GSEB Class 10 English Solutions Chapter 7 The Necklace

Read and Find Out (Textbook Page No. 39)

Question 1. What kind of a person is Mme Loisel and why is she always unhappy?
Answer: Mme Loisel was a young, pretty, yet discontented woman. She came from a humble background but dreamed of wealth and comfort. She took pride in her beauty and desired to be admired. Her limited money was not enough to satisfy her expensive desires, making her constantly angry.

Exam Tip: When describing a character, always mention their appearance, social status, and key personality traits, along with the reasons for those traits.

Question 2. What kind of a person is her husband?
Answer: Her husband, M. Loisel, was an ordinary and average young man. He worked as a clerk and was quite happy with his job. He was also a caring man, shown by his excitement to share the dinner invitation with his wife.

Exam Tip: Focus on personality traits and specific actions that reveal the character's nature. Mentioning their profession helps establish context.

Read and Find Out (Textbook Page No. 41)

Question 1. What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?
Answer: After spending a lot of money on a lovely dress, Mme Loisel faced yet another problem. She worried that she did not have any beautiful jewelry to go with her new dress. Therefore, she asked her husband to give the invitation to someone else.

Exam Tip: Identify the core problem and Mme Loisel's immediate reaction to it. Her reaction often highlights her character traits.

Question 2. How is the problem solved?
Answer: Matilda Loisel's husband, M. Loisel, helped her solve the issue. First, he suggested she wear fresh flowers, but Matilda simply mocked this idea. Then, he advised her to borrow some jewels from her rich friend, Mme Forestier. As a result, the problem was fixed when Mme Forestier lent her a beautiful diamond necklace.

Exam Tip: Detail the steps taken to resolve the problem and name the key individuals involved in the solution.

Read and Find Out (Textbook Page No. 42)

Question 1. What do Mr and Mme Loisel do next?
Answer: The Loisels made every effort to find the necklace. M. Loisel went back and searched for the lost necklace. Then, he visited the police and the cab offices. Additionally, they placed an advertisement in the newspapers and offered a reward to anyone who found the necklace. However, all their attempts were unsuccessful.

Exam Tip: List all the immediate actions taken by the characters in response to the crisis. This shows their desperation and efforts.

Question 2. How do they replace the necklace?
Answer: After all other efforts failed, the couple decided to purchase a new, identical necklace to replace the lost one. M. Loisel combined eighteen thousand francs from his inheritance and borrowed the rest. They then managed to buy the new necklace for thirty-six thousand francs and returned it to its rightful owner.

Exam Tip: Specify the final decision, the cost, and how the money was obtained for the replacement item.

Think About It

Question 1. The course of the Loisels' life changed due to the necklace. Comment.
Answer: It took the Loisels ten years to repay the money they borrowed to purchase the necklace, and this altered everything for them. They had to relocate to the city's poorest areas. Without maids or help, Matilda had to cook, clean, mend, sew, and bargain with the grocer and butcher to save every small amount just for basic survival. Her husband had to work in the evenings and at night to pay their debt. In this manner, the entire direction of the Loisels' lives changed because of the necklace.

Exam Tip: Describe the long-term impact on both characters, focusing on their changed living conditions, work, and social status.

Question 2. What was the cause of Matilda's ruin? How could she have avoided it?
Answer: Matilda's excessive pride and her longing for material things, combined with her dishonesty, led to her downfall. She could have prevented this by learning to accept her present situation and being happy with what she possessed.

Exam Tip: Identify the specific character flaws and actions that directly caused her misfortune and suggest an alternative, virtuous course of action.

Question 3. What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace?
Answer: Truth and honesty would have saved Matilda from her misery. If only she had been brave enough to tell her friend the truth about the necklace, she would have discovered that it was a fake one, costing only five hundred francs. She would not have used her husband's entire inheritance and borrowed eighteen thousand francs to replace it. In fact, she would have saved herself and her husband from ten long years of grinding poverty, suffering, and intense labor.

