Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) is generally considered the greatest French short story writer. The Diamond Necklace story talks about a poor girl wishing to lead a rich lifestyle, which culminates in her suffering. Mathilde is a poor but very beautiful woman in her looks and appearance. She is married to a poor clerk in the Ministry of Education, Loisel. Mathilde always complains about her life and about her social stature.
One evening her husband comes with an invitation from the ministry of education. Mathilde is sad because she does not have proper clothes for the occasion. Four hundred francs are required to buy a good dress. Later she asks for jewels which they cannot afford to buy. On the suggestion of her husband, Mathilde borrows a diamond necklace from Madam Forestier.
They both go to the party. Mathilde looks pretty and beautiful. Everyone in the party looks at her with an awe. Everymen are also eager to dance with her. She dances gracefully in the party. It gets late and they return home in a cab. After reaching home she finds that her necklace is missing. Loisel goes in search of the necklace but in vain. They lodge a complain with the police. Finally, they decide to return the jewel to Forestier after a week.
When they fail to get the lost jewel, they decide to replace it by buying a new one. They find an identical necklace in a jeweler shop. It costs 40,000 francs but after bargaining the shop keeper promises to offer it for 36,000 francs. They get loan from various sources to buy the necklace. They move their residence to a cheaper place. Mathilde does all the house hold jobs by herself just to save money. Loisel works extra hour to earn more. As a result, there is no peace in their house. It takes them ten years to pay off the loans to all people.
One day, Mathilde happens to meet Forestier. She narrates the story how they had replaced the lost necklace with a new one and suffered a lot to pay the dues. Forestier is shocked to know this and she informs Mathilde that the jewel she lent to Mathilde was an imitation and not original.
