The Necklace - by Guy De Maupassant

In the captivating story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel learns that honesty is the best policy. In the beginning, she dreams of living a high-class life that she can't possible live because of her middle-class status. Meanwhile, her husband, Monsieur Liosel, brings home an invitation to a high society ball. Although Madame Loisel dreams of high-class life, she refuses the invitation because she says she has nothing to wear. Out of the kindness of his heart, her husband gives up his rifle savings so that she can buy herself a nice dress. After purchasing a dress for the ball, she realizes that she has no jewelry to wear, so she borrows a gorgeous diamond necklace from her close friend Madame Forestier. With the diamond necklace and her new dress on, Madame Loisel attends the ball as the prettiest woman there. Yet after returning home, she realizes she has lost the necklace she borrowed. Immediately after this realization, Madame Loisel and her husband scour the town in search of the borrowed necklace. Finding nothing, the couple purchase a replacement diamond necklace costing thirty-six thousand francs with money borrowed from friends, family, and loan sharks. Subsequently, Madame Loisel returns the purchased necklace to her friend Madame Forestier and spends the next ten years paying off the debt as a low-class working woman. In the end, Madame Loisel runs into her old friend Madame Forestier and discovers that the originally borrowed diamond necklace was only a fake and worth much less that what she spends replacing the necklace. In conclusion, Madame Loisel learns to be thankful for what she has and not to try and be someone she is not.