“The Necklace” is a short story written by “Guy De Maupassant.”
The main characters in this story are “Mr. Loisel, a clerk at the education ministry office.” Mrs. Loisel (Matilda), Mr. Loisel’s wife, is the second character. And the third character is “Madam Forestier, Mrs. Loisel’s friend.”
Matilda Loisel is a stunning young lady. She wishes to live a luxurious life, but she was born into a poor family. She must marry a clerk because she was born into a family of clerks. Then she married Mr. Loisel, a clerk at the Ministry of Education.
Mr. Loisel’s wife is always thinking about life’s luxuries after their marriage. She wishes to live in a large building and be wealthy. She is dissatisfied with her current situation.
A ball will be held at the house of ministry one day. And the husband brings an invitation card to the dance party to which they are invited. When the card is given to Mr. Loisel, he is overjoyed because only a few people are invited to the dance party.
The husband assumed that if I gave the invitation card to my wife, she would be pleased. When she receives the card, she becomes depressed and begins to cry. When her husband inquires about the reason, she responds, “I don’t have any fine clothes, so how can I come to the ball?”
Mr. Loisel enjoys going hunting. He saved up 400 Francs to purchase a gun. But he gives his wife the 400 francs and asks her to buy a nice costume. She becomes happy for a brief moment before becoming sad and sobbing. She will be asked about her sadness once more. She claims I don’t have any jewelry to wear and that I won’t look attractive without a necklace.
Mr. Loisel suggests that she borrow jewelry from her wealthy friend, madam Forestier. She says it’s a good idea, and she smiles. In the days that follow, she visits her wealthy friend and selects a lovely necklace.
When she wears that costume and necklace to the ball, she looks like a queen, and everyone admires her beauty. Even the ministry wants to join her in the dance. When they returned home, they discovered that the necklace was no longer with them. They became concerned and searched everywhere, but they couldn’t find anything.
They arranged an identical necklace in thirty-six thousand francs, and from these thirty-six thousand francs, they borrowed eighteen thousand francs from another person. They then returned Madame Forestier’s necklace, but their lives were forever altered. These eighteen thousand loans took ten years to repay. Mrs. Loisel’s beauty was finished around this time.
In the end, Matilda meets Madame Forestier in a garden and tells her the entire story of their lives. When Madam Forestier hears their story, she becomes sad. Madame Forestier claims that her necklace was artificial, which she loaned to you on the night of the ball, and that it cost no more than 500 francs.
Moral of the story;
“We should be content with what we have.”
Shakir Fazul
Bramsh School Hoshab