o

.
What is the main characters name?
A.
Madame Mathilde

B.
Madame Virginia

C.
Madame Froestier

D.
Madame Elizabeth

2.
What is most likely the reason that the main character isn't satisfied with her life?
A.
Her husband is always working

B.
Everyone uses her strictly for money

C.
Her mother died at a really young age

D.
She feels as if every luxury in the world should be hers

3.
The main character recieves a(n) _______ in the mail
A.
Invitation

B.
Letter from her father

C.
Box containing a diamond necklace

D.
Envelope containing 400 francs

4.
The necklace that is worn by the main character in the story is an example of...
A.
Characterization

B.
Symbolism

C.
Irony

D.
All of the above

5.
What happened to the main character at the ball?
A.
She is shunned

B.
Everyone loved her

C.
Nobody noticed her

D.
All of the above

6.
What happened to the original necklace?
A.
The main character lost the necklace

B.
The main character decided to keep it

C.
It was broken

D.
The gem fell out of the necklace

7.
How much did the main character pay for the new necklace?
A.
500 Francs

B.
2 Francs

C.
34,000 Francs

D.
36,000 Francs

8.

How long was the main character and her husband in debt?
A.
2 months

B.
5 years

C.
About 10 years

D.
50+ years

9.
Who said "It was worth 500 francs at the most."?
A.
Madame Forestier

B.
The first jeweler

C.
The second jeweler

D.
Madame Mathtilde

10.
What type of irony does the conclusion show?
A.
Dramatic Irony

B.
Situational Irony

C.
Verbal Irony

D.
No irony at all

What is missing when Mathilde returns home from the ball?

Her husband
The necklace
The money in her coat pocket
The magic in her marriage. They havent even performed a simple card trick together in ages.
Q. What costs 36,000 francs?

The divorce lawyer

The briefcase with 35,980 francs in it. Its a pretty crappy briefcase.
The replacement necklace
The private detective
Q. For how long are the Loisels in poverty?

Five years
Ten years
Eighteen years
Only a few weeks, but you wouldnt think it seeing the way they continue to dress
Q. What do the Loisels eventually do?

They commit suicide

They declare bankruptcy
They pay off all of their debts
They apply for welfare, for which they are declined. Mathilde probably should have sold that mink first.
Q. How much was Mme. Forestiers necklace worth?

500 francs
5,000 francs
50,000 francs
You cant put a price on the sentimental value. She was wearing that necklace when she got her first hickey.

What does Mathilde wish that she was?

Married
Dead
Wealthy
In the land of cotton
Q. In which department does M. Loisel work?

The Department of Education

The Department of Internal Affairs
The Department of Defense
The Department of Fish and Wildlife and How Best to Prepare Them
Q. What does M. Loisel offer to buy for Mathilde?

A necklace
A purse
The box set of How I Met Your Mother
A dress
Q. Why does Mathilde visit Mme. Forestier?

To ask if she may marry her son

To borrow jewelry
To ask for a job

To borrow a cup of sugar and 400 francs

Q. What reception does Mathilde get at the ball?

Everyone loves her

She is shunned
Pretty bad, no matter how much she tries to adjust the rabbit ears
No one notices her

The necklace is all except

Flashy
Beautiful
Seemingly valuable
False
Expensive
Q. The necklace could stand for things without

Heart
Soul
Substance
Feelings
Pride
Q. The necklace is about Mathilde's desire for

Approval
Wealth
Children
Family
Self-confidence
Q. In addition to wealth, the necklace might symbolize

Appearances
Health
Status
Society
Greed
Q. In the end, poverty ruins Mathilde's

Looks
Dreams
Aspirations
Hopes
All of the above

Of what is the necklace made?

Diamonds

Rubies
Emeralds
Rubies
Peridotes
Q. Mathilde is a 19th version of a

Rock star
Desperate housewife
Feminist
Aristocrat
Politician
Q. This is a story of greed and ____

Morality
Pride
Mortality
Hope
Dreams
Q. Mathilde is obsessed with

Love
Sex
Wealth
Books
Zynga
Q. After she loses the necklace, Mathilde experiences real poverty. Which theme is this?

Man and Natural World

Women and Femininity
Gender
Suffering
Hate

Mathilde was

Pretty
Plain
Dull
Dumb
Unsocial
Q. Mathilde's mind dwelled on "quiet ___"

Moments
Vestibules
Libraries
Films
Books
Q. Mathilde's friend was from her ____ days.

Nursery
Childcare
Grammar school
High school
Convent
Q. Who said, "You ought to have brought it back sooner, for I might have needed it."?

First Jeweler
M. Ramponneau
Mme. Forestier
M. Loisel
Mme. Loisel
Q. Who said, "At most they were worth five hundred francs!"?

The First Jeweler

The Second Jeweler
Mme. Forestier
Mme. Loisel
M. Loisel

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Why does Mathilde dress plainly?

a.
She does not like the fashion of the times.
b.

She refuses to conform to what society dictates about dressing well.

c.

She cannot afford to dress well.

What is the attitude of Mathilde's husband about their financial situation?

a.

He is grateful for what they have.

b.

He resents the fact that they cannot have more.

c.

