Page 28 - DENG105_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_II

Unit 2: The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

He cloaks her bare shoulders in a wrap and cautions her to wait inside, away from the cold Notes
night air, while he fetches a cab. But she is ashamed at the shabbiness of her wrap and follows
Monsieur Loisel outside. They walk for a while before hailing a cab.
When they finally return home, Mathilde is saddened that the night has ended. As she removes
her wrap, she discovers that her necklace is no longer around her neck. In a panic, Monsieur
Loisel goes outside and retraces their steps. Terrified, she sits and waits for him. He returns
home much later in an even greater panic—he has not found the necklace. He instructs her to
write to Madame Forestier and say that she has broken the clasp of the necklace and is getting
it mended.
They continue to look for the necklace. After a week, Monsieur Loisel says they have to see
about replacing it. They visit many jewellers, searching for a similar necklace, and finally find
one. It costs 40,000 francs, although the jeweller says he will give it to them for 36,000. The
Loisels spend a week scraping up money from all kinds of sources, mortgaging the rest of
their existence. After three days, Monsieur Loisel purchases the necklace. When Mathilde
returns the necklace, in its case, to Madame Forestier, Madame Forestier is annoyed at how
long it has taken to get it back but does not open the case to inspect it. Mathilde is relieved.

The Loisels began to live a life of crippling poverty. They dismiss their servant and move into
an even smaller apartment. Monsieur Loisel works three jobs, and Mathilde spends all her
time doing the heavy housework. This misery lasts ten years, but at the end they have repaid
their financial debts. Mathilde’s extraordinary beauty is now gone: she looks just like the other
women of poor households. They are both tired and irrevocably damaged from these years of
hardship.

One Sunday, while she is out for a walk, Mathilde spots Madame Forestier. Feeling emotional,
she approaches her and offers greetings. Madame Forestier does not recognize her, and when
Mathilde identifies herself, Madame Forestier cannot help but exclaim that she looks different.
Mathilde says that the change was on her account and explains to her the long saga of losing
the necklace, replacing it, and working for ten years to repay the debts. At the end of her
story, Madame Forestier clasps her hands and tells Mathilde the original necklace was just
costume jewellery and not worth anything.

2.3 Major Characters

In any literay work, it is absolutely essential to have characters, whether major or minor. It is
also necessary to develop these characters throughout the story. Character development gives
the reader insight to the more important meanings or lessons of the story. These lessons are
usually brought out by the events that take place within the story. Looking at Guy De Maupassant’s
piece “The Necklace”, we see a very clear development of the main character Mathidle. In the
story, we see a change in her attitude about life.
This change comes about when she has to learn one of life’s little lessons the hard way. She
and her husband are forced to live a life of hard work and struggle because of her own selfish
desires. Mathilde changes from a woman who spends her time dreaming of all the riches and
glory she doesn’t have, to realise that she overlooked all the riches she did have.

Mathilde Loisel—The protagonist of the story. Mathilde has been blessed with physical beauty
but not with the affluent lifestyle she yearns for, and she feels deeply discontented with her
lot in life. When she prepares to attend a fancy party, she borrows a diamond necklace from
her friend Madame Forestier, then loses the necklace and must work for ten years to pay off
a replacement. Her one night of radiance cost her and Monsieur Loisel any chance for future
happiness.

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