by Guy de MaupassantCharacters:
M. Loisel - the simple clerk who was married to materialistic woman.
Madame Mathilde Loisel - the unsatisfied and unhappy woman.
Madame Forestier- the family friend of Loisel who owns the diamond necklace.
The Story:
There was a pretty and charming girl, Mathilde Loisel, who was born in a family of clerks. She let herself be married to a little clerk at the Ministry of Public Instruction since; she had no dowry, no expectations and no means of being known.
She dressed plainly because she could not dress well. She was unhappy because of the poverty of her home. She had no fine dresses, no jewels, nothing.
She had a wealthy friend, whom she would not go to see. Her heart swept, whole days with disappointment, regret, distress and despair.
One evening, her husband came with an envelope. It was an invitation from The Minister of Public Instruction and Mme. Gorges Ramponneau invite M. and Mme. Loisel to pass the evening at the Ministerial palace on Monday, January 8th.
Instead of being overjoyed, she got mad because she doesn't have an elegant dress to wear. The husband, though with hesitations if he could really provide the amount being asked by the wife, answered, "Yes, I'll give you four hundred francs for the pretty dress."
The day of the ball is near, the dress is ready. But Madame Loisel seemed sad. Her husband asked her why and she said that she is worrying again for she doesn't have jewel or single stone to put on.
The husband convinced her to wear natural flowers but she was not convinced. Her husband cried and told her to go to Madame Forestier to lend some jewels.
On the night of the ball, Madame Loisel had triumph. She was prettier than any of the others. All the clerks in the Department wanted to waltz with her and even the minister noticed her.
When they got home, Madame Loisel found out that she has no longer have Madame Forestier's necklace. They find it anywhere but they couldn’t find it.
Because of despair, the husband and wife decided to replace the jewel. At Palais, Royal, they found a string of diamonds that seemed to them to be absolutely like the one they had lost. It was worth forty thousand francs and paid for it for thirty-six thousand.
Madame Loisel carried the necklace to Madame Forestier. After that, Madame Loisel and the family suffered. They have changed everything about their lives to pay the dreadful debt.
After ten years, they had paid everything. Madame Loisel seemed an old woman now after what happened. She is thinking, what would happened if she had not lost the necklace.
One day she saw Madame Forestier, still young and beautiful. Because of the changes she had, Madame Forestier was not able to recognize her at first.
Madame Loisel told Madame Forestier about the story of the necklace and that their family suffered for ten years paying for necklace they have bought to replace the other one.
After hearing that, Madame Forestier deeply moved, grasped her both hands and told her that the necklace was worth at most five hundred francs.
Comment:
In the story, we will learn to be true to ourselves. We don’t have to pretend to be rich or to be someone else just to please others. Life is beautiful; we only have to appreciate everything that life might to bring to us. Like Madame Loisel, if she just listened to her husband to be simple in that ball, maybe they will not suffer for that long years paying for the necklace, which at the end they have discovered that it only costs five hundred francs.