THE NECKLACE
Guy de Maupassant

 submitted to -Mr. Siddhant Singh Patel
 submitted by -Dr. Veenu Singh

Guy de Maupassant
Maupassant grew up with wealthy parents
in North-West France. He spent almost
every Sunday with the great French novelist,
Gustave Flaubert, who inspired him to begin
writing. In his teenage years, he served in
the Franco-Prussian War. He got promoted
to become a government clerk and he spent
most of his free time writing. Between 1880
and 1890, Maupassant had successfully
written 300 short stories, 6 novels, 3 travel
books, and his only volume of verse. A lot of
his stories were about
“inexplicable, illogical, and contradictory
catastrophes”. Also, many of his stories were
humorous and warm-hearted. Guy de
Maupassant is one of the most indispensible
authors of French Literature, thanks to his
many great short stories like this one, “The
Necklace”.

Short Story Summary
 TITLE: “The Necklace”
 AUTHOR: Guy de Maupassant
 SETTING (Time and Place): 1884 Paris,
France Loisel’s apartment, party at the Ministry
of Education’s Mansion.

CHARACTERS (List and describe on separate
lines):
 Madame Loisel - selfish (beautiful,
charming, middle class, spoiled,
daydreamed)→→aged quickly, heavy
rough, harsh, shrill voice, poor
 Monsieur Loisel- kind, generous, loyal
hard-working, clerk for Ministry of
Education, wants to please wife, middle
class

 Madame Forestier - kind, generous, wealthy,
snobby

SUMMARY
 Madame Loisel is in her apartment
dreaming of a better life. She is
unhappy and dissatisfied with her
social status and mediocre
surroundings. Mme & Msr. L receive
an invitation to a party at the Ministry.

Plot Summary cont’d
 Mme. refuses to attend until she has
something suitable to wear. She
borrows a diamond necklace from her
friend Mme. F. Mme. L loses the
necklace somewhere on the way
home.

Summary continued…
 They borrow the money from loan sharks
and are forced to live a life of poverty for
10 years until their debts are paid off.
Mme. L meets up with Mme F and tells
her about the lost necklace, and Mme. F
reveals the necklace is fake.

POINT OF VIEW:
 This short story is told from the 3rd
person limited point of view. The
author focuses on Mme. Loisel’s
thoughts and feelings.

Conflicts:
 Internal –
 Mme. Loisel vs. herself: her
excessive pride, materialism and
shallowness cause her emotional
torture as she feels she’s been
deprived of luxuries.

Conflict cont’d
 External –
 Mme. Loisel vs. M. different values
(although he is tolerant of her
behavior and wants to please her)

Elements of the Story’s Plot
 Characters : Madame Mathilde
Loisel, Madame Jeanne
Forestier, Cabinet Officials,
Madame Loisel’s Husband, and
the Jeweler.
 Setting : Set in Paris, France,
in the late 1800’s.

 Basic Situation: Madame Loisel loses the
diamond necklace that her friend, Madame
Forestier, lent her when she was invited to a
ball.
 Internal Conflict: Madame Loisel has to
decide whether or not to tell Mme. Forestier
the truth.
 Complications: The couple doesn’t have
enough money to buy a replacement
necklace.
 Climax: When Mme. Loisel loses the
necklace.
 Resolution: Mme. Loisel and her husband
borrow money to buy a new necklace.

 Protagonist: Mathilde Loisel
 Dynamic Character: Mathilde Loisel.
 Static Character: Mme. Forestier, Mme.
Loisel’s Husband.

Other Literary Elements cont’d
 Irony – Mme. L borrows a necklace
to fit in with the rich people she
envies, but the loss of the necklace
results in her being poorer than she
was.

Other Literary Elements cont’d
 Foreshadowing - Rue de
Martyrs the name of the street
and the English word martyr-
martyr means a great or constant
sufferer.
 Her intense unhappiness cannot
be lifted with one party invitation.

PLOT DEVELOPMENT CHART
 EXPOSITION: We meet Mme. Loisel in her
apartment as she is described as extremely
unhappy and dissatisfied with her social status
 NARRATIVE HOOK: Mme. Loisel receives an
invitation to the party.

Plot Development Chart cont’d
 RISING ACTION: Mme. Refuses
to attend the party without a
suitable dress/borrows a
necklace/loses it/borrows money
to buy a new one/lives life of
poverty to pay debt.

Plot Development Chart cont’d
 CLIMAX: 10 years later relieved of
the debt Mme. L. confesses all to
Mme. F. who reveals the necklace is
a fake.

Quote Interpretation:
 Quote – “We do not succeed in
changing things according to
our desire, but gradually our
desires change.”
– Marcel Proust

Quote cont’d…
 In your own words, explain
what this quote means to you –
 We cannot always get what we
want when we want it.
Eventually, our priorities
change and what we want
changes at the same time.

Quote Interpretation cont’d
 How does this quote relate to the story
you just read?
 Madame Loisel is very self-centered at
the beginning of the story. She is
focused on material possessions. By
the end of the story, her perspective
changes.

Quote cont’d
 Foreshadowing- Madame and
Monsieur Loisel live on “Rue des
Martyrs” street. A martyr is someone
that suffers a great deal and never
recovers after their loss. The author
foreshadows the suffering that
Madame and Monsieur Loisel will have.

Quote cont’d
 Mood- The mood of this story changes
as the characters and their priorities
change. In the beginning, Madame L is
disappointed, but then she has a great
time at the party and the mood shifts
to one of excitement and enjoyment.

Mood cont’d…
 After losing the necklace, Madame
L’s priorities change and the mood
changes to one of tragedy and
loss.