Chapter – 7

The Necklace

In this post, we have given the Important Questions of chapter 7 “The Necklace”. It is the 7th chapter of the Class 10th English.

Board	CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 10
Subject	English Footprints without Feet
Chapter no.	Chapter 7
Chapter Name	The Necklace
Category	Class 10 English Important Questions
Medium	English

Chapter 7 The Necklace

Question 1. What kind of a person is Mme Loisel and why is she always unhappy?

Answer: Mme Loisel is young, pretty, ordinary but discontented woman. She is of a humble background but dreams of riches and comforts. She is proud of her beauty and wants to be admired. Her meagre resources are not enough to satisfy her expensive cravings making her angry all the time.

Question 2. What kind of a person is her husband?

Answer: Her husband M Loisel, is an ordinary and average young man. A mere clerk by profession, he is still contented with his job. Also, he is a caring man as he is excited to show the dinner invitation to his wife.

Question 3. What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?

Answer: After spending a fortune on a beautiful dress, Mme Loisel is faced with yet another disaster. She frets over the fact that she does not have a beautiful jewel to go with her dress. So, she asks her husband to pass on the invitation to someone else.

Question 4. How is the problem solved?

Answer: Matilda Loisel’s husband, M. Loisel, comes to her rescue. First, he suggests her to wear fresh flowers. Matilda just mocked at the idea. Then, he advises her to borrow some jewels from her rich friend, Mme Forestier. Thus, the problem is solved as Mme Forestier lends her a beautiful diamond necklace.

Question 5. What do Mr and Mme Loisel do next?

Answer: The Loisels leave no stone unturned. M. Loisel goes back and searches to the lost necklace. Then, he goes to the police and to the cab offices. Also, they put out an advertisement n the newspapers and offer a reward to anyone who finds :he necklace. But, all their efforts go in vain.

Question 6. How do they replace the necklace?

Answer: After all other efforts fail, Loisel’s decide to buy a new dentical necklace to replace the lost one. M. Loisel pooled n eighteen thousand francs of his inheritance and borrowed :he rest. Then the couple managed to buy the new necklace :or thirty six thousand francs and returned it to the rightful 0wner.

Answer the following Questions

Question 1. Why was Matilda always unhappy after her marriage?

Answer. Matilda’s desire to belong to the rich and affluent section of society was responsible for her downfall. If she had accepted her condition with a smile and without any complains, she would not have to live ten long years of her life in such object poverty.

Question 2. Why was Matilda Loisel always unhappy?

Answer. Matilda Loisel was always unhappy because she did not get what she aspired for. She wanted to enjoy all the delicacies and luxuries. But she did not get these things as her husband was a poor clerk in the Board of Education.

Question 3. Why did Matilda not want to see her rich friends?

Answer. Matilda did not want to see her rich friends because she suffered from inferiority complex. She was married to a simple clerk; whereas her friends were rich and full of money power.

Question 4. What was Loisel’s reaction to his wife’s desire for a new dress?

Answer. The Loisels had been invited to a party at the Minister’s residence. When Matilda told her husband that she wanted a new dress to wear, first of all he asked her to wear whatever she possessed. When she got angry and refused to go to the party at all, he finally agreed to let her buy a new one.

Question 5. Do you think M. Loisels had an enjoyable evening at the ball? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer. I think M. Loisel didn’t enjoy much at the ball. In fact, he was not much interested in such parties. He had come there for the sake of his wife’s happiness. So when his wife was dancing with enthusiasm, intoxicated with pleasure, he waited for her (but without disturbing her) half asleep in one of the little salons since midnight.

Question 6. How did Mr. Loisel purchase a suitable costume for his wife?

Answer. Matilda’s husband i.e. Mr. Loisel had saved substantial amount of money to buy a gun for him. His wife had declined to attend the ball unless he purchased a party dress for her. Therefore he had to go for the idea of buying the gun. The entire four hundred francs were spent on buying the costume.

