The Diamond Necklace Page #3

"The Diamond Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant is a poignant short story that explores themes of vanity, pride, and the pursuit of wealth. It follows Mathilde Loisel, a beautiful but discontented woman who yearns for a life of luxury and glamour. When she borrows a stunning diamond necklace to wear to a high-society ball, her dreams seem to come true. However, the evening takes a dark turn when she loses the necklace and must struggle for years to repay the debt incurred to replace it. The story culminates in a bitter twist, revealing the harsh realities of ambition and the price of superficial desires. Maupassant's tale serves as a powerful commentary on social class and the illusions of wealth.

								

swishes of water. But sometimes, when her husband was at the office,
she sat down near the window and she thought of that gay evening of long
ago, of that ball where she had been so beautiful and so admired.

What would have happened if she had not lost that necklace? Who knows?
who knows? How strange and changeful is life! How small a thing is
needed to make or ruin us!

But one Sunday, having gone to take a walk in the Champs Elysees to
refresh herself after the labors of the week, she suddenly perceived
a woman who was leading a child. It was Madame Forestier, still young,
still beautiful, still charming.

Madame Loisel felt moved. Should she speak to her? Yes, certainly. And
now that she had paid, she would tell her all about it. Why not?

She went up.

“Good-day, Jeanne.”

The other, astonished to be familiarly addressed by this plain
good-wife, did not recognize her at all and stammered:

“But--madame!--I do not know--You must have mistaken.”

“No. I am Mathilde Loisel.”

Her friend uttered a cry.

“Oh, my poor Mathilde! How you are changed!”

“Yes, I have had a pretty hard life, since I last saw you, and great
poverty--and that because of you!”

“Of me! How so?”

“Do you remember that diamond necklace you lent me to wear at the
ministerial ball?”

“Yes. Well?”

“Well, I lost it.”

“What do you mean? You brought it back.”

“I brought you back another exactly like it. And it has taken us ten
years to pay for it. You can understand that it was not easy for us, for
us who had nothing. At last it is ended, and I am very glad.”

Madame Forestier had stopped.

“You say that you bought a necklace of diamonds to replace mine?”

“Yes. You never noticed it, then! They were very similar.”

And she smiled with a joy that was at once proud and ingenuous.

Madame Forestier, deeply moved, took her hands.

“Oh, my poor Mathilde! Why, my necklace was paste! It was worth at most
only five hundred francs!”
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