Republic of the Philippines

Pamantasan ng Cabuyao
(University of Cabuyao)
Senior High School Department
Katapatan Mutual Homes, Brgy. Banay-banay, City of Cabuyao, Laguna 4025

PERFORMANCE TASK 2 IN EAPP

“The Necklace
by Guy de Maupassant”

Reaction Paper By:

Bandoy, Frenzha Veronica
Lagera, Erica

12-EHUMSS 5

WRITTEN WORK 1
 Republic of the Philippines
Pamantasan ng Cabuyao
(University of Cabuyao)
Senior High School Department
Katapatan Mutual Homes, Brgy. Banay-banay, City of Cabuyao, Laguna 4025

“The Necklace” is a short story written in 1884 by a French writer Guy de Maupas. The short but
interesting story is about Mathilde, she might have been gorgeous but she was still full of greed and
selfishness that leads to her downfall. She is a young, married woman, suffering from poverty, spent all
her days dreaming of having a rich life, delicious dishes served in marvelous plates that she envied.
Even though she has none of these fancy gowns and jewels, her husband, a minor clerk, is a working
hard man, whose aspiration in life is to give the best life to her wife.

Furthermore, one night, her husband brought home an invitation card to a ball party. When he mentioned
the invitation, Mathilde, on the other hand, got seriously angry and threw the card on the table. What is
her first thought is of what she is going to wear to the party. She is unbothered about her husband's
reaction to the invitation or how much fun they will have at the event. She is only concerned with how
she will appear and what others would think of her. Mathilde decides to use all her husband's savings on
a new outfit and borrow jewelry, and a necklace from a close friend.

Later that night, Mathilde found out that she lost the necklace she borrowed from her friend. Anxious
and terrified, she told her husband and they decided to borrow money and buy a new necklace in order
to cover up their mistake. In this story, We have so much realization and interest on how the author put
the blame on Mathilde for losing the necklace. But, on the other hand, It is also a blessing for her since
she will be able to learn how to be a good housewife and how to manage money beyond her wildest
dreams and expectations. As stated in the text, when she first saw a diamond necklace, she had an
immediate reaction: "Her heart began to beat with an immoderate desire. Her hands trembled as she took
it.” Even if just for one night, the necklace provided her with the life she needed. However, it's just a
cloud of happiness after the necklace was lost.

We have come to a realization that in some ways, the necklace grew to represent suffering and misery.
One of the many things it gave us is not to be greedy and that we should be grateful for what we have in
life rather than seeking to have more. Also, don’t compare yourself to what others have, and search for
things you are not capable of getting. People also should not care about what others think of them.
Mathilde in the story is obsessed with what others think of her, so she is desperate to look as flawless as
she can at the party, which leads her to borrow something she knew she could never afford that caused
her life to be more miserable.

WRITTEN WORK 2
 Republic of the Philippines
Pamantasan ng Cabuyao
(University of Cabuyao)
Senior High School Department
Katapatan Mutual Homes, Brgy. Banay-banay, City of Cabuyao, Laguna 4025

After reading the story of “The Necklace”, we can truly say that "Honesty is the best policy," is the
story's main takeaway. If Matilda had been completely honest with her friend about the necklace, she
would have revealed that it wasn't made of real diamonds, which would have prevented her from having
to endure a ten-year period of miserable life. It is a reality that many people lie or try to conceal the truth
in order to avoid being punished or facing the anger of their loved ones. It’s important to remember that
our loved ones can only forgive us for our mistakes if we are honest with them and acknowledge our
mistakes.

WRITTEN WORK 3