Question 7. How did the Loisels react when they realised that the necklace had been lost?

Answer.  As soon as they realised that the necklace had been lost, their short-lived happiness degenerated into shock of the worst nightmare. Matilda uttered a cry. Loisel, already half undressed, arose in dismay and went immediately on foot in search of the necklace.

Question 8. Why was Matilda sad after the ball?

Answer. The night of the ball had been the realisation of a long cherished dream for Matilda, when she was the focus of all the attention and every eye admired her. But the happiness was short-lived and degenerated into shock of the worst nightmare when she discovered that the necklace was missing from her attire. Her mind was ridden with forebodings of how she would face Madame Forestier and pay up for the loss.

Question 9. What changes came into the life of the Loisels after borrowing money?

Answer.  After borrowing money, a lot of changes came in the life of the Loisels. They had to do away with the maid and Matilda had to do all the household chores. She had to carry down the refuse to the street and carry water upstairs. She had to do all the shopping from the market after a lot of haggling. Her husband also had to work hard. He worked in the evenings and sometimes even at night. Thus, their life changed drastically.

Question 10. Why could Mrs. Forestier not recognize her friend Matilda at the end of the story?

Answer. Matilda had to work very hard to lead her life. She had become a strong, hard woman, the crude woman of the household. In fact, she had started looking old. One Sunday evening, when she was taking a walk in the Champs Elysees, she met Mrs. Forestier who still looked young and pretty. As Matilda had started looking old and haggard, she couldn’t be recognized by her.

Question 11. People should always try to live within their meAnswer. Aspiration have no limits but one should never forget the ground realities. Elaborate on the basis of chapter, “The Necklace”.

Answer. Matilda was a pretty young woman. But she was a day-dreamer. Although she was born in a poor family, yet she dreams to have costly dresses and jewellery. She wanted to be honoured and respected like rich. One day her husband showed her an invitation from a minister. She emotionally forced to buy a new and costly dress for the ball. After this she borrowed a diamond necklace from her friend Forestier. She enjoyed the party heartily. She danced with enthusiasm. But she lost the necklace and in this way their problems started. To replace the necklace her husband had to borrow amount on a very high rate of interest. To repay that amount, they lived in rented house. She did all household work herself. Mr. Loisel worked extra to earn small wages. Thus, it is correctly said that we should always live within one meAnswer. Our aspirations have no limits. But we should never forget the ground realities. If Matilda had knowledge of this fact, her life would not have changed into realities.

Question 12. Give a character sketch of Mrs. Forestier in the story.

Answer. Mrs. Forestier was a rich lady. She was a good friend of Matilda. Her Jewel case and black satin box were full of costly ornaments. She is a helpful and considerate lady when Matilda told her the story of her distress, she got ready to. help her. She showed all her golden ornaments and jewels of admirable workmanship. She did not hesitate the least in lending her superb necklace of diamonds to Matilda. Mrs. Forestier snubbed Matilda for
returning the necklace a bit late. She was a pure-hearted lady. She kept the Jewel box without opening it. Her honest and large heartedness became evident when she declared that her necklace was false and of only five hundred francs in worth.

Question 13. The course of the Loisel’s life changed due to the necklace. Comment.

Answer. Matilda lost Mrs. Forestier’s necklace while she was dancing at the ball. Matilda and her husband had to return the necklace after borrowing eighteen thousand francs from lenders. They handed the jewel box to Mrs. Forestier who did not open the Jewel Box. After that Matilda and her husband spent a life of misery. A tremendous change came in the life style of Matilda after this incident. She started living in rented house, sent away the maid, and also started doing all the household work. She led a wretched, poor and humble life for ten years. Matilda’s desire to show off and one little act of negligence or one small error led to the utter ruin of their life full of pleasures. They suffered poverty for ten years due to the debt they incurred to buy a necklace.

