 Hello and welcome to a summary of all you need to know about the necklace, which is a short story by Guy de Mont-Passant. Now I will explain the meaning related to this text as it appears in the Pearson International GCSE Edexcel Anthology and I'll highlight literary and language devices as well as contextual factors that you should be aware of when studying this text. So let's get started. Now before I go into detail when reading the text and then highlighting and pointing out the literary techniques that Mont-Passant uses, I'm going to go into a little bit of context. Now do bear in mind that Guy de Mont-Passant lived in a time when women had very few rights including the right to vote, so the role of women was to be subservient to men and to obey them. So of course when we're thinking about the main character in this story, Marie Matilde who's really focused on social status and what her husband was making but also marrying rich men, this of course was tied to the contextual reality that actually she had very few other options other than marrying better in order to improve her social standing. Also bear in mind that many women during this time were really unable to have independence and they were expected to marry and simply produce children as part of their purpose as wives. Many women did feel trapped at this time and they weren't really free to have career parts. Indeed they really relied on their husbands and one thing too that makes it really interesting in terms of this context is that women did control the social status of their family, which was as important a role as the men earning the money. So when we think about the character Matilde, she would have been trying to impress her friends with for example the expensive necklace. So now I'll begin by reading this first chunk of the passage. I'll then highlight important literary techniques that you need to be aware of and I'll read through the rest of the passage, stopping every so often and highlighting important techniques. So let's begin. She was one of those pretty delightful girls who apparently bust some aero fate to get themselves born the daughters of very minor civil servants. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of meeting some rich important man who would understand love and marry her. So she went along with the proposal made by junior clerk in the Ministry of Education. She dressed simply, being unable to afford anything better, but she was every wit as unhappy as any daughter of a good family who has come down in the world. Women have neither rank nor class and the beauty, grace and charm do serve as for birthright and connections. Natural guile, instinctive and elegance and adaptability are what determines their place in the hierarchy, and a girl of no birth to speak of may easily be the equal of any society lady. So now this is a really, really interesting opening and it creates a lot of mystery and intrigue about Matilde. And of course, do you remember if the author is using things like she rather than telling us her name directly, this is cataphoric reference. So therefore Mont-Passant uses cataphor to reveal Matilde's name later on in the passage. Now firstly, let's look at the title itself. So do you remember that the necklace was published in 1884? Of course this is towards the end of the Victorian era and of course it was published in the French context, but of course read widely and internationally. Now Guy de Mont-Passant uses the third person pronoun and repeats this and as I mentioned this is a cataphoric reference. We later on learn that she's called Matilde, but of course it really centres the main focus of this story. Also the pre-modifiers, pretty delightful, show Matilde's beauty and the mention of fate. This abstract noun shows that she just had a really bad fortune as a beautiful woman to not be born into a very wealthy family, but equally not to marry very highly. Also there's this constant focus on social class and this is going to be a recurring theme throughout this passage. And of course this is already injected in the first line where there's the mention of very minor civil servants. Of course we learn that Matilde comes from a lower middle class social background. Also the repetition of no, so no dowry, no expectations, no means of meeting some rich. Now this repetition shows Matilde's modest background but equally the modest income of the men that were eligible to marry her. Furthermore the alliteration here means of meeting shows that her future and fortune and fate was really tied to who she married because as I mentioned contextually speaking women at this time really had very few rights and really their role was mainly to be subservient to their husbands and really it was a draw of the luck whoever they married. And so of course if they married rich they would be quite lucky because they would socially progress in that way. However if they didn't marry rich then they would be in some ways doomed to either a life of middle class misery or poverty. Now there's a mention of understand love and marry her and the rule of three is used here by Maud Poisson and it shows how women were totally and completely dependent on the men that they married. Furthermore the adjective junior to describe the clerk, the job of her husband really emphasises his lower middle class social status. We