The Necklace

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"The Necklace" or "The Diamond Necklace" (original title: "La Parure") is a short story by Guy de Maupassant, first published in 1884 in the French newspaper Le Gaulois. The story has become one of Maupassant's most popular works and is well known for its twist ending. It is also the inspiration for Henry James' short story, "Paste".

"The Necklace" tells the story of a nineteenth-century middle class French couple, Monsieur and Madame Mathilde Loisel. Monsieur Loisel is a clerk in the ministry of public information. Madame Loisel is a beautiful young lady, who might have been married to a richer man, if her family wasn't poor. Monsieur Loisel is invited to a distinguished party, and wishes to take his wife with him. Madame Loisel, however, is hesitant to attend, complaining that "there's nothing so humiliating as looking poor in the middle of a lot of rich women." In addition to acquiring a new dress, at her husband's suggestion she borrows a diamond necklace from her friend, Madame Jeanne Forestier, and attends the party. She is the wonder of the night, and all the men wish to dance with her. Disastrously, Madame Loisel somehow loses the necklace during the evening.

Monsieur and Madame Loisel decide they must buy an identical diamond necklace from the 'Palais Royal' as a replacement for Madame Forestier. Unable to bear the shame of this, they do not inform Madame Forestier of the change and spend the next ten years of their lives paying off the debts, which costs them about thirty-six thousand francs, a fortune at the time. Both Monsieur and Madame Loisel are forced to take on extra jobs and live in abject poverty. At the end of the ten years, Madame Loisel, now older, tougher and less graceful from years of hard manual labor, has an opportunity to tell her old friend of the lost necklace. Madame Forestier is shocked and informs Madame Loisel that her original necklace was, in fact, an imitation "...worth at the very most five hundred francs!..."