Question 14. What is the role of Madam Forestier in the story ‘The Necklace’?

Answer. Madam Forestier plays quite an important role in the plot of the story ‘The Necklace’. She was a rich friend of Matilda. She was a schoolmate at the convent. Though quite rich, Madam Forestier never gave an image of an arrogant and snobbish lady. When Matilda told her that she needed jewels to adorn herself for the ball, she at once obliged her. She opened her jewel box and asked her to make her choice. She happily lent her a
superb diamond necklace of her choice. If Matilda didn’t want to visit Madam Forestier, it was not her fault. Matilda’s inflated ego prevented her from going there. She suffered so much when she returned the necklace. Matilda suffered because she couldn’t enjoy all delicacies and luxuries like her rich friend. Madam Forestier could snub Matilda for returning the necklace rather late. She told her, “You should have returned them to me
sooner…..“ But she was a sympathetic lady. She showed her sympathy when she came to know of all miseries that Matilda suffered because of the necklace. Alas! Matilda didn’t take Madam Forestier into her confidence about the lost necklace. Madam Forestier was gracious enough to forgive her. After all, the jewels she lent to Matilda were false.

Think About It

Question 1. The course of the Loisel’s life changed due to the necklace. Comment.

Answer: It takes Loisels a decade to pay back the money they borrowed to buy the necklace. And, it changed everything for them. They had to move to the poorest quarters of the city. With no maids or assistance, Matilda had to cook, clean, mend, sew, bargain with the grocer and butcher to save every sou just for mere survival. The husband had to work in the evening and night to pay their debt. In this way, the course of the Losiel’s life changed due to the necklace.

Question 2. What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it?

Answer: Matilda’s pride and her materialistic aspirations coupled with her dishonesty pave the way for her ruin. She could have avoided it by learning to accept her current situation and being content with what she had.

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 doom. If only she has been courageous enough to confess to her friend the truth of the necklace, she would have come to know that it was a fake one that cost a mere five hundred francs. She would not have Spent her husband’s entire inheritance and borrowed eighteen thousand francs to pay for its replacement. In fact, she would have saved herself and her husband from ten long years of crushing poverty, misery and back breaking labour

Question 4. If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it?

Answer: Foremost of all, I would have done my best not to become a victim of my own pride and aspirations. If, I was caught in such a situation, I would have let the truth out and then face the consequences. Honesty would have been the way out for me.

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: Though the characters speak in English, it is not their language. Maupassant wrote the story in French and it was translated into English. Again the very text throws up enough words in French to prove it otherwise. First, the very names of characters like ‘Mme Loisel, Mme Forestier and the minister’s name George Ramponneau indicate their French origin. Then, the words for currency like ‘Franc’ and ‘Sou’ show the same. Also, the shop’s location at ‘Palais Royal’ and ‘Champs Elysees’ point out the French history of the characters and the story.

Question 2. Honesty is the best Policy.

Answer: Honesty is definitely the best policy. Falsehood and hypocrisy seem very attractive and rewarding at first. But, the path they tread on leads to nothing but misery, evil and utter gloom. Honesty, on the contrary, seems to be a difficult choice in pursuit of material happiness. However, it is the only choice for a life of contentment, peace and everlasting happiness.

Question 3. We should be content with what life gives us.

Answer: Life is a great mystery. For every individual this mystery of life comes wrapped in a unique package. For some, it is all riches, comfort, name and fame. For some, it is nothing but sheer hunger, poverty, anguish and an everyday quest for bare survival. One, however, must learn to live within one’s means and be content with what one has. One may try to improve his lot by honest means but eventually must be at peace with what one manages to have.

We hope that Class 10 English (The Necklace) Chapter 7 The Necklace Important Questions helped you. If you have any queries about Class 10 English (The Necklace) Chapter 7 The Necklace Important Questions or about any other notes of Class 10 English, so you can comment below. We will reach you as soon as possible…