can't quite call him working class because he is educated however he's definitely not wealthy. We also learn that Matilde dresses simply and the sibilance is used here to really emphasise that. However we learn that this made her deeply discontented. She really disliked the fact that she didn't socially advance through marriage and of course she also even never received dowry payment. Furthermore there's this mention of her feeling that she's come down in the world and this is somewhat ironic because she's actually preserved her social status. Her parents were lower middle class and of course she's married a lower middle class man. However she feels really undeserving of this status. Also the rule of three here again is used beauty grace and charm and this shows the importance of women's appearance. This was really the only currency during this time and they had to really use it in order to get an eligible bachelor to marry them. Furthermore the mention of natural guile, instinctive elegance and adaptability. Essentially these were the qualities women needed to have socially advanced chances and this was really important in terms of their advancements as both women but eventually as wives. Furthermore the mention of hierarchy, this proper noun again reinforces the notion of social Victorian hierarchy which were very very rigid. Also the disphemism that's used here and remember euphemism is a very polite way to refer to something that's maybe not very nice and disphemism is the opposite. It's a fairly harsh way to refer to something so there's disphemism that's being used here to describe Matilde's lack of social pedigree so she is of no birth. Furthermore the mention of her being easily the equal of any society lady. What this shows is that women could use superficial appearances such as their beauty to get ahead in the social hierarchy. This is what Matilde really wanted but she was ultimately unable to achieve this. So let's carry on. She was unhappy all the time for she felt that she was intended for a life of refinement and luxury. She was made unhappy by the rundown apartment they'd lived in, the peeling walls, the battered chairs and the ugly curtains. Now all this which any other woman of her station might never even have noticed was tortured to her and made her very angry. The spectacle of the young Breton peasant girl who did the household chores stirred sad regrets and impossible fancies. She dreamed of silent antechambers hung with oriental tapestries lit by tall bronze candelabras and of two tall footmen in liveried breeches asleep in the huge armchairs dosing in the heavy heat of a stove. She dreamed of great touring rooms dressed with old silk filled with fine furniture which showed off trinkets beyond price and of pretty little parlours filled with perfumes and just made for intimate talk at five in the afternoon with once closest friends who would be the most famous and sought after men of the day whose attentions were much coveted and desired by all women. When she sat down to dinner at the round table spread with three day old cloth facing a husband who always lifted the lid of the soup to rean and declared lightedly, ah stew spendered there's nothing her like better than a nice stew. She dreamed of elegant dinners gleaming silverware and tapestries which peepled the walls with mythical characters and strange birds and enchanted forests. She dreamed of exquisite dishes served on fabulous china plates of pretty compliments whispered into willing ears and received with sphinx-like smiles over the pink flesh of a trout or the wings of a hazel hen. Now this part of the story shows just how detached from reality Mathilde is in terms of how she constantly retreats to this inner world that she really really aspires to this inner world of refinement of opulence and this inner world is a sharp contrast and there's a strong dissonance between her present reality hence why she's so unhappy. She believes that she'd be quite wealthy, they should have a lot of money, she should be married to a man who is of more means but she isn't. Now in this part of the passage again the mention of unhappy is repeated again and of course this emphasizes Mathilde's obsession with her social status and her social standing. Also the mention of a life of refinement and luxury this shows Mathilde's social ambition to have married better. Furthermore we learn that she's really unhappy because of the rundown apartment that they lived in, the peeling walls, the battered chairs and the syndetine hair essentially shows that she looks around and she is very very ungrateful for what she has. She really really hates everything that surrounds her because she really believes that she should be surrounded by a lot of opulence and luxury. Furthermore the reference to her station, again this is an illusion to her social pedigree and of course it builds up on this idea that she's a woman of no birth. Also there's the hyperbole used here, torture. Again what Guy de Mont-Passant is trying to do, he's almost satirizing just how unhappy she is and so he's using lots of hyperbole to show that life which actually isn't that bad she sees it as terrible because she doesn't have all the opulence she believes she deserves. Also we learn that she is actually served and helped at home by a young Préton, a peasant girl, and