Summary of Guy De Maupassant's The Diamond Necklace

Introduction

            Guy De Maupassant was a French writer.  He has written many short stories.  Most of his stories display the paradoxical nature and existence of the rich and the poor.  The Diamond Necklace is one such story.  This story talks about a poor girl and her mad thought of not being rich, which culminates in suffering.

The Poor girl

            Mathilde is a poor girl.  She is very beautiful in her looks and appearance.  She longs to become rich but she is married to a poor clerk in the Ministry of Education, Loisel.  Mathilde longs to become rich but she could never be.  She always complains about her life and about her social stature. 

The Invitation

One evening her husband comes with an invitation from the ministry of education.  He was excited because many VIPs come to the function.  Mathilde is sad because she does not have proper clothes for the occasion.  She asks for four hundred francs to buy a good dress.  This is amount Loisel was saving for him to buy a gun.  He gives the money to her and she buys a costly dress.   Later she asks for jewels.  He asks her to wear flowers but she is not satisfied.  Loisel asks her to get some jewels from Madam Forestier, which could be returned later.  She gets a diamond necklace from her.

The Party

They both go to the party.  Mathilde is very happy.  She looks pretty and beautiful.  Everyone in the party looks at her with an awe.  She dances gracefully with almost everymen in the show.  Everymen are also eager to dance with her.  It gets late and they return home in a cab.  After reaching home she finds her necklace missing.  She says that she might have missed the necklace in the cab.  They both get frustrated.  Loisel goes in search of the necklace but in vain.  They lodge a complain with the police.  They decide to give the jewel to Forestier after a week.

Efforts to Repay the Loan

They wait for a week and they could not trace the lost jewel.  They both decide to replace the jewel by buying a new one.  They both go the jewel shop and finds an identical necklace.  It costs 40,000 francs and the shop keeper promises to part with it for 36,000 francs.  They get loan from various sources and they buy the necklace and give to Forestier.  They move their residence to a cheaper place.  Mathilde does all the house hold jobs by herself.  She goes out to buy her provisions.  Loisel works extra hour and there is not peace in their house.  After a long time they pay the loans to all people.

The Unexpected Ending

After paying the loans Mathilde happens to meet Forestier.  She cannot but wish to convey the story behind  the necklace.  She approaches her and says that they had replaced the lost necklace with a new one.  She also says about their sufferings.  Forestier was shocked to know this and she informs Mathilde that the jewel she lent to Mathilde was an imitation and not original.