The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant

Are you willing to dwindle away your invaluable life for coveting expensive, precious, materialistic possessions?

Yes, or no?

 

Whatever may be your answer, do read this short story baring the avaricious and mercenary female, Mathilde, and bringing her face-to-face with her own shallowness, but alas, she fails to learn, becoming more penurious than what she was, both materialistically and morally!

 

“The Necklace” is a remarkably compelling story teaching the readers lessons on appearance vs reality, avarice and it’s evil-outcome, beauty and the mirage, covetousness for material possessions, and the ephemeral superficial delight that comes along!

It is a hands-down blockbuster 5-star read for me! 😊

 

Mathilde, born to a low-class, with no money for dowry, is married to Monsieur Loisel, a clerk!

“She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.”

She thought herself entitled to all the luxuries, and indefatigably aimed for all the opulence!

She despises her married life, discontented with the food on the stove, wails over her lack of fine clothing, and jewellery. In short, she whines and wails for the lack of the worldly items, she perpetually craves for!

One day she manages to go to a lavish ball by borrowing a necklace from a wealthy friend, Madame Forestier.

Finally losing the necklace, spending the rest of the ten years of her life toiling arduously in order to pay back the debts for the acquired fake necklace (replacing the original with a fake). Afterall, she had to pay back the purchase price of the fake! What happens towards the end simple blew me away :-O (concealing spoilers)!

Irrespective of being blessed with a pretty decent life in the beginning, having food on the stove, living in a decent little apartment, bestowed by a loving dutiful husband who has a steady modest job, she is not appreciative of any of these, instead covets for more.

She lusts for the sensual pleasures without paying heed to the real treasure that she already owns!

Constantly craving for the sensually stimulating, the worldly appealing possessions, aiming for the grandiose facade she can’t afford.

The irony is towards the end, she ends up owning even lesser than what she possessed in the beginning.

 

In my eyes her husband, M. Loisel, is the champion, epitome of martyrdom, a sacrificial goat!

He incessantly toils unremittingly, just to provide comfort to his wife, and to bring a smile on her face. With what little meagre resources he has, he tries re-paying back for the catastrophe brought about by his wife’s nuisance and folly of losing the necklace. He works additionally during the evenings apart from his regular job, take up loans. It is just not to fill up the disaster for the lost necklace, but he also gives all the money for her dress for the ball, at the cost of his own wishes for himself.

I perpetually felt sorry for him throughout the read. He sets out onto the mission of finding the necklace during the night, does everything possible without complaining or whining! Everything out of love and duty. Everyone appeared being more sensible but for Mathilde!

Instead of yearning for the spiritual/emotional/intellectual life, she hankers for the superficial life, thus being the reason of her own downfall, ensuing to be more downtrodden and penurious than she was before. She lacks big time on pragmatism and lives a life of fantasy and greed! Emblematic of being a woman of vain and foolishness, overtly attached to the material mundane!

 

NB- She couldn’t even stay honest to her friend, upon losing the necklace, she tries to conceal the truth by replacing the original with the fake! Hence, she had to pay the rest of her life, just for being dishonest ☹

Instead of submitting into the urge of sharing the twisted ending, I appeal everyone who hasn’t read this brilliant story, to go and devour it without any further delay!

In this story the flag-bearer is the inanimate necklace, bringing life to this story of a female filled with avarice, dishonesty, folly and immaturity! A short story with a gobsmacking twisted-ending, delivering plentiful of morale!

 

I was left captivated and flabbergasted by this charming necklace manufactured by guy de maupassant!