He envies those whose wives and residences have more elegance.

What does Mathilde want most?

a.

To cook good food for her family, especially good soup for her husband.

b.

To enjoy the time she has to spend with her husband.

c.

To be envied, to be charming, to be sought after.

According to the narrator, what often makes women of humble origins equal to women of the upper socio-economic classes?
a.

A professional job for which she is well paid.

b.

Natural ingenuity, instinct for what is elegant, and a supple mind.

c.

Good furniture and clothing, such as fine jewelry and Orientaltapestries.

Mathilde's attitude can best be described as

a.

covetous.

b.

scornful.

c.

contemptuous.

Meet the Cast

Mathilde Loisel
Mathilde Loisel wants to be a glamour girl. She's obsessed with glamour with fancy, beautiful, expensive things, and
the life that accompanies them. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't born into...

M. Loisel
M. Loisel is the "little clerk in the Department of Education" (1) to whom Mathilde's family marries Mathilde off.
Mathilde herself, as we're quick to find out, isn't terribly happy about her middl...

Mme. Jeanne Forestier

Mme. Jeanne Forestier is wealthy. That's basically all you need to know. She's the rich friend: the person you turn to
when you need something absolutely fabulous to wear to that ball next weekend...

M. Georges Ramponneau
M. Georges Ramponneau is the guy who throws the fabulous ball that just might be the best few hours of Mathilde's
life. He's the Minister of Education, which makes him M. Loisel's boss (which is pr...

The First Jeweler

The first jeweler is the man whose name is on the box in which Mme. Forestier's necklace comes. Naturally, when
Mathilde loses it, he's the one she and her husband go to, to see about replacing it....

Character Analysis
Mathilde Loisel wants to be a glamour girl. She's obsessed with glamour with fancy, beautiful, expensive things, and
the life that accompanies them. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't born into a family with the money to make her
dream possible. Instead, she gets married to a "little clerk" husband and lives with him in an apartment so shabby it
brings tears to her eyes (1). Cooped up all day in the house with nothing to do but cry over the chintzy furniture and
the fabulous life she's not having, Mathilde hates her life, and probably her husband too. She weeps "all day long,
from chagrin, from regret, from despair, and from distress" (6). She dreams day after day about escaping it all.

Mathilde the Material Girl

When it all comes down to it, Mathilde's kind of a material girl. The most obvious thing she wants out of life
is: expensive stuff.
She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury She let her mind dwell on the quiet
vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee
breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the
large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish
little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five o'clock chat with the most intimate friends (3)
Now why does Mathilde want all of these expensive, material possessions? It doesn't sound like she just wants it
because she's money-obsessed. No, for Mathilde, the rich life is attractive because it's glamorous, beautiful, exciting,
fine, and unlike the dingy apartment in which she lives. The glamorous life has a certain kind of magical allure to it. A
lot of the objects Mathilde wants are magical, like the "tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with
strange birds in a fairy-like forest" (4). For Mathilde, being wealthy amounts to living in a fairy tale. Being middle class
amounts to boredom. She wants the fairy tale.
Does her wish to live the fairy tale life make her "greedy"? Well, you ever notice how throughout the first part of the
story, Mathilde's never satisfied with anything? When her husband brings her the invitation all she can think about is
the dress she wants. When she gets the dress, all she can think about is the jewels she doesn't have. And when she
visits Mme. Forestier, she's not really satisfied with any of her jewel collection she keeps on asking, "You haven't
anything else?" (46). At least until she sees the most fabulous, expensive looking piece of jewelry, that is: the
diamond necklace.
So yes, by many standards, Mathilde is probably greedy. But her greed's not the end of the story. Material things
aren't the only things she wants. And there's also a deeper reason for her greed: dissatisfaction. We can't help but
thinking that if she truly were satisfied with her life as it is (i.e., marriage, home, etc.) that she wouldn't be daydreaming of a life she could never have.

Mathilde and Men

The other thing Mathilde wants? Men. Rich, attractive, charming, powerful men. That passage we quote above
finishes with: "the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and
desired" (3). Just a little afterwards, we're told:
She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after. (5)
What's interesting about Mathilde's man-craze is that she seems to be more interested in seducing men than in the
men themselves. That's because what Mathilde really wants is to be wanted. More than being just desired, Mathilde
wants to be glamorous gorgeous, charming, graceful, and thoroughly decked out in diamonds. The ultimate
measure of being glamorous just happens to be being attractive to glamorous men. It all forms part of one big
glamorous, fairy-tale world, the world about which Mathilde fantasizes.
What's particularly frustrating to Mathilde is that she knows she's got the natural looks and charms to be a splash with
the rich playboy types she wants to impress. She just needs the outward signs of being wealthy, but can't afford the
necessary clothing and jewelry. Mathilde's quite vain about her "feminine charms." Her vanity may be why she's
unwilling to go to the ball unless she looks better than everyone else there. And when she does go to the ball, that's
exactly what she is:
The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling,
and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be introduced. All the attaches of the

Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her. (53)
So Mathilde may be vain, but she's at least not deluding herself about her attractiveness. Mathilde's vanity about the
ball might seem a little extreme, but think of it this way: so far as she knows, that ball might be the one chance she
has to experience the life she dreams about. If you were in her shoes, wouldn't you want to make it absolutely
perfect?

