The Necklace

(La Parure)
A Short Story by Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893)
Study Guide

Plot Summary
By Michael J. Cummings...© 2006
.......Even though Mathilde is pretty and quite charming, she has none of the advantages of
upper-class girls: a dowry, a distinguished family name, an entree into society, and all the little
fineries that women covet. Consequently, she accepts a match made for her with a clerk,
Monsieur Loisel, in the Department of Education.
.......Her home is common and plain, with well-worn furniture. The young girl from Brittany who
does the housework is a constant reminder to Mathilde of her own commoner status. But she
dreams of having more: tapestries, bronze lamps, footmen to serve her, parlors with silk fabrics,
perfumed rooms, silver dinnerware, exotic food, jewelry, the latest fashions.
.......One evening, her husband presents her an envelope containing a special surprise. He is
sure it will please her. Inside the envelope she finds a card inviting her and her husband to a
social affair as guests of the Minister of Education, Georges Rampouneau, and his wife at the
palace of the Ministry of Education.
.......But Mathilde is not at all pleased, for she has nothing to wear. When her husband asks her
what it would cost to buy her suitable attire, she says 400 francs–the exact amount he has set
aside to buy a gun to shoot larks at Nanterre with friends. However, he agrees to provide the
money, and she buys a gown. When the day of the fête draws near, Loisel notices that Mathilde is
downcast and inquires into the cause of her low spirits. She tells him she has no jewels to wear.
As a result, others at the party will look down on her as a commoner. But her spirits brighten
when Monsieur Loisel suggest that she borrow jewels from her friend, Madame Jeanne Forestier.

.......Wasting no time, Mathilde visits her friend the following day. Madame Forestier, only too
willing to cooperate, opens a box and tells Mathilde to choose. Inside are glittering jewels. She
chooses a diamond necklace so beautiful that it quickens her heartbeat.
.......At the party, Mathilde is the center of attention. Handsome men of high station ask who she
is and line up to dance with her. Not until 4 a.m. do the Loisels leave the palace. On their way out,
Mathilde’s husband puts a wrap on her shoulders–an article of clothing from her common,
everyday wardrobe. To avoid being seen in it, she hurries out against her husband’s wishes. He
wants to wait for a cab to arrive. Out in the cold, they search for transportation, wandering toward
the Seine. In time, they find a cab, and it takes them to their home on Rue des Martyrs. In her
bedroom, Mathilde stands before a mirror and removes her wrap to gaze upon the woman who
has enchanted so many men. Then she notices to her horror that the necklace is missing. She
and her husband search through their belongings but cannot find it. After they conclude that the
necklace must have come off in the cab, Monsieur Loisel goes out to search for the cab . He
returns at 7 a.m. after failing to find it. Visits to the police and the cab company, as well as other
measures, also leave them empty-handed.
.......At her husband’s suggestion, Mathilde writes to Madame Forestier, telling her that the
necklace clasp has broken and that it is being repaired. This ploy will buy time. Next, they decide
that their only recourse is to replace the necklace. Going from jeweler to jeweler, they search for a
facsimile. They find one in a shop in the Palais Royal. The price: 36,000 francs. To raise the
money, Loisel uses all of his savings and borrows the rest, writing promissory notes and signing
his name on numerous documents. Then the Loisels buy the replacement, and Mathilde takes it
in a case to Madame Forestier. The latter expresses annoyance that it was returned late, then
takes the case without opening it to check its contents.
.......Thereafter, the Loisels scrimp and save to pay their debt. After they dismiss their housemaid,
Mathilde does the work herself, washing dishes and linen, taking out the garbage, and performing
other menial labors. She also wears common clothes and haggles at the market. Monsieur Loisel
moonlights as a bookkeeper and copyist.
.......Ten years later, they are out of debt. They have paid back every borrowed franc and sou. By
this time, Mathilde is fully a commoner, with rough hands, plain clothes, and disheveled hair. And
she looks older than her years. Occasionally, she thinks back to the day when she wore the
necklace and when so many men admired her. What would have happened if she had never lost
the necklace?
.......One day Sunday on the Champs Elysées, she encounters Madame Forestier walking with a
child. When Mathilde addresses her, her friend does not recognize her–so haggard does Mathilde
look. After Mathilde identifies herself, she decides to tell Madame Forestier everything. What
could be the harm? After all, she has paid for the necklace, working ten long years at honest,
humble labor to fulfill her obligation. Madame Forestier then holds Mathilde’s hands and says,
“Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine was false. At most, it was worth five hundred francs!”

Setting
The action takes place in Paris, France, in the second half of the 19th Century. Specific locales
include the residence of the Loisels, the home of Madame Jeanne Forestier, the palace of the
Ministry of Education, Paris shops, and the streets of Paris, including the Rue des Martyrs and
the Champs Elysées.

Characters

Mathilde: Pretty young woman born into a common, middle-class family. She yearns for
the wealth, privileges, and fashions of highborn young ladies.
Monsieur Loisel: Government clerk whom Mathilde marries.
Madame Jeanne Forestier: Friend of Mathilde. She allows Mathilde to borrow a
necklace to wear to a gala social event.
Housemaid: Girl from Brittany who does the Loisels' housework. Her presence reminds
Mathilde of her own commoner status.
Jeweler: Dealer who provides a replacement necklace.
Monsieur and Madame Georges Rampouneau: Minister of Education and his wife,
who invite the Loisels to a party.
Child With Madame Forestier: See Number 5 under "Unanswered Questions" for
information about this character.
.