Exam Tip: Contrast the actual outcome with the hypothetical outcome, highlighting the benefits of honesty and the consequences of deception. Emphasize the specific facts that would have changed (e.g., the necklace's true value).

Question 4. If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it?
Answer: Most importantly, I would have tried hard not to become trapped by my own pride and desires. If I were caught in such a situation, I would have stated the truth and then dealt with the outcomes. Honesty would have been the proper solution for me.

Exam Tip: In ethical dilemmas, always emphasize integrity, transparency, and a willingness to accept the consequences of your actions.

Talk About It

Question 1. The characters in this story speak in English. Do you think this is their language? What clues are there in the story about the language its characters must be speaking in?
Answer: Although the characters speak in English, it is not their native language. Maupassant initially wrote the story in French, and it was later translated into English. Furthermore, the text itself provides many French words that indicate this. First, the names of characters like ‘Mme Loisel,' ‘Mme Forestier,' and the minister's name George S Ramponneau clearly suggest their French background. Then, words for money like 'Franc' and 'Sou' also confirm this. Additionally, the shop's location at 'Palais Royal' and 'Champs-Elysees' highlights the French setting and the history of the characters and the story.

Exam Tip: When identifying a story's original language or setting, look for proper nouns (names, places) and specific cultural or monetary terms mentioned in the text.

Question 2. Honesty is the best policy.
Answer: Honesty is indeed the best approach. Untruths and pretense might seem appealing and rewarding at first. However, the path they follow leads only to sadness, evil, and deep gloom. Honesty, on the contrary, appears to be a challenging choice when seeking material happiness. Nevertheless, it is the only option for a life filled with contentment, tranquility, and lasting joy.

Exam Tip: When asked to comment on a proverb, define its meaning, discuss why it is true (or not), and provide examples or counter-arguments if applicable. Emphasize its long-term benefits versus short-term gains of alternatives.

Question 3. We should be content with what life gives us.
Answer: Life is a profound puzzle. For each person, this mystery of existence comes packaged uniquely. For some, it involves complete wealth, ease, fame, and recognition. For others, it is nothing but intense hunger, poverty, deep worry, and a daily search for mere survival. However, one must learn to live within their financial limits and be satisfied with what they possess. One can try to improve their situation through honest methods, but eventually, they must find peace with what they manage to acquire.

Exam Tip: When discussing philosophical statements, acknowledge the different realities people face and then focus on the core message, explaining its importance for personal well-being.

The Necklace Summary In English

The Necklace Summary:

Matilda Loisel is an attractive and pretty woman, but she is very unhappy. She believes that life has treated her unfairly. She feels placed in a lower social position than she deserves. She wanted to be valued and loved by some rich gentleman from a good family, but because she had no dowry, she had to settle for a junior clerk in the Ministry of Public Instruction.

Her life is filled with constant frustration. She dislikes her simple apartment, its lack of pictures on the walls, and its worn-out furniture. Even seeing her maid doing housework fills her with deep regret and makes her imagine much more luxurious surroundings. While other women of her social class might accept their place in life, Matilda never can.

She is so ashamed of her lower-middle-class life that she even refuses to see one of her old friends from her convent school days. Madame Forestier is wealthy, and Matilda finds visits to her too painful; so, she spends her days hanging around her boring flat, sometimes crying the entire time, overwhelmed with worry, regret, despair, and sadness.

Her husband, on the other hand, seems more adjusted. He doesn't notice that the tablecloth has been used for three days. When he is served a simple stew, he can exclaim happily: “Well, a good hot pot. I don't know anything better than that.” One day, he comes home from his office with an invitation to a party being hosted by his superior, the minister of public instruction.

Instead of receiving the news with joy, Matilda throws the invitation onto the table, saying it's useless to her because she has nothing suitable to wear for such an event. Her husband tries to convince her that it was very hard for a junior clerk to be invited to such a gathering. “You will see the whole world of officialdom there,” he says, suggesting that she wear the nice-looking dress she once wore to the theater. She

refuses and tells him to give the invitation to a colleague whose wife is dressed better than her. Monsieur Loisel tries another approach.