Mathilde the Desperate Housewife

We know Mathilde can be a hard character to like. She can seem vain, greedy, and shallow, especially compared to
her husband, who goes to great lengths to please her. He's happy with what he has, while she always wants more.
He seems to care a great deal for her, while she almost never shows any sign of caring for him. Does Mathilde have
any redeeming qualities?
We don't know, but we do think Mathilde deserves a little sympathy. Think about what it means to be a middle-class
woman in 19th century France. Because she's a woman, Mathilde has almost no control over her life: her family
marries her off to her husband, and once she's married, he's her master. He goes out and works, and gets to go out
on hunting expeditions with his buddies, while she has to stay in the house all day. She doesn't seem to have a
terribly close bond to her husband, or find him attractive. She doesn't seem to have many friends how would she
meet them? She doesn't have any kids to occupy her time. She doesn't even have anything to do, since the maid
takes care of the housework. Her life seems to be miserably boring. In fact, she doesn't have anything to do except to
daydream about a different life. That makes Mathilde a classic case of the desperate housewife. (For the classic
case, head on over and check outEmma Bovary, the leading lady of Flaubert's Madame Bovary.
In those circumstances, can you blame Mathilde for creating a fantasy world that's more glamorous, more exciting,
more beautiful than her own? Can you blame her for wanting to be wanted by somebody rich and important? Back
then, if you were a woman, being wanted by a man was practically the only way to be anybody at all. And Mathilde
feels like a nobody, wanting to be a somebody.
Still, we can't sympathize completely with Mathilde. It does seem like at some level her complete and total
unhappiness has got to be self-induced. Her situation makes her unhappy, but she also refuses to try to make herself
happy. She refuses to try to be content with what she does have. Which is too bad, because, as she finds out when
she loses the necklace, things can get a lot worse.
Mathilde's poverty later in the story raises another question though. When Mathilde's poor, she certainly seems to be
worse off. Her impoverished life suddenly becomes difficult and uncomfortable in a way her middle-class life never
was. She's constantly busy doing physically demanding chores. She gets exhausted. She has to be rude to people,
and pick fights over pennies. Her good looks disappear. But then again, once she's poor, at least Mathilde is doing
something. She can no longer be bored and useless. And all her hardship and work has a purpose: she and her
husband have to repay the debts. So maybe, in a certain way, Mathilde's better off when she's poor. What do you
think?

We meet Mathilde (although we don't learn her name right away), an attractive, charming young girl who's

born into an average family, but believes that she has the right qualities to be rich and fabulous.
Mathilde likes to spend her days hating her life and living in dreamland. She dreams of Oriental tapestries,
footmen, and seducing men. If only she were rich

Mathilde receives an invitation to a ball the Minister of Education is throwing from her husband. Just what
she always wantedbut she has no dress. Fortunately, she is able to get four hundred francs from her
husband. Dress? Check.

Mathilde finds something else to be upset about right before the party: no jewels. She goes to Mme.
Forestier to borrow some, and after rifling through her whole collection finds the one: a diamond necklace.
Jewels? Check.

Mathilde goes to the party, has the time of her life, and seriously works it. She's desired by all the men
present, including her husband's boss.

Mathilde leaves the ball in a rush at 4am she can't be seen in her raggy wrap. She and her husband
wander around for a while before they finally catch a cab and go home.

Once she gets home, Mathilde has to look at herself one last time in the mirror. But when she does she finds
out that the necklace is gone.

Mathilde spends the next day traumatized in a chair getting over the fact the necklace is gone, while her
husband searches for the necklace all over Paris.

Mathilde goes with M. Loisel to get a new necklace. After finding a look-alike, they spend all of their money
and are forced to take out loans to buy it.

Mathilde returns the replacement necklace to Mme. Forestier.

Mathilde spends the next ten years living a poor woman's life. She loses her good looks, but learns how to
work.

Over ten years after the fateful party, Mathilde decides to take a stroll on the Champs Elyses, where she
meets Mme. Forestier, who, unlike her, still looks young and beautiful.

Mathilde decides to tell Mme. Forestier the truth about the necklace she returned, and the last ten years of
her life.

Mme. Forestier tells Mathilde that the necklace she ruined her life to replace was a fake.

We never get to see how Mathilde reacts to this crushing news.

BACK

NEXT

She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of
bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by
the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate
furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the
five o'clock chat with the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all
women envied and desired. (3)

Mathilde spends her time living in a dream world, in which she imagines all the fabulous things she'd have if she were
rich. The most detail we get in the otherwise sparse story comes in Maupassant's descriptions of the
fancy stuff Mathilde wants. But being rich also means more than just nice stuff to her: it means having the glamour to
attract men.

She had a rich friend, a comrade of her convent days, whom she did not want to go and see any more, so
much did she suffer as she came away. (6)
Mathilde wants to be wealthy so badly that she's driven mad with jealousy by the one rich friend she has, Mme.
Forestier. She can't bear to see Mme. Forestier, because it brings her within arm's reach of the world of wealth she
wants so badly, but can't have.

