Francisco Osorio ISHS Library

"The Necklace" is a short story written by Guy de Maupassant, which tells the story of a woman named Mathilde Loisel who lives in poverty but has a strong desire for wealth and luxury. One day, Mathilde is invited to a fancy ball and, because she has no suitable dress or jewelry, she borrows a necklace from a wealthy friend. At the ball, Mathilde feels like a queen and is the center of attention. But when the night is over, she discovers that she has lost the necklace, and in a panic, she and her husband spend the next ten years of their lives working hard to pay off the debt of buying a new one.

After ten years, they finally pay off the debt and meet the friend who lent her the necklace. It is then they find out that the necklace she borrowed was a fake, and it was worth only a fraction of what they paid for the new one. The story ends with Mathilde realizing that the whole time she had been living a life of luxury and wealth, it was all a facade, and the necklace was never real. The story is a commentary on the destructive power of vanity and the illusion of wealth and social status.

• Book: 100 Great Short Stories
( https://amzn.to/3LzILnm )