Name : Ayu Nuraeni

Class : 2C

NIM : 2109190053

The Necklace

By Guy de Maupussant

Mathilde Loisel is a beautiful and charming woman who was born, as if through some blunders of fate,
into a middle-class family. No dowry or entry point into high society. and he is married to M. Loisel, an
employee who works for the Ministry of Education.

Even though Mathilde belongs to the middle class, she grieves as if she were actually a woman who had
"come down in the world." Perhaps it is only natural for a beautiful and charming woman like Mathilde,
that women "their beauty, their grace, and their charm serve them as a substitute for birth and family
background." Appearance and poise, then, can make a woman beautiful without being "on par with the
grandest woman."

Mathilde is therefore constantly unhappy because instead of the "delicacies" and "luxuries" in which she
believes she was born, her life is shabby. Although the other women in her class wouldn't even notice,
she was disillusioned by the view of her apartment and her humble maid, preferring to lose herself in
the daydream of "hushed antechambers with Oriental hangers" and "large drawing rooms lined with
ancient silk."

Her husband, on the other hand, seemed much more satisfied, declaring over dinner, "Ah! Good stew! I
didn't know of anything better!" Meanwhile, Mathilde dreams of a fashionable dinner party and
"exquisite courses served in a stunning vessel."

One day, M. Loisel came home with an invitation to an elegant party hosted by the Minister of
Education. Despite the fact that she "went to endless trouble" getting such a sought-after invitation,
Mathilde initially turned down the offer to attend, and was close to tears when she told him she didn't
have anything suitable to wear.

Seeing how unhappy Mathilde was, her husband asked her how much it cost her to buy clothes.
Mathilde pondered for a moment, then asked for 400 francs, which was enough to buy a nice dress but
not enough to bring about an immediate refusal from the "thrifty clerk."

Turning pale briefly, M. Loisel agreed to give Mathilde the money, even though she had saved 400 francs
to buy a new rifle to go hunting with her friends on the Nanterre plains.

On the day of the party, Mathilde's new dress was ready but she was still unhappy. When her husband
asked her why, she said that she was ashamed not to have jewels to wear on her dress. M. Loisel
suggests that she buy two or three roses for 10 francs, but Mathilde responds that nothing is more
embarrassing than "looking like a poor man in a rich woman."

With her husband's suggestion, Mathilde decided to pay her rich friend Mme. Forestier visits to borrow
some jewelery. He looked through every item in Mme's jewel box. Forestier, finally settled on an
expensive-looking diamond necklace. For the first time Mathilde was happy as she stood in "ecstasy"
staring at her reflection in the mirror.

At the party, Mathilde was a huge success. She was "prettier than other women" and was noticed by top
officials and even the minister herself. Lost in the "clouds of happiness," Mathilde dances "drunk, swept
away, head with pleasure."

When they left the party, M. Loisel covered Mathilde with a wrap she had brought from home, "the
simple clothes of ordinary life, their poverty clashed with the elegance of ball gowns." Embarrassed to
be seen by another woman draped in "expensive fur," Mathilde ran outside and onto the street.

Unable to find the train, Mathilde and her husband walked toward the Seine, "discouraged and
shivering." They finally found the train but it was "old broughams, the nights you see in Paris only at
night as if they are ashamed of their squalor during the day."

The train dropped them off at their apartment on "rue des Martyrs." Mathilde realizes that "it is all
over," which means that her night of happiness and social recognition is over.

Stopping to admire herself one last time in the mirror, Mathilde suddenly realized that the necklace was
missing. She and her husband searched everywhere for the necklace, but without luck. Finally, M. Loisel
decided that they had to replace the jewelery.

The next day they visit the jeweler whose name is on the necklace, but he says that the necklace didn't
come from him.

They then go to another piece of jewelery, where they find a series of diamonds that look exactly like
the necklace they were trying to replace. The necklace costs 40,000 francs.

M. Loisel has 18,000 francs which he inherited from his father but he is forced to borrow the rest of the
money to pay for the necklace. He borrows money from his friends and makes damaging deals with
moneylenders and loan sharks. In order to change the necklace, M. Loisel endangered the rest of his life
and was horrified that he would have to risk his signature "not knowing whether he would be able to
honor it."

After buying a replacement, Mathilde returned the necklace to her friend. Mme. Forestier didn't even
open the box and so he didn't pay attention to replacement.

The following years were difficult for Mathilde and her husband as they were forced to "experience a
terrible life of necessity." After laying off their maid and renting Garret's apartment, M. Loisel took the
balancing account of the night job and copied documents. Mathilde played her part "with sudden
heroism," learning to do the heavy lifting of the household and the work of the working people.

After ten years, the terrible debt was finally paid off. This period of hardship took a toll on Mathilde,
who lost her once-extraordinary beauty. She appears like an old woman now, but consoles herself with
memories of the night of the party when she was still beautiful and admired.

One day while walking the Champs Elysées, Mathilde saw Mme. Forestier, who still looks young and
beautiful. Madame Forestier barely recognizes her old friend, commenting on how much she has
changed.
Now that the debt was settled, Mathilde decided to tell Mme. Forestier throughout the story, proud
that he had been able to replace and pay for such an expensive necklace. However, Mme. Forestier was
disappointed to tell him that all this suffering was in vain, exclaiming: "You said you bought a diamond
necklace to replace mine? That's worth at most 500 francs!"