SUMMARY IN ENGLISH
This story is about a lady who was born into a poor family. Her name was Matilda Loisel. She was married to a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education. She had neither frocks nor jewels. But she loved only these things. She had a rich friend named Forestier. But she avoided visiting her because she suffered a lot after visiting her and seeing her wealthy lifestyle. One day her husband gave her an invitation to the ball at the minister’s residence. She threw the invitation on the table saying that she had nothing to wear to the party. He suggested her to wear the dress that she used to wear when they went to the cinema. But she started weeping. When he asked her the reason for her weeping she told him that she had no dress to wear on the occasion. She suggested to him to give the invitation to any of his friends whose wives had better clothes and ornaments than her. At this, her husband asked her how much it would cost to buy a good dress. She told him that it would cost around four hundred francs. He agreed to give her the money. Her dress was almost ready. But she was not happy and her husband asked her the reason for her sadness. She told him that she had no jewelry to wear. He reminded her about her old friend Madam Forestier who could lend her some jewellery. She went to her friend and asked her to lend her a necklace. Her friend gave her a necklace. The
day of the ball approached. She enjoyed it a lot in the ball. She saw herself in full glory and everybody gave her an admiring look. She danced with enthusiasm. In the morning at around four, she left for her home. She, accompanied by her husband went to the street in search of a cab. Then they hired an old-fashioned cab and went home. After they reached home, Mrs Loisel noticed that she had lost the necklace. Her husband could not believe that. He went in search of the necklace but failed. He reported the matter to the police and gave an advertisement in the newspapers offering some reward, but all in vain.
Then they decided to buy a look-alike necklace to replace that of Madam Forestier. They purchased a similar necklace for thirty-six thousand. Mr Loisel had only eighteen thousand pounds. He borrowed the rest from lenders at high rates of interest. After that, Mrs Loisel went to her friend to return the necklace. She did not perceive the substitution. In order to pay back the debts, they lived from hand to mouth for ten long years. After ten years they had paid every penny of the debt. One day Mrs Loisel came across her friend Madam Forestier. Her friend failed to recognise her but when she told that she was Mrs Loisel; her friend asked her how she had changed. Then she told her the story of their hardships. Her friend was taken by surprise when Mrs Matilda told her that they had replaced her necklace with a necklace of diamonds. Madam Forestier cried in disbelief telling Mrs Loisel that her necklace was artificial and it was not costlier than five hundred Franks.