She reflected a few seconds, going over her calculations, and thinking also of the sum which she might
ask without meeting an immediate refusal and a frightened exclamation from the frugal clerk. (24)
It looks like Mathilde is milking her husband for all he's worth here. Was her the crying fit put on so she could seize
the opportunity to get a fancy dress from him?

It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look wretched. I would almost rather
not go to this party." (33)
OK, so after she's gotten an expensive dress out of her husband, Mathilde refuses to go to the party again. She's still
not satisfied. This time, it's jewels. She needs jewels. Does this mean Mathilde actually expects her husband to get
her a piece of jewelry?

All at once she discovered, in a box of black satin, a superb necklace of diamonds, and her heart began
to beat with boundless desire. Her hands trembled in taking it up. She fastened it round her throat, on her
high dress, and remained in ecstasy before herself. (48)
Maybe diamonds are a girl's best friend. Just seeing and touching something expensive and beautiful drives Mathilde
crazy. She's in "ecstasy" over a necklace. The necklace may be a symbol for wealth, or glamour in the story. Even if it
isn't, it certainly seems to equate to those things for Mathilde.
The Necklace
Wealth
Mathilde Loisel
Quote 6

Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically.
The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. They dismissed the servant; they changed their rooms;
they took an attic under the roof. (98)
After losing the necklace, Mathilde now finds herself actually poor. Though she felt herself "poor" before, she was
fairly comfortable, and middle class. Now her life is much harder.

She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich
and distinguished; and she let them make a match for her with a little clerk in the Department of
Education. (1)

Mathilde's future prospects are not in her own hands. She's a woman, which means the quality of her life will basically
depend upon her family and her husband. And in both respects, she's out of luck, as far as she's concerned. With so
much powerlessness, it's no wonder she's frustrated and dissatisfied.
The Necklace
Women and Femininity
Mathilde Loisel
Quote 8

She had no dresses, no jewelry, nothing. And she loved nothing else; she felt herself made for that only.
She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after. (5)
Mathilde wants to be desired by men. To some extent, even her desire for wealth is just derivative of that. Her highest
wish is to be approved of and wanted by someone else.
The Necklace
Women and Femininity
Mathilde Loisel
Quote 9

But by a violent effort she had conquered her trouble, and she replied in a calm voice as she wiped her
damp cheeks... (20)
Mathilde comes across as overly sensitive and emotional. She has to work very hard to control her emotions. There's
a feminine stereotype for you on which Maupassant is playing.

No; there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women." (37)
Wealth and womanhood are intimately bound up in Mathilde's mind. She wants to look wealthy so she can compete
with the rich women.
The Necklace
Women and Femininity
Mathilde Loisel
Quote 11

The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant,
gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be
introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her. (53)
Mathilde's a huge hit. She gets all the men to pay attention her, including the most important one of all (the minister).
This is the best moment of her life.
The Necklace
Women and Femininity
Mathilde Loisel

Quote 12

She danced with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in the triumph of her
beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the
admirations, of all these awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a woman's heart.
(54)
The narrator seems to be suggesting here that Mathilde's desires to look glamorous and beautiful and be desired
by men are more generally "woman's" desires. That's what makes women happy and pleases their "womanly
hearts." Again, it seems to be entirely stereotyped.

Then, one Sunday, as she was taking a turn in the Champs Elyses, as a recreation after the labors of
the week, she perceived suddenly a woman walking with a child. It was Mme. Forestier, still young, still
beautiful, still seductive. (107)
Unlike Mathilde, who's lost her looks and "womanly charms" to poverty, Mme. Forestier still looks good. All of that
even after becoming a mother (another sign of womanhood). This makes us wonder why Mathilde doesn't have a
child?
The Necklace
Women and Femininity
Mathilde Loisel
Quote 14

She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the
poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. All these
things, which another woman of her caste would not even have noticed, tortured her and made her
indignant. (3)
Mathilde feels herself to be better than her circumstances. She deserves more than she has, and is angry at the
universe because she isn't getting it. Her dissatisfaction seems intimately connected to pride.
The Necklace
Pride
Mathilde Loisel > M. Loisel
Quote 15

"Nothing. Only I have no clothes, and in consequence I cannot go to this party. Give your card to some
colleague whose wife has a better outfit than I." (21)
Instead of being happy with the invitation her husband has worked so hard to get, Mathilde's first reaction is to be
angry about it. If she's going to go, she just has to look the best, and she doesn't have any clothes that are nice
enough Is she ever happy? Then again, would you want to go to the one nice party you've been invited to looking
shabby? It's hard to tell whether Mathilde's vanity, or greed, is making her overreact, or whether she does have
nothing nice to wear.

