‘The Necklace’ story is about a lady who was born in a poor family. Her name was Matilda Loisel. She was married to a petty clerk in the office of Board of Education. She had neither frocks nor jewels. But she loved only these things. She had a rich friend named Forestier. But she avoided visiting her because she suffered a lot after visiting her and seeing her wealthy lifestyle.

One day her husband gave her invitation to the ball at the minister’s residence. She threw the invitation on the table saying that she had nothing to wear in the party. He suggested her to wear the dress that she used to wear in when they went to cinema. But she started weeping. When he asked her the reason of her weeping, she told him that she had no dress to wear on the occasion. She suggested to him to give the invitation to any of his friends whose wife had better clothes and ornaments than her. At this her husband asked her how much it would cost to buy a good dress. She told him that it would cost around four hundred francs. He agreed to give her the money. Her dress was almost ready. But she was not happy and her husband asked her the reason of her sadness. She told him that she had no jewellery to wear. He reminded her about her old friend Madam Forestier who could lend her some jewellery. She went to her friend and asked her to lend her a necklace. Her friend gave her a necklace.

The day of the ball approached. She enjoyed a lot in the ball. She saw herself in full glory and everybody gave her an admiring look. She danced with enthusiasm. In the morning at around four, she left for her home. She, accompanied by her husband went to the street in search of a cab. Then they hired an old-fashioned cab and went home. After they reached home, Mrs Loisel noticed that she had lost the necklace. Her husband could not believe that. He went in search of the necklace but failed. He reported the matter to the police and gave an advertisement in the newspapers offering some reward; but all in vain.

Then they decided to buy a look alike necklace to replace that of Madam Forestier. They purchased a similar necklace in thirty-six thousand. Mr Loisel had only eighteen thousand pounds. He borrowed the rest from lenders at high rates of interest. After that, Mrs Loisel went to her friend to return her the necklace. She did not perceive the substitution. In order to pay back the debts, they lived from hand to mouth for ten long years. After ten years they had paid every penny of the debt. One day Mrs Loisel came across her friend Madam Forestier. Her friend failed to recognise her but when she said that she was Mrs Loisel; her friend asked her how she had changed. Then she told her the story of their hardships. Her friend was taken by surprise when Mrs Matilda said that they had replaced her necklace with a necklace of diamonds. Madam Forestier cried in disbelief telling Mrs Loisel that her necklace was artificial and it was not costlier than five hundred Franks.

The Necklace Summary

Matilda Loisel – an unhappy lady

Matilda Loisel a middle-class lady, desperately wished she were wealthy. She was very pretty and charming but had the bad luck to be born into a family of clerks and married to another clerk, M Loisel. Her husband worked as a clerk in the office of the Board of Education. Matilda was simple but she was unhappy. She was so convinced that she’s meant to be rich that she detested her real life and spent all day dreaming and despairing about the fabulous life that she was not having.

M Loisel Brings an Invitation

One day, M Loisel brought an invitation to a fancy ball (party) organised by his boss, the Minister of Education. M Loisel thought that her wife would be delighted to read the invitation but she was not delighted to see the invitation. She told her husband that she did not have a good dress to wear to that occasion and asked him to give the invitation to his friend. Her husband M Loisel, told her that she could buy a new dress. He had saved four hundred francs to buy a gun to join some hunting parties. He said that he would give that money to her for buying a new dress.

Matilda Gets Necklace from Mme Forestier

Matilda brought a new dress but she was not happy. Her husband asked the reason of her sadness. She said that she would not go for the ball as she did not have jewellery to wear with the dress. He replied that she should wear some natural flowers, but she was not convinced Then he advised her to borrow it from her friend, Madame Forestier. Next day, she went to her friend’s house and borrowed a necklace for the ball.

Matilda at the Day of Ball

The night of the ball arrived and Matilda was happy at the occasion. She looked very beautiful in the dress. Everyone liked her and she was absolutely thrilled. She and her husband did not leave until 4 a.m. Then they got a cab and returned home.

The Necklace was Lost

When she returned home and was changing her dress, Matilda wanted to see her beauty in final view before the mirror. Suddenly, she noticed that the necklace was not around her neck. She was shocked to see that her necklace had got lost. She cried out and informed her husband that she had lost the necklace. Her husband searched for the necklace on every place, where they went last night. He went to the police and the cab offices. He also put an advertisement in the newspapers, but the necklace was not found. So, he advised her wife to write a letter to her friend telling her that she needed some time to get the necklace repaired.

Matilda Replace the Necklace

At last, Matilda decided to replace the necklace with the necklace that looked similar to it. Her husband gave her 18000 francs which his father had left for him. He took a loan of the remaining amount and purchased a diamond necklace for thirty-six thousand francs. She returned the necklace to her friend. Buying the necklace brought the Loisel in poverty. They lost their house, their maid, the comfortable lifestyle and on top of it all, Matilda lost her good-looking face.

The Truth Revealed Out

After 10 years, all the debts were finally paid. One day Matilda was walking in the Champs-Elysees and saw Mme Forestier. She was looking charming and beautiful as she had look 10 years before. Now all the debts were paid off, Matilda decided to tell the story to Mme Forestier about her necklace. At this, Madame Forestier informed her that it was a fake necklace and the cost of it was only 500 francs.