NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 7 - The Necklace

NCERT English Footprints Without Feet chapter 7 The Necklace story is written by Guy De Maupassant and is based on a self-centred, middle-class woman named Matilda. She came from a relatively poor family of clerks and was married to a man of similar background. She was also extremely attractive, which led her to believe that she deserved a better life filled with more riches, servants and extravagant parties. Her husband, M Loisel, was a simple, honest man who loved his wife very much and always put her needs above his. So, when the couple was invited to a ball, she asked him for money to buy a dress. He had been saving some money to buy a gun for himself so that he could go shooting in the summer but fulfilled his wife’s request by putting aside his own desires.

Matilda also borrowed a necklace from Madame Forestier for the ball since she could not afford one. However, at the ball, she misplaces the aforementioned necklace. Unwilling to admit to Madame Forestier that she is not rich and has lost the necklace she borrowed from her, Matilda decides to replace the necklace. However, this places a huge financial burden on the Loisels.

Matilda had to severely cut her household expenses, and Mr Loisel had to work overtime and take up extra work to repay the debt of thirty-six thousand francs. It took the Loisels ten long miserable years to repay the debt because Matilda was consumed by greed and was unhappy with her life. Years later, Matilda confided in Madame Forestier that she had lost the necklace at the ball and had replaced it with another one. Madame Forestier was shocked because the necklace she had loaned was, in fact, costume jewellery that was worth not more than 500 francs.

The moral of the story is that one must learn to be happy with what one has and not be too greedy. It was Matilda’s greed and pride that led her to lose even the few possessions that she had and forced her to live a miserable life in order to be able to repay the debt.