She saw at first bracelets, then a necklace of pearls, then a Venetian cross of gold set with precious
stones of an admirable workmanship. She tried on the ornaments before the glass, hesitated, and could
not decide to take them off and to give them up. She kept on asking:
"You haven't anything else?" (45-46)

OK, so the jewel situation looks better: Mathilde's found a treasure trove of the things. But she's still not satisfied.
None of them makes her look as good as she wants to look. Her vanity once again seems to be making her greedy.
The Necklace
Pride
Mathilde Loisel
Quote 17

He threw over her shoulders the wraps he had brought to go home in, modest garments of every-day life,
the poverty of which was out of keeping with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this, and wanted to fly
so as not to be noticed by the other women, who were wrapping themselves up in rich furs. (56)
After a successful evening at the ball, Mathilde's too proud to let herself be seen wearing her shabby wrap. She
needs to keep up the illusion. It could be that her rushing off like this is what causes her to lose the necklace.
The Necklace
Pride
Mathilde Loisel
Quote 18

Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically.
The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. (98)
When Mathilde becomes poor, she is forced to work. Getting down to work and paying off the debts seems to make
her proud in a new way. She can be proud of her hard work, and of her endurance. Meanwhile, her looks which
used to be her pride and joy start to disappear.

I brought you back another just like it. And now for ten years we have been paying for it. You will
understand that it was not easy for us, who had nothing. At last, it is done, and I am mighty glad." (122)
Mathilde is proud of all the work and suffering she and her husband have put into repaying for the necklace. It was an
honorable and difficult thing to do. But they've succeeded.
The Necklace
Pride
Mathilde Loisel > Mme. Jeanne Forestier
Quote 20

"Yes. You did not notice it, even, did you? They were exactly alike?"
And she smiled with proud and nave joy. (126-127)
Mathilde is even more proud to learn that Mme. Forestier didn't notice the difference between her original necklace
and the substitute. It adds extra validation to her work: she did fully make up for losing the necklace.
The Necklace
Pride
Mathilde Loisel

Quote 21

She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the
poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. All these
things, which another woman of her caste would not even have noticed, tortured her and made her
indignant. The sight of the little girl from Brittany who did her humble housework awoke in her desolated
regrets and distracted dreams. (3)
Mathilde is unhappy locked up in her house, just being there makes her suffer. She finds it oppressive. Her only
method of coping with it is to live in a dream world. The question is, does Mathilde just suffer because she's
excessively greedy? Or does she suffer because her life is boring and meaningless?

nd she wept all day long, from chagrin, from regret, from despair, and from distress. (6)
In case you needed any additional proof that Mathilde is miserable, she spends all day crying. Her life has essentially
nothing enjoyable in it.
The Necklace
Suffering
Mathilde Loisel
Quote 23

She danced with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in the triumph of her
beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the
admirations, of all these awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a woman's heart.
(54)
This represents Mathilde's one moment of genuine joy. It's just about the only such moment in the whole story, and
forms a high point between two long bouts of unhappiness.
The Necklace
Suffering
Mathilde Loisel
Quote 24

And he went out. She stayed there, in her ball dress, without strength to go to bed, overwhelmed, on a
chair, without a fire, without a thought. (79)
The object which made Mathilde's glorious night possible has become her worst nightmare just a few hours later.
She's so traumatized she can't even get out of her chair. How quickly the situation reverses. The fact that Mathilde's
hasn't even changed out of her lovely ball gown captures that reversal in an image.

Character Analysis
M. Loisel is the "little clerk in the Department of Education" (1) to whom Mathilde's family marries Mathilde off.
Mathilde herself, as we're quick to find out, isn't terribly happy about her middle-class husband. She hates the shabby
"averageness" of their life, and is miserable being cooped up in their apartment all day, dreaming of the luxurious life
she wants to be leading. M. Loisel, on the other hand, seems quite happy with their situation. Unlike Mathilde, he
enjoys his life as it is, especially that good old homemade pot-au-feu (stew):
When she sat down to dine, before a tablecloth three days old, in front of her husband, who lifted the cover of the
tureen, declaring with an air of satisfaction, "Ah, the good pot-au-feu. I don't know anything better than that," she was

thinking of delicate repasts, with glittering silver, with tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with
strange birds in a fairy-like forest (4)
Yes, M. Loisel appreciates the little things. He also seems devoted to his wife. After all, he goes to all that trouble to
get her the invitation to a fancy party, which he couldn't care less about himself (he sleeps through it). He sacrifices
the hunting rifle he's spent months saving up for so Mathilde can buy a dress for the ball. And when she loses the
necklace, he's the one who goes all over the city searching for it. Most importantly, M. Loisel spends his life's savings
replacing it.
So M. Loisel seems like the simple, happy, good guy in the story, a foil for his perpetually dissatisfied wife. They make
the classic unhappy bourgeois couple, in other words. But you can wonder about two things

Is M. Loisel an insensitive husband?

M. Loisel enjoys his domestic life quite a lot, unlike Mathilde, but think about the difference in their situations. He's got
a life outside his home, a group of buddies to go on hunting trips with, and a gorgeous wife who serves his favorite
stews for him when he comes home from work. Hedoesn't have to stay cooped up in the house all day with nothing to
do. Doesn't something seem a little unfair about that situation, then, as if his enjoyment might come at her expense?
Clearly, M. Loisel cares for his wife for all the reasons we said. And he at least knows her well enough to know that
the invitation to his boss's fancy party will be important to her. But he doesn't know her well enough to understand
that the invitation won't be enough, and he's stunned by her reaction to it. When she explains she can't go without a
dress, the narrator tells us simply that "He had not thought of that" (16). And he's "astonished" to see how upset she
gets. That suggests he himself might not understand just how different things are for women and men (at least during
the 19th century). He doesn't have to worry about what he looks like; she does.
It could be that Mathilde is the real problem, because she's so hard to please, and refuses to be content with what
she has. But it could also be that because of her situation as a woman, her life is just a lot worse than her husband's
(see Mathilde's "Character Analysis" for more on this), and he doesn't understand that. Then again, even if he did,
what could he do? It's not clear what he could do to make Mathilde happier, short of divorcing her (which would
probably make her worse off), or somehow miraculously getting rich.
At the end of the day, we still do think M. Loisel is a good guy. But perhaps he should try and appreciate a little more
how different his life is from his wife's.

