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The necklace that Mathilde borrows from Jeanne Forestier represents the idea that appearances can be deceiving. The necklace looks like it is made of expensive diamonds, but it is in fact made of paste, costing at most 500 francs. The fact that Mathilde is unable to tell the difference between the two reveals her inability look beneath the surface to see the true value of things. From Mathilde’s perspective, the necklace is the physical embodiment of the class and social status she so desires, and the fact that she picks the most expensive-looking (but not necessarily the most valuable) item from Mme. Forestier’s jewel box points to her unrestrained greed and ambition. Likewise, the revelation that the necklace is a fake demonstrates that Mathilde’s ambition is woefully misguided in the sense that she puts too much stock in physical objects and their power to change her life. The necklace is also thematically linked to the dangers of female beauty, especially with regard to the ugliness that an attractive outward appearance can conceal.
The Necklace Quotes in The Necklace
The The Necklace quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Necklace. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Necklace Quotes
Madame Loisel looked first at some bracelets, then at a pearl necklace, then at a marvelously crafted Venetian cross made up of gold and precious stones. She tried the pieces on before the mirror, wavering, unsure whether to keep them or leave them. She kept asking: “Don’t you have anything else?”
“Of course. Keep searching. I can’t tell what you’ll like.”
All at once, in a black satin box, Madame Loisel unearthed a superb diamond necklace, and her heart began pounding with unrestrained desire. Her hands trembled when she picked up the necklace. She placed it on her throat, against her high-necked dress, and remained ecstatic in front of her reflection.
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To prepare for the party, Mathilde visits her friend Mme. Forestier in order to borrow some jewelry. Mathilde tries on every item in her friend’s jewel box but rejects them all, despite that each one is well-crafted and pretty. Mathilde’s behavior exposes her insatiable greed: she is “unsure of whether to keep them or leave them” and if she could have things her way she would probably take them all, though instead she settles for Mme. Forestier’s most expensive-looking piece. The power that Mathilde invests in objects is made clear by the extremely strong effect that the necklace has on Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis
“You say you bought a diamond necklace to replace mine?”
“Yes. You didn’t catch on, did you? They were fairly alike.”
And she smiled with proud and naïve joy.
Madame Forestier, deeply moved, took hold of Madame Loisel’s hands. “Oh, my poor Mathilde! My necklace was paste. It was worth at most five hundred francs!”
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At the very end of the story, Mme. Forestier reveals that the necklace that Mathilde and her husband spent ten years of their lives trying to replace was actually costume jewelry that was “worth at most five hundred francs.” Mathilde is proud to tell the truth to her friend because she was able to find meaning in her suffering through the worth of the necklace—in a sense, she views her ten years of poverty as a just payment for one night of wealth. In an instant, Mme. Forestier tells Mathilde that her suffering was in fact for nothing. The twist Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earu
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The Necklace Symbol Timeline in The Necklace
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Necklace appears in The Necklace. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Necklace
...looks through every item in Mme. Forestier’s jewel box, eventually settling on an expensive-looking diamond necklace. For the first time Mathilde is happy as she stands in “ecstasy” staring at her...
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Stopping to admire herself one last time in the mirror, Mathilde suddenly realizes that the necklace is gone. She and her husband search everywhere for the necklace, but without any luck....
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The next day they visit the jeweler whose name was on the necklace’s box, but he says that the necklace didn’t come from him.
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...to another jeweler, where they find a string of diamonds that looks exactly like the necklace they are trying to replace. The necklace costs 40,000 francs.
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...but he is forced to borrow the rest of the money to pay for the necklace. He borrows money from his friends and makes ruinous deals with moneylenders and loan sharks....
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After buying the replacement, Mathilde returns the necklace to her friend. Mme. Forestier doesn’t even open the box and so she does not...
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...story, proud that she had been able to replace and pay for such an expensive necklace. However, Mme. Forestier is dismayed to inform her that all this suffering was for nothing,...
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