READ AND FIND OUT 

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Q1. What kind of a person is Mme Loisel? Why is she always unhappy?

Answer: Mme Loisel is a pretty and charming young woman who believes she was born for a life of luxury. She is always unhappy because she suffers from the poverty of her apartment and longs for elegant dinners, shining silver, and exquisite food. She feels a deep sense of injustice that she was born into a family of clerks and married to a petty clerk.

Q2. What kind of a person is her husband?

Answer: Her husband is a simple, kind, and loving man. He is content with their life and tries to make her happy by bringing her an invitation to a ball. He is also very supportive, giving her money to buy a new dress and even sacrificing his own savings for her happiness.

READ AND FIND OUT

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Q1. What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?

Answer: A fresh problem that disturbs Mme Loisel is that she has no jewels to wear to the ball. She feels that she will have a “poverty-stricken look” and would prefer not to go to the party, as she doesn’t want to look shabby in the midst of rich women.

Q2. How is the problem solved?

Answer: The problem is solved by her husband. He suggests that she go to her rich friend, Mme Forestier, and ask her to lend her some jewels. She does so and, after looking at many jewels, she chooses a superb necklace of diamonds.

READ AND FIND OUT 

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Q1. What do M. and Mme Loisel do next?

Answer: When Mme Loisel realizes the necklace is missing, her husband immediately gets up and retraces their steps, walking the entire way back home to see if he can find it. When he returns without any luck, he goes to the police and cab offices and places an advertisement in the newspapers.

Q2. How do they replace the necklace?

Answer: At the end of a week, they give up hope of finding the necklace. They find a similar necklace in a shop at the Palais-Royal that costs forty thousand francs, which they are able to buy for thirty-six thousand francs. Loisel uses the eighteen thousand francs his father left him and borrows the rest from various lenders to buy the necklace.

Think about it

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Q1. The course of the Loisels’ life changed due to the necklace. Comment.

Answer: The course of the Loisels’ life changed dramatically due to the necklace. When Matilda lost the necklace, she and her husband had to pay a huge debt, which turned their lives into a struggle for survival. They sent away their maid, changed their lodgings, and lived in an attic. Matilda had to do all the odious household work, and her husband worked day and night to pay off the debt. This life of necessity and hard work lasted for ten years, and it changed them from a respectable, middle-class couple to a poor, haggard woman and a hardworking clerk.

Q2. What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it?

Answer: The cause of Matilda’s ruin was her excessive pride and a lack of contentment. She was not happy with her life and was constantly longing for luxury and glamour. She could have avoided her ruin by simply being honest with her friend and admitting that she had lost the necklace. Her friend, Mme Forestier, later revealed that the necklace was a fake and was not worth more than five hundred francs. If she had been honest, she would not have had to suffer for ten years.

Q3. What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace?

Answer: If Matilda had confessed to her friend that she had lost the necklace, a completely different outcome would have occurred. Mme Forestier would have likely told her that the necklace was not real and that it was a fake. She would have told her that it was not worth more than five hundred francs, and the Loisels would have easily been able to replace it. They would not have had to go into a huge debt and suffer for ten years.

Q4. If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it?

Answer: This is a personal question, and the answer will vary depending on the student’s perspective.

Talk about it

Q1. The characters in this story speak in English. Do you think this is their language? What clues are there in the story about the language its characters must be speaking in?

Answer: The characters in the story do not speak in English. The story is a translation from French. The clues are the names of the characters, such as Mme Loisel and Mme Forestier, and the French words used in the story, such as “Monsieur,” “Madame,” and “Champs-Elysees.”

Q2. Honesty is the best policy.

Answer: This is a discussion topic, and the answer will vary.

Some might argue that honesty is always the best policy. If Matilda had been honest with her friend, she would have saved herself and her husband ten years of hard work and suffering.

Others might argue that sometimes honesty can be difficult, but it is always the right thing to do.

Q3. We should be content with what life gives us.

Answer: This is a discussion topic, and the answer will vary.

Some might argue that being content with what we have is important for our happiness. Matilda was never content with her life, and her longing for luxury led to her ruin.

Others might argue that contentment should not lead to complacency. We should always strive for self-improvement and a better life.