Is M. Loisel too proud?

Some readers place the blame for the story's unhappy ending on Mathilde. She's too proud to tell Mme. Forestier that
she's lost the necklace after her husband's efforts to find it have failed. Intuitively, that might make sense, since she is
the vain one in this story. But if you look at the events of "The Necklace," it seems like M. Loisel is the one who
doesn't want to tell Mme. Forestier what has happened. Before they've given up hope of finding the necklace, he tells
Mathilde to lie to Mme. Forestier and say that the necklace is having its clasp replaced, so that they can have more
time to search for it. Then, when it still hasn't come up, he seems to just jump to the conclusion that they have to
replace it without informing Mme. Forestier:
At the end of a week they had lost all hope. And Loisel, aged by five years, declared:
"We must see how we can replace those jewels." (86-87)
Given that, we think it's hard to lay the blame entirely at Mathilde's feet. Her husband is at least as responsible, if

not more responsible, for not telling Mme. Forestier the truth about the necklace.
But why should we be laying blame at all? Pride certainly isn't the only thing that could motivate M. Loisel to jump to
the conclusion he has to replace the necklace without telling Mme. Forestier. He doesn't seem like a proud man, quite
the contrary. Given his humble circumstances, it could just as easily be fear that motivates him: he's afraid of what the
wealthy Mme. Forestier will do if she finds out they've lost her necklace. Would you want to tell someone much richer
and more powerful than you that you and your wife have just lost her fabulously expensive piece of jewelry?
On the other hand, M. Loisel could think that buying Mme. Forestier a new necklace secretly is the honorable thing to
do. After all, if he and his wife told Mme. Forestier that they had lost the necklace (which as far as they're concerned
is hugely expensive), the ball would be in her court, and there'd be a certain pressure on her to let them off the hook.
She's got to know that they're not rich, and couldn't possibly afford a replacement. That wouldn't feel right to M.
Loisel. He's an honorable fellow, and feels obliged to make up the loss.
So it could be pride, fear, or honor that motivates M. Loisel to do what he does. Most likely, we think, it's some mix of
all three. Aren't people's motivations usually a bit jumbled?

M. LOISEL TIMELINE AND

SUMMARY

BACK

NEXT

M. Loisel is introduced as the "little clerk in the Department of Education" Mathilde's family marries her off to
(1). Mathilde doesn't seem too happy about the whole thing.

We learn, from a telling comparison about how they eat their dinner that M. Loisel is quite content with his
life, while Mathilde is not.

M. Loisel comes home with an invitation to a fabulous ball his boss is throwing. Mathilde surprises him by
having a fit because she doesn't have a dress. He agrees to buy her a new dress. There goes that hunting
rifle for which he had been saving.

M. Loisel finds his wife (who's bought the dress) upset again only a few days before the ball. This time, she's
upset that she doesn't have any jewelry to wear with the dress. He tells her to borrow some from Mme.
Forestier, and she takes his suggestion.

M. Loisel goes to the ball with Mathilde, and sleeps through most of it. He leaves with her at 4am, and takes
a cab back home.

M. Loisel is just as alarmed as Mathilde to discover the necklace is missing. After spending a while
searching her clothes, he goes out to tell the police, the newspapers, and the cab company. He spends the
next week searching. Nothing.

M. Loisel decides that he and Mathilde have no choice but to buy Mme. Forestier a new necklace. They find
a replacement at a jeweler's shop.

M. Loisel gives up his life's savings and goes into massive debt in order to buy the necklace.

M. Loisel spends the next ten years repaying the debts, working as a book-keeper and a copier in the time
that's not spent working for the ministry. After ten years, he pays off the last debt.

When she sat down to dine, before a tablecloth three days old, in front of her husband, who lifted
the cover of the tureen, declaring with an air of satisfaction, "Ah, the goodpot-au-feu. I don't know
anything better than that," she was thinking of delicate repasts, with glittering silver, with
tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds in a fairy-like forest. (4)

Mathilde's husband is the opposite of Mathilde: he's happy with what he has. So far as he's concerned,
there's nothing better than the good old stew his wife puts on the table every evening. All Mathilde can think
of at the same moment is how much better things could be, and how she'd rather be elsewhere. It all seems
too low to her.

The Necklace

Pride

M. Loisel > Mathilde Loisel

Quote 2

At the end of a week they had lost all hope. And Loisel, aged by five years, declared:
"We must see how we can replace those jewels." (86-87)

Why does it never occur to Mathilde or M. Loisel to tell Mme. Forestier they've lost the necklace? Instead,
once they lose hope of finding it, M. Loisel decides the only solution is to buy a new one. Is he too proud to
admit that it's been lost? Or is it something else? (See M. Loisel's "Character Analysis" for more of our
thoughts on this.)

