What Kind of A Person Is Mme Loisel and Why Is She Always Unhappy?

THE NECKLACE
- Guy De Maupassant
1. What kind of a person is Mme Loisel and why is she always unhappy?
Mme Loisel is young, pretty, ordinary but discontented woman. She is of a

humble background but dreams of riches and comforts. She is proud of her
beauty and wants to be admired. Her meagre resources are not enough to
satisfy her expensive cravings making her angry all the time.
2. What kind of a person is her husband?
Her husband M Loisel, is an ordinary and average young man. A mere

clerk by profession, he is still contented with his job. Also, he is a caring
man as he is excited to show the dinner invitation to his wife.
3. What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?
After spending a fortune on a beautiful dress, Mme Loisel is

faced with yet another disaster. She frets over the fact that she does not
have a beautiful jewel to go with her dress. So, she asks her husband to
pass on the invitation to someone else.
4. How is the problem solved?
Matilda Loisel’s husband, M. Loisel, comes to her rescue. First, he

suggests her to wear fresh flowers. Matilda just mocked at the idea. Then,
he advises her to borrow some jewels from her rich friend, Mme Forestier.
Thus, the problem is solved as Mme Forestier lends her a beautiful
diamond necklace.
5. What do Mr and Mme Loisel do next?
The Loisels leave no stone unturned. M. Loisel goes back

and searches to the lost necklace. Then, he goes to the police and to the cab
offices. Also, they put out an advertisement in the newspapers and offer a
reward to anyone who finds the necklace. But, all their efforts go in vain.
6. How do they replace the necklace?
After all other efforts fail, the Loisels decide to buy a new identical
necklace to replace the lost one. M. Loisel pooled eighteen thousand francs
of his inheritance and borrowed the rest. Then the couple managed to buy
the new necklace for thirty six thousand francs and returned it to the
rightful owner.
Think About It
1. The course of the Loisel’s life changed due to the necklace. Comment.
It takes the Loisels a decade to pay back the money they borrowed to buy
the necklace. And, it changed everything for them. They had to move to
the poorest quarters of the city. With no maids or assistance, Matilda had to
cook, clean, mend, sew, bargain with the grocer and butcher to save every
sou just for mere survival. The husband had to work in the evening and
night to pay their debt. In this way, the course of the Losiel’s life changed
due to the necklace.
2. What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it?
Matilda’s pride and her materialistic aspirations coupled with her

dishonesty pave the way for her ruin. She could have avoided it by
learning to accept her current situation and being content with what she
had.
3. What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend
that she had lost her necklace?
Truth and honesty would have saved Matilda from her doom. If only she
has been courageous enough to confess to her friend the truth of the
necklace, she would have come to know that it was a fake one that cost a
mere five hundred francs. She would not have spent her husband’s entire
inheritance and borrowed eighteen thousand francs to pay for its
replacement. In fact, she would have saved herself and her husband from
ten long years of crushing poverty, misery and back breaking labour.
4. If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt
with it?
Foremost of all, I would have done my best not to become a victim of my

own pride and aspirations. If, I was caught in such a situation, I would
have let the truth out and then face the consequences. Honesty would have
been the way out for me.
Talk About It
1. The characters in this story speak in English. Do you think this is their
language? What clues are there in the story about the language its
characters must be speaking in?
Though the characters speak in English, it is not their language.

Maupassant wrote the story in French and it was translated into English.
Again the very text throws up enough words in French to prove it
otherwise. First, the very names of characters like ‘Mme Loisel, Mme
Forestier and the minister’s name George Ramponneau indicate their
French origin. Then, the words for currency like ‘Franc’ and ‘Sou’ show
the same. Also, the shop’s location at ‘Palais Royal’ and ‘Champs Elysees’
point out the French history of the characters and the story.
2. Honesty is the best Policy.
Honesty is definitely the best policy. Falsehood and hypocrisy seem very
attractive and rewarding at first. But, the path they tread on leads to
nothing but misery, evil and utter gloom. Honesty, on the contrary, seems
to be a difficult choice in pursuit of material happiness. However, it is the
only choice for a life of contentment, peace and everlasting happiness.
3. We should be content with what life gives us.
Life is a great mystery. For every individual this mystery of life comes
wrapped in a unique package. For some, it is all riches, comfort, name and
fame. For some, it is nothing but sheer hunger, poverty, anguish and an
everyday quest for bare survival. One, however, must learn to live within
one’s means and be content with what one has. One may try to improve his
lot by honest means but eventually must be at peace with what one
manages to have.

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THE NECKLACE

Mme Loisel is young, pretty, ordinary but discontented woman. She is of a

2. What kind of a person is her husband?

Her husband M Loisel, is an ordinary and average young man. A mere

3. What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?

After spending a fortune on a beautiful dress, Mme Loisel is

4. How is the problem solved?

Matilda Loisel’s husband, M. Loisel, comes to her rescue. First, he

5. What do Mr and Mme Loisel do next?

The Loisels leave no stone unturned. M. Loisel goes back

Matilda’s pride and her materialistic aspirations coupled with her

Foremost of all, I would have done my best not to become a victim of my

Though the characters speak in English, it is not their language.

2. Honesty is the best Policy.

3. We should be content with what life gives us.

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