Hi Everyone!! This article will share Class 10 The Necklace Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared Questions & Answers of The Making of a Scientist, Footprints Without Feet, A Triumph of Surgery and The Thief’s Story so, you can check these posts as well.
Class 10 The Necklace Questions & Answers
Question 1: Why did the author call Matilda’s birth ‘an error of destiny’? What had destiny given her?
Answer: The author called Matilda’s her birth ‘an error of destiny’ because she was one of those pretty, young ladies who ought to have been born in riches, whereas she was born into a poor family of clerks. Destiny had given her a modest but respectable life as the wife of a clerk.
Question 2: ‘She was simple, but she was unhappy’. Why was Matilda so unhappy?
Answer: Matilda was not content with what life had given. She felt herself born for all delicacies and luxuries. She was unhappy to live within the limited means and lead a simple life provided by her husband, who was a petty clerk.
Question 3: What all things tortured and angered Matilda?
Answer: Matilda was not content with what life had given. She wanted a life of luxury but her poor apartment, shabby walls and worn chairs tortured and angered her and made her suffer incessantly.
Question 4: Why did Matilda marry a petty clerk although she felt that she was born for delicacies and luxuries?
Answer: Matilda was born into a family of clerks and she had no dowry, no hopes, no means of becoming known, loved and married by a man either rich or distinguished. That is why she married a petty clerk.
Question 5: What sort of dreams did Matilda have?
Answer: Matilda dreamt of elegant dinners, shining silver, exquisite food served in marvellous dishes, jewels and every other luxury that money could buy.
Question 6: Why did Madame Loisel avoid visiting her friend Madame Forestier?
Answer: Madame Loisel avoided visiting her friend Madame Forestier because she was quite rich and her riches made her experience despair and disappointment over her own mediocre life. Every visit to her place made her unhappy and she wept on returning home.
Question 7: What surprise did Matilda’s husband give her one evening?
Answer: One evening, Matilda’s husband brought home a surprise invitation to a prestigious ball-party at the Minister’s house. He was elated because only a few selected employees were invited and he hoped that it would make Matilda happy to attend such a grand party.
Question 8: How did Matilda react to the invitation to the ball party?
Answer: To see the invitation to the minister’s ball party, Matilda got annoyed and irritated. She threw away the invitation card in anger and began to sob unconsolably.
Question 9: Why had Matilda’s husband hoped her to be delighted?
Answer: Matilda’s husband hoped that the invitation to a prestigious ball-party at the Minister’s house would make Matilda happy as she could enjoy herself in the company of the rich and affluent.
Question 10: Why was Matilda hesitant in telling her husband the amount needed for the dress?
Answer: Matilda was hesitant because she knew that the amount she was about to ask her husband to give her for buying a dress might be difficult for him to give.
Class 10 The Necklace Questions & Answers
Question 11: How did Loisel react on learning that Matilda needed four hundred francs for a new dress?
Answer: On learning that Matilda needed four hundred francs for a new dress, Loisel turned a little pale. He had just saved this amount to buy a gun to be able to join some hunting parties the following summer. Nevertheless, he agreed to give her the money.
Question 12: Why did Matilda seem disturbed and anxious even after having bought a new dress for the ball?
Answer: Matilda seemed disturbed and anxious even after having bought a new dress for the ball because shenow wanted suitable jewellery to wear with it. She did not wish to go to the party with a poverty-stricken look.
Question 13: Why did Matilda reject her husband’s suggestion to wear natural flowers to the party?
Answer: Matilda was not convinced by her husband’s suggestion to wear natural flowers to the party as she believed that wearing flowers would make her appearance shabby and she would be humiliated in the midst of rich women. So, she rejected his suggestion.
Question 14: What suggestion made by Loisel did Matilda like? Why?
Answer: Matilda was disturbed as she did not have a suitable piece of jewellery to match her new dress. So, when her husband suggested her to borrow some jewels from her rich, childhood friend Mme Forestier and so, she uttered a cry of joy. She was confident her friend would happily lend her some fine jewellery.
Question 15: How did Mme. Forestier respond to Matilda’s request to borrow her jewellery?
Answer: On reaching Mme Forestier’s house, Matilda related her story of distress to her friend. Mme. Forestier was a generous woman and she responded by going to her closet, taking out a large jewel-case and offering Matilda to choose what she liked.
Question 16: Which jewel did Matilda finally choose from Mme Forestier’s jewel-case? Did she like it?
Answer: From Mme Forestier’s jewel-case, Matilda took a superb necklace of diamonds. She took it out from the black satin box and her hands trembled. She placed it about the throat against her dress and was ecstatic.
Question 17: Do you think Matilda was a great success at the ball?
Answer: Yes, Matilda was a great success at the ball as she looked prettiest of all. She looked elegant and graceful when she smiled with joy. All the men noticed her, asked her name and wanted to be presented.
Question 18: What did M. Loisel do while Matilda enjoyed the ball?