The Necklace

Pride

M. Loisel

Quote 3

It brought them to their door, rue des Martyrs; and they went up their own stairs sadly. For her it
was finished. And he was thinking that he would have to be at the Ministry at ten o'clock. (61)

And just like that, the fabulous night at the ball is over. The happiness was fleeting, and is replaced by the
dull unhappiness of daily life.

Character Analysis
Mme. Jeanne Forestier is wealthy. That's basically all you need to know. She's the rich friend: the person you turn to
when you need something absolutely fabulous to wear to that ball next weekend but don't have the money to buy
anything appropriate. That's Mme. Forestier's role in this story: she's that friend for Mathilde. It's also Mme. Forestier
who reveals at the end that her necklace was false and thereby single-handedly triggers the twist ending.

Apparently Mathilde and Mme. Forestier have known each other for a while, since their convent days. Around the
time of the ball, though, it doesn't sound as if Mathilde's seen much of her lately, because it makes Mathilde too
unhappy to visit her rich friend and see the life of luxury that she's not living. It doesn't sound like they see much of
each other after Mathilde returns the substitute diamond necklace, either. The two women most likely don't meet
again until they run into each other on the Champs Elyses ten years later. Mathilde's too ashamed to let her friend
see the poverty she's living in, and is afraid to explain why she became poor (since that would mean admitting she
lost the necklace).

MME. JEANNE FORESTIER

TIMELINE AND SUMMARY

BACK

NEXT

Mme. Forestier is mentioned anonymously as the "rich friend" whom Mathilde knew back in the convent
days. Apparently Mathilde feels too jealous to see her much.

Following her husband's idea, Mathilde visits Mme. Forestier to borrow jewelry to go to the ball.

Mme. Forestier shows Mathilde various jewels, which leave her unimpressed until she finds the diamond
necklace. Mme. Forestier lets her borrow it.

Mme. Forestier gets the necklace back from Mathilde more than a week after the ball. She's miffed because
it has taken so long to get it back. She also doesn't seem to notice that her necklace has been replaced by
another one.

Mathilde meets Mme. Forestier strolling down the Champs Elyses with her daughter one fine Sunday
afternoon, a little more than ten years after the fateful party.

Mathilde comes clean spills her beans about the necklace, that it was replaced.

Mme. Forestier spills her beans about the necklace, that it was a fake in the first place.

When Mme. Loisel took back the necklace to Mme. Forestier, the latter said, with an irritated air:

"You ought to have brought it back sooner, for I might have needed it." (95-96)

It's interesting that Mme. Forestier reacts so snippily to having the necklace returned late. One would think
that because she has so much, it wouldn't really matter when one particular piece of jewelry was returned.
This could either mean that her wealth makes her more greedy with what she has or that she considers the
necklace one of her best pieces of jewelry. Which is a little interesting, since we learn later that it's a fake

The Necklace

Wealth

Mme. Jeanne Forestier > Mathilde Loisel

Quote 2

The other did not recognize her, astonished to be hailed thus familiarly by this woman of the
people. She hesitated
"But madam I don't know are you not making a mistake?" (111-112)

Mme. Forestier and Mathilde are now greatly separated by their wealth, which translates into social class.
The class difference is so big that it seems improper for Mathilde to even address Mme. Forestier by her first
name. Their classes are also immediately apparent from the way they look.

The Necklace

Wealth

Mme. Jeanne Forestier > Mathilde Loisel

Quote 3

"Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine were false. At most they were worth five hundred francs!" (128)

Mme. Forestier reveals that the diamond necklace Mathilde lost was actually a fake. Does the falsehood of
the jewels symbolize the falsehood of wealth? Does it change the way we think of Mathilde's former
dreams? Or, on another note, does it perhaps mean something about Mme. Forestier? If her best piece of
jewelry is a fake, maybe she's not quite as wealthy as she initially seems.

Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine were false. At most they were worth five hundred francs!" (128)

Mathilde's just found and out that she and her husband have spent the last ten years suffering to replace a
fake necklace not worth a fiftieth of what they thought. Mathilde could have avoided the whole situation if
she'd only told Mme. Forestier about it and found out it was a fake. But she didn't, and so all the suffering
she and her husband have gone through was for nothing. Suffering becomes a whole lot worse if it seems
meaningless.

M. GEORGES RAMPONNEAU

BACK

NEXT

Character Analysis
M. Georges Ramponneau is the guy who throws the fabulous ball that just might be the best few hours of Mathilde's
life. He's the Minister of Education, which makes him M. Loisel's boss (which is probably why M. Loisel was able to
get the invitation). And he apparently "notices" Mathilde at the ball, like every other guy there.