Préton is a part of France. So of course if you think about even the structure of the French country and how historically Parisians were most affluent and people from outside of Paris were less affluent. What this promodifies show is she's middle class but she really looks down on French people outside of Paris and so she's really disgusted that even if they do have a maid she's actually from Préton. So again this is actually quite ironic because it shows that actually in terms of her lifestyle she still lives a relatively decent life. The fact that she has a maid, even if she's perhaps a peasant actually that's much better than a lot of people during this time in France. Also there's a mention of this all stirring sad regrets and impossible fancies and of course here there's the sibilants stirred sad and this shows Matilde's illusions about an upper class lifestyle so she's really detached from her reality and she does a lot to really just retreat into her inner world. This retreat into the inner world is further emphasised through the repetition of dreamed. Again she lives in this world of illusion of what she thinks she should live rather than actually being firmly rooted in the reality of what surrounds her. Also there's a lot of opulent language used by Guy de Montpassant so Salon anti chambers, oriental tapestries, bronze candelabras and this refers to large palaces. Again this paints a picture of the lifestyle that Matilde really aspires to. Furthermore the alliteration filled with fine furniture shows her retreat into her inner world of what she wants, these fanciful desires. Furthermore the diminutive adjective pretty little parlours again shows just how somewhat vapid she is. She's really upset because she doesn't have these things that actually are not that important. They show of course luxury and opulence but actually they're not that important but this still is seen as really key for Matilde. Also the superlative most referring to the most famous and sought-after men shows Matilde's focus on superficiality and just how vapid she is in terms of what she wants from life. Also she has this vapid desire to marry a really wealthy man so she continuously daydreams of being around sought-after men. Now this is in contrast to her husband so he comes home and he declares delightedly when he looks at food and this alliteration here shows that he's actually really content so there's a vast emotional gap between Matilde and her husband. Her interior state is completely the opposite from her husband's interior state. He's actually quite happy with the social position. Also this happiness is further emphasised through the exclamatory sentences when he speaks. He says stew splendid and this shows a vast gap between the emotional state of Matilde and her husband. However we are then focusing on how she thinks of walls which are filled with mythical characters and so Matilde feels her beauty should match a more fanciful reality and there's a lot of supernatural language that's used and uncanny language so characters, strange birds and enchanted forests again this further emphasises just how she retreats into the world of illusion and dreams. So let's carry on. She had no fine dresses, no jewellery, nothing and that was all she cared about. She felt that God had made her for such things. She would have given anything to be popular and be detractive and in demand. She had a friend who was rich, a friend from her convent days on whom she never called now for she was always so unhappy afterwards. Sometimes for days and end she would weep tears of sorrow, regret, despair and anguish. One evening her husband came home looking highly pleased with himself. In his hand he brandished a large envelope. Look, he said, I've got something for you. She tore the paper flap eagerly and extracted a printed card bearing these words. The Minister of Education and Madame Georges Rompignu request the pleasure of the company of Monsieur et Madame Lois-Zelle at the ministry buildings on the evening of 18 January. Instead of being delighted as her husband had hoped she tossed the invitation previously onto the table and mottered. What earthly use is that to me? But darling, I thought you'd be happy. You never go anywhere and it's an opportunity. It's spend opportunity. I had the dickens of a job getting a hold of an invite. Stop there before we proceed. Now, this part of the passage essentially focuses on what Mathilde sees as a really simple and austere lifestyle. She had no fine dresses, no jewellery and the syndetine here emphasises that she feels she leads a really austere lifestyle. Also, there's lots of use of hyperbole, nothing, anything. Again, this shows just how melodramatic she feels and how she really doesn't take anything that she has as something that's a blessing. She takes everything around her for granted. Again, this also shows just how Mathilde is really ungrateful. Furthermore, the mention of how God had made of such things for such beautiful opulent luxuries, this highlights that Mathilde believed her beauty entitled her to wealth. Also, the syndetine popular Envied Attractive shows Mathilde is quite materialistic and she really craves social acceptance. Furthermore, this is further emphasised with the repetition of friend and this is a reference to her friend who's living a much, much more affluent