Type of Work
“The Necklace,” published in 1881, is a short story–among the finest surprise-ending stories in
any language. It is a compact, neat little package with just the right amount of character and plot
development and nary a wasted word. It is one of many of Maupassant’s short stories that earned
him recognition as a master of the genre.

Style
In "The Necklace," Maupassant makes every word count, each one contributing to the overall
effectiveness of the story. He provides only minimal details to further the plot and describe the
important characters. The result: a simple, easy-to-understand story that moves smoothly and
swiftly from beginning to end. Details that he leaves out allow the reader to interpret the events
and the characters in his or her own way. One may compare "The Necklace" to a painting with
subtle shades of meaning. Maupassant himself remains aloof from his characters, passing no
judgments on them, neither praising nor condemning them. For example, it is up to the reader to
decide whether Mathilde is victim of bad luck (or fate) or of her own warped perception of the
world as a place where success and recognition result from wealth and status.

Fate vs Free Will

Is Mathilde a hapless victim of fate or a victim of her own desires and the choices she makes to
fulfill them? In the opening sentence of the story, Maupassant introduces the notion of fate as a
controlling force:

Original French: C'était une de ces jolies et charmantes filles, nées, comme par une
erreur du destin, dans une famille d'employés.
Literal Translation: She was one of those pretty and charming girls, born, by a mistake of
destiny, into a family of employees (common middle-class workers).
He expands on this idea when Mathilde borrows a necklace of imitation diamonds in the mistaken
belief that they are real. Finally, comes the coup de grace: She loses the necklace and replaces it
with a lookalike necklace made of genuine diamonds. She and her husband work ten years to
pay for it only to discover that the original necklace was fake in the first place. All of these
developments suggest that Mathilde is the plaything of fate. However, Maupassant also points out
early on that Mathilde longed to live like the highborn. Fashionable clothes, jewels, a home with
spacious rooms and tapestries–all were badges of success, according to Mathilde's distorted
view of the world. In further developing this idea–that it was perhaps Mathilde's own yearnings,
not fate, that got her into trouble, the narrator says,
Original French: Elle eût tant désiré plaire, être enviée, être séduisante et recherchée.
Literal Translation: She had so much desire to please, to be envied, to be enticing, to be
sought after.
In the end, the reader is left to decide for himself whether Mathilde's downfall was of her own
making or fate's–or a combination of both.
Translations by M.J. Cummings

Climax
The climax of a literary work, such as a short story or a novel, can be defined as (1) the turning
point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for better or worse, or as (2) the final and most
exciting event in a series of events. The climax of "The Necklace" occurs, according to the first
definition, when Mathilde discovers that she has lost the necklace. According to the second
definition, the climax occurs at the end of the story, when Madame Forestier informs Mathilde that
the lost necklace was a fake.

Themes

False Values

People should evaluate themselves and others on who they are intrinsically (that is, on their
character and moral fiber), not on what they possess or where they stand in society. Mathilde
Loisel learns this lesson the hard way. Related to this theme are the following motifs:
 Appearances are deceiving. Mathilde Loisel believed the necklace genuine the moment
she saw it. Likewise, she believed that all the people at the party were real, genuine
human beings because of their social standing and their possessions. The necklace, of
course, was a fake. And, Maupassant implies, so were the people at the party who judge
Mathilde on her outward appearance.

Honesty, humility, and hard work are what shape character, not the clothes or jewels that
a person wears or the high station into which he or she is born.

Unanswered Questions
1. After paying off her debt, Mathilde wonders what her life would have been like if she had
not lost the necklace. The narrator does not suggest an answer to this question. What do
you think would have happened to her?
2. Do you think Madame Forestier will sell the diamond necklace and return the Loisels'
money?
3. If Madame Forestier does return the money, will Mathilde save her share of it? Or will she
spend it to fulfill her old longings?
4. What will her husband do with his portion of the money?
5. At the end of the story, the narrator tells us that Madame Forestier is walking with a small
child? Why does Maupassant introduce a new character, about whom he tells the reader
nothing, at this point in the story? Is it possible that the child supposed is to represent a
new generation of Parisians who will go on pursuing false values? Or does the child's
presence at the end suggest something else?

Essay Topics
1. Write an essay that attempts to answer Question 1 or 4 under "Unanswered Questions."
Support your position logical reasoning and opinions gleaned from research.
2. Write an essay arguing for or against the view that Mathilde's yearning for wealth and
social status, not fate, brought about her downfall.
3. In an informative essay, discuss to what extent 19th Century French society imposed
limitations on Mathilde's opportunities to earn money and attain social standing?
4. Explain why "The Necklace" continues to enjoy widespread popularity with modern
readers.
5. Assume the role of a psychologist. Then write a psychological profile of Mathilde.
6. Would the men at the party admire Mathilde if they were aware that the necklace was
fake and that she had few material possessions? Provide your answer in an essay
supported by relevant passages from the story, as well as other evidence.