THE FIRST JEWELER

BACK

NEXT

Character Analysis
The first jeweler is the man whose name is on the box in which Mme. Forestier's necklace comes. Naturally, when
Mathilde loses it, he's the one she and her husband go to, to see about replacing it. This jeweler apparently didn't sell
the necklace to Mme. Forestier, though, just the box. This is a little weird, isn't it? Why would you just buy a box from
someone? Perhaps this is the only hint in the story that there's something a little funny about those jewels

THE NECKLACE ANALYSIS

Literary Devices in The Necklace
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The necklace could very well be just a necklace, but it could also be something more. It's so flashy and beautiful, and
so seemingly valuable. Despite its convincing outside, it turns out to be "fa...

Setting
The story's set in Paris, that magical, glamorous city of lights where just about every other work of 19th century
French literature is set.So that's the where. When's the when? We'd say the 1880s...

Narrator Point of View

The story's focus is certainly on Mathilde, but the narrator does not speak from her point of view. Instead, he talks
about Mathilde as if he were from the outside looking in. When he brings her up...

Genre
Maupassant was a student of the great French author Flaubert, who was a founding figure of "Realism" (with a capital
"R") as a literary genre. Realism meant more than just writing about real-seemin...

Tone
Maupassant writes like a sophisticated fellow who knows the world, and particularly the world of "society" (high
society). He's an excellent social observer who's willing to share his insights with...

Writing Style
What's amazing about Maupassant's writing is how economical it is he does a lot with only a little bit of space. His
control over timing and pacing is incredible. Think about the scope of th...

What's Up With the Title?

The story revolves around the spectacular diamond necklace that Mathilde borrows from Mme. Forester for a ball.
That set of jewels gives Mathilde the best night of her life. It also ruins it a few...

What's Up With the Ending?

The ending to "The Necklace" may just be the mother of all twist endings. But just how does it work? What makes it a
"twist ending?" The short answer: the twist ending depends upon suddenly reveali...

Tough-o-Meter
Maupassant at times uses slightly old-fashioned language (just how old-fashioned it is depends on the translation).
But for the most part, everything about the story is blissfully short and simple.

Plot Analysis
Miserable MathildeAt the beginning of the story, essentially nothing happens. The narrator's interested in telling us
about Mathilde (even though we don't yet know her name). We learn about her b...

Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis

Mathilde's hates her middle-class life and dreams only of riches.The story opens with a long description of how
wretched Mathilde is with her middle-class life. All she wants is to be rich, glamo...

Three Act Plot Analysis

We meet Mathilde, and learn about her dream of being wealthy and glamorous. M. Loisel delivers the invitation to the
ball to Mathilde, who throws a minor fit and gets him to buy her a dress. She...

Trivia
Besides being his "instructor" in things literary, Gustave Flaubert (author of Madame Bovary) was also Maupassant's
childhood playmate. (Source)Maybe Maupassant could relate to Mathilde's desire to...

Steaminess Rating
Mathilde's is certainly attractive and desirable. There's also a whole lot of "desiring" going on at the ball. But that's all
that happens, and, honestly, that kind of stuff happens in Disney movie...

Ang Kwintas ni Guy de Maupassant (text analysis)

janethmontoriowaminal:
Huwag hangaring lumasap ng kasiyahan sa buhay sa isang iglap lamang.
Ang kasabihang ito mismo ang punto ng may-akda. Maliwanag na naibigay ng may-akda ang kanyang punto, na hindi
dapat maghangad ng madaliang kasiyahan. Sa aking palagay ay pinupunto ng may-akda na bago tayo sasaya ay
mapapagdadaanan muna natin ang paghihirap o hinagpis. Hindi basta bastang makararanas ng kasiyahan. Kung
makakaranas man tayo ay asahan nating itoy may kapalit. Dahil ang kasiyahan ay kakabit ng kalungkutan. hindi tayo sasaya
hangat di pa natin naranasan ang kalungkutan. Lahat ng bagay ay dapat paghirapan, kagaya ng sa akda, pinaghirapan ng
panguanahing karakter ang kapalit ng kanyang madaliang kasiyahan.
Ang paggamit ng isang kwintas ang kapansinpansing kakaiba sa gawa ng may-akda. Sa dinami-dami ng gamit na
puwedeng gamitin ay ang kwintas ang napili ng may-akda. Ang kwintas na pwedeng maging totoo o maging peke na sa
kasamaang palad ay peke ang pinalitan ni Mathilde. Sa paggamit nya ng kwintas na aksesorya kadalasan gamit ng mga
babae na mapapasin ng sinong makakita sa isang babae.
Kadalasan naman ng tao ay nakaranas na o makararanas ng ganitong pangyayari. Halos lahat naman ay gustong makamit
ang kaligayahang madalian. Opo, nakaranas na ako, maraming beses na. Sa simpleng paghahangad lamang ng madaliang
kasiyahan ay nagawa ko ng maghirap dahil sa konsikwensya ng aking mga ginawa. Dahil sa mga pangyayaring iyon ay mas
masasabuhay ang aral na pinupunto ng may-akda.

Kung may itatanong man ako sa may-akda, ito ay ang mga sumusunod:
Ano ang naging inspirasyon mo sa pagsusulat ng akang Ang Kwintas?
Bakit ito ang paksa na ginamit mo sa dinami-dami ng pwedeng maging paksa?
Naranasan nyo na po bang labis na naghirap dahil sa iyong kagustuhang madaliang kasiyahan?