The necklace

The necklace

Despite being born into a family of clerks, Madame Mathilde Loisel has always imagined herself to be an aristocrat. Her husband is a low-paid clerk who does his best to make her happy, but he has little to give. After much effort, he successfully secured for them an invitation to a ball sponsored by the Ministry of Education. Madame Loisel refuses to go, because she has nothing to wear and wishes not to be embarrassed. All the money he had been saving to go hunting with his friends was given to her so she could buy a dress. Even after Madame Loisel has done so, she is still unhappy because she does not have jewels to wear with it. She spurns Loisel’s idea of wearing fresh flowers instead, but takes his suggestion to borrow some jewelry from her friend, Madame Jeanne Forestier.