lifestyle and she's really obsessed with a friend's lifestyle to the point of depression. Moreover, the intensifier here, where she states so or rather where more passant states so shows that she just really only cares about social acceptance, social appearances and therefore because she can't keep up the same appearances as her other affluent friend, she's just really, really unhappy each time she sees her. Also, this somatic field of grief here, sorrow, regret, despair, anguish which shows her jealousy but also just how over-dramatic she really is. Now, there's an proverbial phrase of time, one evening and this temporal shift foreshadows irreversible changes which will take place in this story. Now, her husband comes home, he offers her something. He states, I've got something for you and this simple sentence shows how much he values her. He goes to great lengths to make her happy. Also, the card has this invitation, a very formal invitation and the formal lexis shows that it's a very, very fancy society event. However, rather than appreciating her husband's efforts, she tosses away the invitation. So this verb is quite dramatic, tossed and also the adverb, previously. This shows how whilst her husband is very self-sacrificial, he almost actually takes on the role of women during this time. So women are the ones who are expected to be very self-sacrificial, very focused on making their partners happy. Actually, it's the opposite, dynamic. Matilda is a person that's constantly unhappy whilst her husband is constantly focused on making her happy. However, nothing he does makes her happy and of course it's emphasized through this verb and the adverb. Moreover, when she questions, what earthly use is that to me? This shows that her unhappiness is greatly exaggerated. Now, her husband does use a mild expletive, expletive meaning a swear word, but it's very mild, he says, I had the dickens of a job getting hold of an invite and of course this shows just how hard he worked to get the invitation because he cares so much for his wife. So let's carry on. Everybody's after them, they're very much in demand and not many are handed out to ask clerks. You'll be able to see all the big knobs there. She looked at him irritably and said shortly, and what am I supposed to wear if I do go? He had not thought of that, he blustered. What about the dresses you wear for the theatre? It looks all right to me. The words died in his throat. He was totally disconcerted and dismayed by the sight of his wife who had began to cry. Two large tears rolled slowly out of the corners of her eyes and down the sides of her mouth. What's up, he stammered. What's the matter? Making a supreme effort, she controlled her sorrows and wiping her damp cheeks replied quite calmly. Nothing. It's just that I haven't got anything to wear and consequently I shan't be going to any reception. Give the invite to one of your colleagues with a wife who isn't better off for clothes than I am. Now here, of course, Matilda really, really is overdramatic. She cries whilst her husband, she basically also in some ways takes advantage of her husband's kindness. Now here, the mention of this pronoun, us, emphasises her husband's actually quite aware of his social group, his lower middle class status, but he's still quite content. Also, the common noun, clerks, obviously emphasises his modest job and however, in contrast to his wife, he's still quite proud of it. Now, Matilde looks at him irritably and she speaks to him shortly and these adverbs show she's quite ungrateful and quite self-centred. She doesn't really recognise the sacrifices her husband makes. Now, the simple sentence here, he had not thought of that, shows how simplistic the husband's world view is in contrast to his wife's very fantastical imagination and how much opulence she really craves. Furthermore, the personification, the words died in his throat, shows the power dynamics in their relationship. It's Matilde who clearly holds all the power whilst her husband really tries to crave and to make her happier. Moreover, the alliteration disconcerted and dismayed, this shows, again, her husband is really unhappy and has not made Matilde happier. Furthermore, there's this melodramatic response which is emphasised with the two large tears and the alliteration here shows that Matilde is really over-dramatic, she's very melodramatic and she only cares about her superficial appearance. She won't go to the party because she's not going to dress in what appears to be a very expensive dress. Now, Monde Passant says that she makes a supreme effort and this hyperbole shows that she's very over-exaggerated in her responses. And her simple response, I shouldn't be going to any reception, is somewhat humorous, so there's also this kind of satiricism that's used by Monde Passant to really make fun of Matilde. Also here, she uses alliteration, she says with the wife who is better off. Now, of course, here what this alliteration is doing is showing how emphatic Matilde is when she's rejecting this invitation because she doesn't have clothes that seemingly look quite expensive. Furthermore, the euphemism better off is a subtle reference to their social status so Matilde is really obsessed with social comparison. So let's carry on. He was devastated. He went on, oh, come on, Matilde, look, what could