Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Diamond Necklace Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of After Twenty Years and The Humble Bread so, you can check these posts as well.
The Diamond Necklace Questions & Answers
Question 1: Why was Mathilde unhappy with her life?
Answer: Mathilde was unhappy with her life because she was born and also married into a family of clerks. She believed that she deserved a better life.
Question 2: What did Mathilde need for the party and how did she get it?
Answer: Mathilde needed a gown to be worn for the party. Her husband gave her a pretty gown. Once she had it, she realised she needed a piece of jewellery to be put on with her new gown. Upon her husband’s suggestion, she approached her friend Madame Forestier, to lend her a diamond necklace.
Question 3: Read the lines and answer the questions:
“What do you wish me to do with that?”
(a) Who said this and to whom?
Answer: Mathilde said this to her husband.
(b) What prompted the speaker to say this?
Answer: Mathilde said these words as she was upset. She did not have a proper gown to wear to the ball. So, the invitation card had no meaning for her.
Question 4: When did Mathilde discover that she had lost the diamond necklace?
Answer: Mathilde discovered that she had lost the diamond necklace after reaching home from the ball. She wanted to look at herself with the beautiful dress and the necklace for the last time before she returned the necklace but she found it was not there around her neck.
Question 5: What kind of life was she forced to lead in order to pay off the debt?
Answer: Mathilde had to forgo all the comforts in order to pay off the debt. The Loisel had to dismiss their servant and moved to a small garret. Mathilde had to do all the household chores on her own. She washed the dishes and clothes. She carried the slops down to the street and carried up the water. She also went to the fruit vendor, the grocer and the butcher to buy the provisions. Mr. Loisel, her husband too had to work mornings, evenings and nights in order to pay off the debts.
The Diamond Necklace Questions & Answers
Question 6: Read the lines and answer the question:
‘‘How strange and changeful is life! How small a thing is needed to make or ruin us!”
How does Mathilde’s story reflect life’s strangeness?
Answer: Mathilde was a beautiful woman and was fond of dressing up but she could not afford gowns and ornaments. The opportunity to dress elegantly and look beautiful at the ball was so tempting that she borrowed a necklace from her friend. The necklace was somehow lost. She had to buy her friend a new diamond necklace. The harsh life that she and her husband led in order to repay the debts, ruined their happiness. She exchanged the momentary happiness in the ball with the pleasures in her life.
Question 7: Why did Madame Foretier fail to recognise Mathilde?
Answer: Madame Forestier failed to recognise Mathilde because she has changed beyond recognition because of the hard work she had to do in order to pay off the debts. She looked like a woman of an impoverished household. She had lost all her charm and looked old and haggard.
Question 8: What role does the diamond necklace play in the story?
Answer: The entire story revolves around the diamond necklace. It is the diamond necklace which makes Mathilde live her dream of affluence, although for a night; and it is the same necklace which, when lost, makes her lead a life of poverty.
Question 9: What do you think was responsible for the downfall of the Loisels? Could they have avoided such a fate if Mathilde had confessed immediately to Madame Forestier?
Answer: Mathilde’s unnecessary aspiration for material wealth was responsible for the downfall of the Loisels. She desired for more than what she could afford. Yes, they could have avoided ten years of hard life simply by telling the truth to Madame Forestier and asking for time to replace the necklace. All their hardships were futile in the end as Madame Forestier told that her necklace was a fake one.
Question 10: Do you feel that the author is being critical of the values of the society of his time in a subtle fashion? Whether this criticism hold true in this age also?
Answer: Yes, I think the author is being critical of the values of the society of his time in a subtle fashion. The story revolves around the dreams of a lady who feels deprived of all the riches that she thinks she deserves and how her desire to look good is the cause of her ruin. The same sense of value holds good in the present age also, as most people attach more value to the materialistic things of the world. In order to earn wealth, we miss out on the smaller pleasures of our lives.
Question 11: Discuss why Madame Forestier‘s revelation at the end is ironical?
Answer: Madame Forestier’s revelation at the end is ironical because the necklace was an imitation and not a real diamond one. Both Mathilde and her husband had to lead a life of drudgery, paying off the debts taken to buy a diamond necklace to replace a fake one that had been lost.
So, these were The Diamond Necklace Questions & Answers.