in the meantime, Mathilde imagines herself along with her rich friends enjoying a grand feast with fancy dishes. She mostly cares about expensive jewellery or clothes, but she lacks all these things in her life. She doesn't think herself attractive without these items. Mathilde even has a wealthy friend called Madame Forestier, but she tries to avoid visiting her. This avoidance by her rich friends makes Mathilde feel sad.
One evening, her husband returns home being excited. He has an invitation to a formal party hosted by the Ministry of Education. He excepts that Mathilde will be happy after knowing about it, but she gets angry and starts crying. She informs her husband that she doesn't have nice to wear and also suggests that he should provide the invitation to someone else whose wife has better clothing. After hearing such words from her, her husband becomes upset. He asks her about the price of a good dress. After thinking, she replies that it would cost 400 francs. Her husband hesitates at first to know about the price but agrees to give her the money later.
As the party day gets closer, Mathilde starts acting quite oddly. She confesses that the reason behind her odd behaviour is that she doesn't have any fancy jewellery. Her husband suggests that she should wear flowers, but she denies it. He urges Mathilde to visit and borrow something from her wealthy friend, Madame Forestier. She visits Madame Forestier and requests her. Madame Forestier agrees to lend Mathilde her jewellery. Mathilde picks a diamond necklace for herself. She feels very thankful to Madame Forestier for her generosity.
During the party, Mathilde is looking so pretty. She is the prettiest woman there. Most people pay attention to her. She feels really good as well as happy about herself because of this getup. Around 4 a.m., she looks for her husband. Her husband has been sleeping in a quiet room for hours. He covers her shoulders with a shawl. He tells her to wait inside where it's warm while he gets a taxi. But she feels embarrassed about her shabby shawl and moves outside along with him. Both walk for some time before getting a taxi.
When they get back home, Mathilde feels quite upset that the charming night is over. While taking off her shawl, she comes to know that her necklace is missing. She becomes extremely panicky. Her husband rushes outside to look for it where they've been. She is so scared while sitting and waiting for her husband to come back home. When her husband returns much later, he's even more worried as he couldn't find the necklace. He tells Mathilde to write to Madame Forestier, saying the necklace's clasp has broken and they're getting it fixed before returning.
They try their best to find out the necklace. They keep on searching for the necklace in every possible place. As a week passes by, Monsieur Loisel says that they need to think about getting a new necklace. Both of them move to many jewellery stores to find a similar necklace. Eventually, they find a similar necklace in a store. When they inquire about its price, they get the idea that the necklace costs 40,000 francs. The owner of the jewellery store offers them 4000 francs less. They spend a week managing and collecting money from everywhere they can. They even put their future at risk in managing 36000 francs. After three days, Monsieur Loisel moves to the store once again and buys the necklace. When Mathilde returns it to Madame Forestier, Madame Forestier gets annoyed with Mathilde. She takes her necklace back but doesn't check it. Mathilde feels relieved after handling the necklace.
The Loisels start to live their life in extreme poverty. They fire their servant and move their family into a smaller apartment. Their life completely changes. Monsieur Loisel starts doing three different jobs. Mathilde engages herself in the burden of all the hard household tasks. In this way, this tough as well as limited life goes on for ten years. Eventually, they manage to pay off all their debts. During this time of hardships, Mathilde loses her remarkable beauty and looks like other poor women. Both of them feel exhausted and thoroughly affected by these tough years.
One Sunday, while Mathilde is out on a walk, she sees Madame Forestier. She feels quite emotional and greets her. At first, Madame Forestier is not able to recognize her. But later when Mathilde tells her who she is, Madame Forestier becomes quite surprised by her different look. Mathilde explains everything to her. She explains how she lost her necklace and replaced it. She also informs her that they have worked for ten years to pay off the debts. In the end, Madame Forestier clasps her hands and reveals that the original necklace was not real and not worth anything.
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