He asks her how much a proper dress would cost. She considers this, trying to guess how much a frugal man like him would agree to spend. She decides on four hundred francs, which, by chance, is exactly the amount he had saved to buy a gun so he could join friends for Sunday hunting on the Nanterre flatlands. He is not happy to give up his pleasure but agrees.

A suitable dress is ordered and is ready before the date of the dance. Matilda, however, is still sad. Now she complains that she does not have any jewelry to wear with it. Her husband suggests flowers, but she is unimpressed.

He then suggests that she go to her rich friend Madame Forestier and borrow some jewelry. His wife thinks this is a good idea, and the next day she goes and explains her situation to her. Madame Forestier is very willing to help and goes to a wardrobe to get a large jewelry box. She tells Matilda to take whatever she likes.

Such an abundance of choices makes it difficult for Matilda to decide. She asks to see something else. Suddenly, she finds a black satin case containing a magnificent necklace, described as “a river of diamonds.” With a shaky voice, she asks if she can borrow this item. “But yes, certainly,” her friend replies. Matilda wraps her arms around her friend's neck and then joyfully rushes home with her treasure.

At the minister's party, Matilda achieves great success. She appears to be the prettiest woman in the room; all men's eyes are on her. Even the minister notices her. She dances throughout the night, leaving her tired husband dozing in a small drawing room with three other husbands whose wives are also having fun. When the party ends at four o'clock, Matilda wants to leave as quickly as possible because she doesn't want the other women, who are all wearing furs, to notice her simple cloth coat.

She runs out into the street hoping to find a cab, but her search leads her down to the Seine where, finally, she and her husband find an old, rundown carriage waiting along the riverbank. The ride back to their gloomy apartment is sad for Matilda, with her fresh memories of triumph.

Once home, as she is removing her wraps, she realizes that the necklace is no longer around her neck. They search through the folds of her clothes but cannot find it. Her husband goes out and retraces their path home. He returns several hours later, having found nothing.

The next day, he goes to the police and files a report. He then places an advertisement in the lost-and-found section of the newspapers, but still, nothing. To gain time to continue their search, they tell Madame Forestier that the clasp on the necklace is being repaired. After five days, however, when nothing appears, they decide that the necklace is truly gone and must be replaced.

They visit jewelers to find a diamond strand that matches the lost one. They finally see one in a shop at the Palais-Royal. The price, with a four thousand franc discount, is thirty-six thousand francs. The Loisels pay for it using an eighteen thousand franc inheritance that the husband received from his father, and by borrowing the rest in small amounts, thus pledging their lives for the next decade. The replacement necklace is returned to Madame Forestier, who remarks rather coldly that it should have been returned sooner because she might have needed it. She does not bother to open the case. The Loisels are left with their debts.

They get rid of their maid. They move to a poorer apartment. The wife now has to do all the humble work herself: wash the sheets, carry garbage down to the street, fetch water, do her own shopping, bargaining with everyone to save a few small coins. The husband works extra hours, in the evenings for a bookkeeper and often at night, doing copying work at twenty-five centimes per page. This goes on year after year until the debt is paid.

The period of extreme poverty transformed Matilda into a poor, prematurely old woman with a loud voice, red hands, and messy hair. But in her sadness, she often remembers the minister's ball, where she had her great success. She asks herself what her fate would have been if she had not lost the necklace?

One Sunday, as she walks along the Champs-Elysees, she sees Madame Forestier taking a child for a walk. Jeanne Forestier still looks young and attractive. Now that the debt for the necklace has been settled, Matilda Loisel decides to tell her old friend everything

that happened. She stops to speak to her but is not recognized until she introduces herself. She explains that her life has been quite difficult.

She tells her about the lost necklace, how she replaced it, and how for the past ten years she has been struggling to pay for it. She is relieved that the long ordeal is over and naively proud that her friend never realized a different necklace had been returned to her. Madame Forestier is deeply moved. Taking both of her friend's hands, she says, “Oh! My poor Matilda! But mine was a fake. It was worth no more than five hundred francs!”