it cost to get something suitable that would do for other occasions something fairly simple? She thought for a few moments working at her sums but also wondering how much she could decently ask without drawing an immediate refusal and paying protest from her husband who was careful with his money. Finally, after some hesitation, she said, I can't say precisely, but I daresay I could get my own 400 francs. He turned slightly pale for he had been setting aside just that amount to buy a gun and finance hunting trips the following summer and the flat landscape around Nanterre with a few friends who went shooting on Sunday, but he said, very well, I'll give you your 400 francs but do try and get a decent dress. The day of the reception drew near and Madame Loiselle appeared sad, worried, anxious. Yet all her clothes were ready. One evening her husband said, what's up? You haven't been acting, half been acting funny these last days. She replied, it vexes me that I haven't got a single piece of jewelry not one stone that I can put on. I'll look like a church mouse. I would almost as soon not go to the reception. So in this part of the passage her husband actually agrees to give her money, lots of money to go and buy a fancy dress. However, we then learn, of course, Matilde's wish and appetite for more and more luxury is quite insatiable because she then asks about necklace. Now, the simple sentence, he was devastated, emphasises just how much Matilde's husband actually loves her and really wants to make her happy. However, here when we learn that she was working out her sums but also wondering how much she could decently ask for, what this actually starts highlighting is how manipulative Matilde is and she takes advantage of her husband's generosity. Also, there's a iteration used to emphasise the large amount of money that her husband is going to be parting with in order to make her happy. So he's going to be parting with the money that he would have otherwise used on a hunting trip with his friends to make her happy and of course is emphasised through 400 francs. He also is very, very, he resigns himself to this through this minor sentence when he states very well, which of course shows he's quite generous and the pronouns you, you're 400 francs when he's talking about her money, which is going to give him this emphasises his focus on her happiness. Furthermore, the tricolon which described how Madame Lausanne, this is Matilde who was sad, worried, anxious, shows she has really tumultuous moods. She's gotten the dress that she wants. She's gotten the money for the dress. However, she's still really anxious and we still learn in spite of that her clothes were ready. So she takes for granted the fact that she was even able to access these clothes and she then mentions, it fixes me having got a single piece of jewellery. So her wish for material possessions is highlighted as really insatiable. Furthermore, the simile, she'll look like a church mouse. This shows her callous ungratefulness. She's been given money to buy new dress. She should be happy and very pleased. However, she wants more and she feels like she still looks very, very poor. So let's carry on. We're a posie, he said. It's all the rage to say. You could get two or three magnificent roses for 10 francs. She was not convinced. No. There's nothing so humiliating as to look poor when you're women who are rich. But her husband explained, you aren't half-silly. Look, go and see your friend, Madame Forestier, and ask her to lend you some jewellery. You know well enough for that. She gave a delighted cry. You're right. I never thought of that. The next day, she called on a friend and told her about her problem. Madame Forestier went over to a mirror-fronted wardrobe, took out a large casket, brought it over, unlocked it, and said to Madame Loiselle, choose whatever you like. At first she saw bracelets. Then a rope of pearls and a Venetian cross made of gold and diamonds, admirably fashioned. She tried on the necklaces in the mirror and could hardly bear to take them off and give them back. She kept asking, have you got anything else? Yes, of course. Just look. I can't say what thing you'd like best. All of a sudden, in a black satin-wood case, she found a magnificent diamond necklace and her heart began to beat with immoderate desire. Now I'll pause there for a second. So here her husband is quite practical in telling her maybe she can wear a posy. So of course the suggestion of flowers in place of a necklace shows he's still very simplistic in terms of what he thinks will suffice. He then mentions and uses a hyperbole. It's all the rage this year. He tries to maybe paint a positive picture of being a bit more modest and matilled who of course doesn't listen. And of course this is emphasized when she uses intensifier so when she states there's nothing so humiliating us to look poor and this shows that her focus and status is almost comical. Also, the mention of her looking poor reveals that Matilde only cares about appearances, surface appearances and the superficial appearances rather than actually whether you genuinely rich or not. This is further emphasized through the literation with women who which shows she's constantly comparing herself to other women who have wealthier husbands. Her husband uses an exclamatory sentence to offer a