“The Necklace”: Summary and Themes

Guy de Maupassant was a prolific writer of short stories, and The Necklace is among his most famous works. It is frequently anthologized and is very widely read.

The nineteenth-century French author belonged to the realist school, and it is evident in his stories. Without much embellishment, he narrated slice-of-life tales about regular people, often belonging to the middle class. The writing and dialog took natural forms. There was never any explicit comment on the state of the society that Maupassant witnessed. However, the criticism is implied and makes itself impossible to miss by the end of the story.

The Necklace follows such a similar pattern. There is no romanticizing of any of the characters or any exploration of Mathilde’s desires. Everything is presented in an objective manner. The irony of the twist ending, though, prompts the readers’ thoughts into a critical direction. Maupassant doesn’t engage in the criticism in the story itself, but the ending is designed to leave little else in the readers’ minds. Through the story, Maupassant criticizes a middle-class obsession with wealth and growing it. 

Other popular works of Guy de Maupassant include A Piece of String, Mademoiselle Fifi, Two Friends, and Boule de Suif (Ball of Fat). 

Summary of The Necklace

Mathilde Loisel is unhappy with her lot in life. She appears to have the looks and charm of someone hailing from a rich background. However, she was born in completely different circumstances, into a poor family of clerks. There is little money, none of which is enough for a good dowry. She also lacks the connections and means to marry a rich man. Therefore, she ends up married to a “minor official at the Ministry of Education.”

Mathilde believes that she has the grace and manners of someone with far greater means. She feels she is entitled to better clothes, jewelry, and company; and the stark absence of these in her life is a source of constant dissatisfaction to her. She is plagued by the “poorness” evident in her surroundings: the state of her house and the work she has to do. Mathilde spends a great deal of time daydreaming and fantasizing about a lifestyle that is far grander than the one her husband, Loisel, is able to provide her with.

Mathilde despairs the reality of her middle-class lifestyle which seems to reflect poverty in her eyes.

One of Mathilde’s friends, Madame Forestier, seems to live the kind of life that Mathilde covets. Visiting her brings Mathilde a great deal of sorrow and misery. Hence, Mathilde visits her only infrequently.

One evening, Loisel excitedly brings home an invitation to an event hosted by the Minister for Education himself. He thinks the idea is going to fill Mathilde with joy; it is the sort of event she often wishes to attend. However, Mathilde’s reaction is a far cry from happiness. Instead, she is filled with anguish and grief because none of her dresses are fit for such an event. She tearfully tells him to pass on the invitation to someone whose wife has better clothes than her. 

Attempting to smooth things over, Loisel asks her to name an amount that is reasonable and that could buy her a suitable dress. Mathilde asks for four hundred francs, which also happens to be the exact amount that he had been saving for a trip he intended to take the next summer. But he quietly gives her the money.

Mathilde buys her dress, but as the day of the party nears, she once more grows silent and morose. When her husband asks her what the matter is, she tells him that she has no jewels to wear to the party. He suggests that she wear flowers instead as they are in fashion and relatively cheaper. Mathilde does not like the idea and insists that it would be humiliating. Getting frustrated, Loisel tells her to borrow something from her friend Madame Forestier. This suggestion pleases Mathilde.

While her jealousy for Madame Forestier's lifestyle is deep enough for Mathilde to consider ending the friendship, it does not prevent her from turning to the same friend for a favor.

The next day Mathilde goes to her friend’s house and, explaining her predicament, asks to borrow some jewelry. Madame Forestier brings out all her jewels to select from. Mathilde selects a diamond necklace and is overjoyed when her friend agrees to lend it to her.

At the party, Mathilde proves to be immensely popular, even catching the eye of the minister. She enjoys herself immensely, dancing and basking in the admiration of the others. By the time she and her husband, who had been dozing since midnight, leave the party, it is four in the morning. 

In preparation for going out, she has to put on outdoor clothes that are shabby compared to the dress she was wearing. Mathilde feels especially conscious of this as she watches the other women put on their furs. Loisel asks her to stay inside until he gets a cab, but the embarrassed Mathilde does not listen and rushes out with him. In the street, they are unable to catch a cab and begin to walk along the Seine, in the bitter cold. Here, at last, they manage to engage one that drops them off at their apartment.

The couple is tired and a little sad; her because the party is over, and him because he has to be at work at ten the next morning. Mathilde removes her outdoor clothes and looks in the mirror for a last glimpse of herself dressed up. It is at this point that she notices with shock that she is no longer wearing the necklace. 

Panic-stricken, the two hunt for the necklace but are unable to find it. Loisel leaves to look for the cab they had taken, to check if Mathilde had dropped the necklace there. He returns at seven, unsuccessful. The rest of Loisel’s day is spent searching for the missing necklace; he files reports with the police and in newspapers. Mathilde waits at home, in despair.

Nothing produces a result, and Loisel instructs Mathilde to stall returning the necklace by making the excuse that she broke its clasp and will return it once it’s mended.

A week later, there is still no sign of the necklace, and Loisel decides that they must replace it. They go to the jeweler whose name they found in the box the necklace came in. He, however, denies having sold the piece; he merely provided the box. 

The Loisels spend a considerable amount of time searching the markets for an identical replacement and finally track one down in a Palais Royal shop. It will cost them thirty-six thousand francs. 