Answer: While Matilda enjoyed the ball, M. Loisel waited half asleep in one of the little salons since midnight with three other gentlemen whose wives were enjoying at the party.
Question 19: Why did Matilda hurry away not waiting for her husband to call a cab for returning home?
Answer: The wrap which Matilda’s husband threw around her shoulders was the modest one whose poverty clashed with the elegance of the ball costume. Matilda did not wish to be noticed by the other rich women so, she hurried away and did not wait for her husband to call a cab for returning home.
Question 20: Why didn’t Loisels find any carriage? When and what type of carriage did they finally get?
Answer: The Loisels did not find any carriage because it was an odd time, four o’clock early in the morning, to find one. They finally got an old carriage that one sees in Paris after nightfall. They got it after having walked some distance from the venue of the ball.
Class 10 The Necklace Questions & Answers
Question 21: Why couldn’t Matilda enjoy her success for long in spite of being a great success at the ball. Why was it so?
Answer: After returning from the ball, Matilda stood before the mirror to have a final view of herself in her glory. When she removed the wraps from her shoulders, she discovered that her borrowed diamond necklace was not around her neck. This shocking discovery ruined Matilda’s success at ball.
Question 22: Describe the efforts made by the Loisels to try and find the lost necklace.
Answer: After discovering that the necklace was not around Matilda neck, the Loisels searched for it frantically in the folds of dress, in the folds of the cloak and in the pockets. Mr Loisel also searched it over the track where they had gone on foot. He then to the police, the cab offices and put an ad in newspapers offering a reward.
Question 23: What did M. Loisel suggest to his wife after all efforts to find the lost necklace failed?
Answer: When all efforts to find the lost necklace failed, Loisel suggested his wife to write to her friend that she had broken the clasp of the necklace and that she would have it repaired. He suggested this in order to buy time to replace the borrowed piece.
Question 24: Where did the Loisels finally find a replacement of the lost necklace? How much did it cost?
Answer: The Loisels found a replacement of the lost necklace in a shop of the Palais-Royal. Here they found a chaplet of diamonds which seemed to them exactly like the one they had lost. The value of this new piece was forty thousand francs but they could get it for thirty-six thousand francs.
Question 25: How did the Loisels arrange for the money to replace the lost necklace?
Answer: To buy the replacement of the lost necklace, the Loisels required thirty-six thousand francs. Mr Loisel possessed eighteen thousand francs, which his father had left him and the rest, he borrowed from usurers and many other lenders.
Question 26: What did Matilda fear while returning the necklace to Mme Forestier?
Answer: While returning the necklace to Mme Forestier, Matilda feared that her friend might notice the substitution on opening the jewel-box. She might say something unpleasant to her and think of her to be a robber.
Question 27: How long did it take the Loisels to repay the debt? How did Matilda face the adverse times?
Answer: It took ten long years for the Loisels to repay the debt. During that time, Matilda faced adversity heroically. She sent away the maid, changed their lodgings, rented some rooms in an attic. She learned the odious work of kitchen, washed the dishes, soiled linen, their clothes and dishcloths. Each morning, she took down the refuse to the street and brought up the water. She dressed modestly and saved every little bit of money haggling with the grocer and butcher to help her husband repay the debt.
Question 28: What did M. Loisel do to repay the debt?
Answer: To repay the debt, M. Loisel worked overtime. He put the books of some merchants in order in the evenings and often copied at night at five sous a page. He did this for ten years and repaid the entire debt.
Question 29: What effect did ten years of hardship and poverty have on Matilda’s appearance?
Answer: Ten years of hard work and toiling made Matilda look old now. She became a strong, hard woman of the poor household with badly dressed hair, awry skirts, red hands and a loud voice. After ten years of toiling, she lost all her charm and could not be recognised easily.
Question 30: Towards the end of the story, why did Mme. Forestier not recognise her friend Matilda?
Answer: Ten years of hard work and toiling made Matilda lost all her charm, beauty and sophistication. She now became a strong, hard woman of the poor household with badly dressed hair, awry skirts, red hands and a loud voice. This change was so pronounced that Jeanne Forestier could not recognise her friend Matilda.
Question 31: Where did Matilda meet Mme Forestier ten years later? What did she confess to her?
Answer: Ten years later, Matilda met Mme Forestier on a Sunday as she was taking a walk in the Champs-Elysees. She confessed to Mme Forestier that she had lost the diamond necklace which she had borrowed from her. The one she had returned was a replica of the original.
Question 32: At the end of the story, why did Matilda smile with pride while talking to Mme Forestier?
Answer: At the end of the story, Matilda smiled with pride while talking to Mme Forestier because after facing all the adversities heroically, she was able to pay back the huge debt. She was happy and proud at her new found confidence and strength.
Question 33: What is the twist at the end of the story?
Answer: The story ends with a twist that the lost necklace was not made up of real diamonds. Matilda thought that the necklace was worth thousands of francs while her friend revealed to her that the necklace was actually a fake one and was not worth over five hundred francs.
So, these were Class 10 The Necklace Questions & Answers.