solution. He reminds her of her wealthy friend, Madame Forestier who could lend her jewelry. And of course Matilde was really happy and the omnumatopia cry shows she's really excited again. This goes back to the idea of just looking rich. She's more interested in looking rich and wearing her friend's expensive jewelry to look the part rather than actually being the part. Also, the Ascendeton, Madame Forestier went over to a mirror fronted wardrobe, took out a large casket brought it over and locked it. This shows her friends very fluid movements. In contrast to Matilde, her friend is really accustomed to having luxuries and she carelessly flaunts this wealth in her friend's face. She then also emphasizes this through her language. Choose whatever you like. Of course this shows that she has a very opulent lifestyle. She can spare a piece of jewelry to her friend who can borrow it. Now, the semantic field of jewelry emphasizes again how wealthy Madame Forestier is. She has bracelets, pearls, diamonds and then when Matilde is looking through all of this, she looks in the mirror. Now, the mention of a mirror here shows that she's almost like Narcissus, the Greek figure who fell in love with his reflection. Of course, this was his haemarsia, this was his weakness which led him to drown. So almost this vanity is Matilde's own haemarsia. It's her own fatal flaw. And this is further emphasized with the word mirror. She then keeps on asking have you got anything else? Again, she still covets more she's insatiable in terms of material possessions. And then we are focused on the black Saturnwood case which her friend presents to her and this seems almost like a Pandora's box. And again, when you think about Greek mythology with Pandora's box once it was opened it unleashed all the evils in the world. So perhaps this is whatever is inside this black Saturnwood case. It's like a Pandora's box for Matilde is going to unleash a lot of her travels that follow later on in the story. Also, there's this mention of this magnificent diamond necklace. So of course, Matilde really sees expensive objects as a way to look rich forgetting she's actually not as wealthy as she'd like to appear. So let's carry on. Her hands shook as she picked it up. She fastened it around her throat over her high necked dress and sat looking at her. Then differently, apprehensively, she asked, Can you lend me this? Nothing else, just this. But of course, she threw her arms around her friend, kissed her extravagantly then ran home, taking her treasure with her. The day of the reception arrived. Mademoiselle was a success. She was the prettiest woman there, elegant, graceful, radiant, and wonderfully happy. All the men looked at her, inquired who she was and asked to be dressed by the minister himself. She danced ecstatically, wildly, intoxicated with pleasure, giving no thought to anything else, swept along on her victorious beauty and glorious success and floating on a cloud of happiness composed of the homage, admiration and desire she evoked and the kind of complete and utter triumph which was so sweet to a woman's heart. So of course, once she gets this necklace, she goes and when the reception arrives, she looks really beautiful so she has pearls in this. Now, in this part of the passage, of course, we find that when she's still in her friend's place, she sits and she's looking at herself in rapture and of course, this shows that further, she's like narcissists as she's enchanted with her own appearance, not realising it's going to be a downfall. Furthermore, she asks her friends, can you lend me this, nothing else, just this and these simple sentences for shadow Furthermore, her frenzied response in her friend, after her friend agrees to lend her this necklace shows just how shallow Matilda is, she kisses her extravagantly, she's extremely shallow, she only cares about surface appearances. Also, the litteration and the metaphor, taking her treasure as ironic because we later realise actually, this necklace is not really worth much, but because it looks expensive, Matilda perceives it as treasure. Of course, the simple sentence Madame LaZelle was a success, shows that this is all she's ever wanted, all she's ever wanted was to be centre of attention and to be perceived as really rich, beautiful and successful. The superlative prettiest shows of course how society at the time only valued women based on their beauty. Moreover, the mention of all the men looked at her further emphasises Matilda's beauty and we learn of these different really high status men, the cabinet secretaries and the repetition of secretaries emphasises their superior social status. This is what Matilda really wants. Also, the syndetine that's used to describe how she dance exatically, wildly intoxicated with pleasure shows how vain she is and how she has a very superficial understanding of value. Moreover, the notion of her victorious beauty supports the idea that beautiful women of no means can actually socially advance. This happiness shows just how happy Matilda is to be really recognised for her beauty, for her surface appearance. Furthermore, the idea that this is just so sweet to a woman's heart shows that only thing that Matilda cares for is social approval. So let's continue. She left at about four in the morning. Since midnight her husband had been dozing