They ask the jeweler to retain the necklace for three days, during which time they scramble to arrange the money. Loisel borrows heavily from all the sources available to him, incurring a debt that is likely going to take the rest of his life to repay. 

Eventually, Mathilde “returns” the necklace to Madame Forestier, who is unhappy about it being late. Mathilde is only glad that Madame Forestier did not open the box to check the piece. Hopefully, when she did, she wouldn’t be able to make out that a switch had been made.

For next ten years, the Loisel household remained steeped in poverty and drudgery to repay the debt. The maid was fired and Mathilde took over all household work, while Loisel took on extra jobs that kept him working late into the night.

The loss of the necklace mires the Loisel household in debt and poverty for ten long years.

By the time everything had been paid back, Mathilde had aged considerably. She no longer looked pretty and elegant but rough by housework instead. However, she frequently thought about the party at the Ministry and what might have been if she hadn’t lost the necklace.

While out one Sunday, Mathilde comes across Madame Forestier. The latter looks just as young and beautiful as before, and she is accompanied by a child. Overcome by emotion, Mathilde approaches. At first, Madame Forestier does not recognize her. But when she does, she is shocked by Mathilde’s transformation.

Mathilde reveals the story of the necklace, recounting how it was lost and replaced, and how she and her husband have spent the last ten years paying for it. An aghast Madame Forestier then informs her that her original necklace had not been real diamonds; rather, it had been an imitation worth five hundred francs. 

Themes of The Necklace

• Vanity and Covetousness: The protagonist of The Necklace, Mathilde Loisel, is steeped in desire and greed for the things she doesn’t have but which she believes she deserves. She is very aware that she is beautiful and feels that this entitles her to more wealth, a higher status in society, and all material comforts. This is a point repeatedly emphasized in the story as her various daydreams and dissatisfactions are detailed.

Mathilde’s days are spent fantasizing about those things which she does not have access to, and moments when she has to confront the disjoint between real and imagined life cause her discomfort. Thus, she is willing to let a friendship (with Madame Forestier) fade away in order to spare herself the sight of her friend with all the things she wants for herself. On the other hand, when a chance arises for Mathilde to experience a slice of the life she dreams of, she is more than willing to restore the relationship and borrow jewelry from her friend. It is in this course of chasing after material desires and appearances that Mathilde unwittingly carves a path for her life that runs in the opposite direction.

• Appearances and Illusions: Mathilde is also very preoccupied with appearances. Her primary reason for believing that she deserves the luxuries enjoyed by more affluent classes is because she is beautiful and has a charming manner. Her belief is so strong that she cannot really reconcile with her reality of poverty. Her mind is continuously caught up in fantasies. Mathilde’s obsession with keeping up appearances also prevents her from appreciating that beauty in her husband’s affection and devotion for herself.

Appearances are important to Mathilde, even when they mask reality and portray illusions instead.

Illusion is also woven into the story through the actual necklace itself. Mathilde rejects all of Madame Forestier’s probably-real jewelry and latches onto the piece that, to her eyes, looks the most expensive, only to land up with a fake. Her inability to recognize the necklace for a fake and her need to maintain outward appearances scupper any and all chances she and her husband might have had to achieve the lavish life she dreamed about. 

• Materialism: Mathilde is introduced to the reader as a deeply materialistic person; she is preoccupied by the idea of ascending into higher classes of society, which have more wealth. Her physical beauty is tied to material comforts in her mind. This is what she wants and values, and she cannot see beyond it to more abstract forms of beauty, such as loyalty and love. She projects this importance for material onto others as well. Rather than confessing that she lost the necklace, she would much rather replace the lost item in the belief that Madame Forestier values it as much as she does. Mathilde pays a dear price for not telling this truth.  

Characters in The Necklace

• Mathilde Loisel: She is the protagonist of the story, and it follows her desires, actions, and their consequences. Mathilde was born to a family of clerks, a middle-class family. She is very beautiful and has graceful manners. Due to this, she is convinced that she is in the wrong social class; Mathilde feels entitled to being a member of an upper class and all the material comforts and luxuries this would bestow on her. Her marriage appears almost forced as, in her view, she had no other option at the time. 

The misfortune that befalls Mathilde when she loses the eponymous necklace, however, produces a significant change in her character. Rather than sitting back and letting her husband shoulder the burden of debt on his own, she throws herself into work with which she can contribute. 

• Monsieur Loisel: He is an employee in the Ministry of Education and Mathide’s husband. He is the opposite of his wife in that he is satisfied with the life he currently leads. He is not absorbed in ideas of wealth and the objects he might acquire with it. 

Unlike his wife, Loisel is content and satisfied with his lot in life. Even Mathilde's constant pining for more wealth does not embitter him against her.

This attitude does not make him angry or unhappy with Mathilde. He takes her fantasies within his stride and, whenever possible, tries to make them a reality. He gives up something he himself wants in order to pay for her dress. And when Mathilde loses the necklace, he searches for it all over the city and then gives up his inheritance and future to pay for a replacement. His love and devotion for Mathilde is evident.

• Madame Forestier: She is an old friend of Mathilde and the owner of the necklace. In comparison to Mathilde, Madame Forestier lives a comfortable life. This makes her the object of envy in her friend’s eyes. However, Madame Forestier suffers from no such feeling and is kind and generous to Mathilde. She has no hesitation about lending her jewelry and even lets Mathilde pick whichever item she likes.

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