in a small empty side room with three other men whose wives were having an enjoyable time. Matilda was on with her coat, which he had fetched when it was time to go. A modest, everyday coat, a commonplace coat, violently at odds with the elegance of her dress. It brought her down to earth and she would have preferred to slip away quietly and avoid being noticed by the other women who were being arrayed in rich furs. But Loise grabbed her by the arm. Wait a sec, you catch a cold outside, I'll go and get a cup. But she refused to listen and ran quickly down the stairs. While outside in the streets there was no cab in sight. They began looking for one, hailing all the cabbies they saw driving by in the distance. They walked down the Sen in desperation shivering with cold there on the embankment. They at last found one of those aged nocturnal hackney cabs which only emerged in Paris after dusk as if ashamed to parade their poverty in the full light of day. It brought them back to the front door on the rue de Mathe and they walked sadly up to their apartment. For her it was all over while he was thinking that he would have to be at the ministry at ten. Standing in front of the mirror she took off the coat she had been wearing over her shoulders to get a last look at herself and all her glory. Suddenly she gave a cry. The necklace was no longer around her throat. So now this part of the passage shows just how much fun Matheild is having. So of course she has a complete disregard for her husband so we learned that since midnight Matheild's wife has been in the dirty side room. She's completely tossed him to the side whilst she's reveling in people's attention. Once the party is over she's dressed in a modest everyday common place coat and the adjectives and the repetition of the coat that she's wearing shows her appearance of wealth vanishes once this is over. Of course the adverb violently shows the disconnect between her ordinary woman and the woman she's brought for this one-off occasion just to be socially recognised. Moreover the mention of how this brought her down to earth, the coat is personified here and it forces her to leave this fanciful world of imagination where she thinks she's a very rich debutante and now she's back to reality. And of course this is in contrast to the other women who actually are married to rich men cold outside or go and get a cab and these simple sentences they show his love and commitment and devotion to her. However Mathilde refused to listen and this of course shows that Mathilde really disregards him and to an extent actually uses her husband. Also when they start walking down the Seine which is a large river in Paris in desperation shivering with cold pathetic fallacies used here by Mont-Pencent to show the stark return to her. Furthermore they look for aged nocturnal hackney cabs and the adjectives here emphasise that reality is really descended on them. Now these cabs are also ashamed to parade the poverty and of course this is a metaphor for Mathilde herself who's really ashamed of her perceived poverty she thinks she's quite poor and she's really ashamed she tries to hide it. Now the live this mentions this mention of martyrs people who die for a cause foreshadows their eventual poverty. Now Mont-Pencent states that for her it was all over and therefore what this shows is that the illusion of wealth that Mathilde had has finally ended. Now she then stands in front of the mirror and there's this reference back to her obsession with her parents almost like however onomatopoeia is used to show how she gave a cry because it echoes the cry that she had in modern forest years home when she saw this beautiful necklace and she was given this beautiful necklace for the night however now this onomatopoeia somewhat ironic because it's echoing this cry of horror also the mention of the necklace no longer being around her throat Mont-Pencent uses exclamatory sentence to show her extreme shock now this is a twist that happens because she loses this necklace so let's carry on her husband who was already half undressed asked what's up she turned to him in a panic I I madam forest years necklace I haven't got it he straightened up as if thunder struck what but can't have lost it they looked in the pleats of her dress in the folds of her coats in her pockets they looked everywhere sure you still had it when you left the ballroom he asked yes I remember finger-in in the entrance hall but if you'd lost it in the street we'd have heard it fall so it must be in the cab that's right that's probably it did you get his number no did you happen to notice it no now in this exchange of course we can see that she is really really panicked because here she states I madam forest really speechless and she really doesn't know what to do next and of course this exametry sentence shows she's growing increasingly panicked then her husband essentially this simile as if thunder struck shows his dramatic reaction now this simple sentence that did not find it shows the necklace which symbolized the illusion of wealth is now gone so this illusion of wealth to this elaborate illusory world is now completely over now her husband really rationalizes where they might be able to find this necklace and this complex sentence but if you'd lost it in the street would have heard it fall this shows he's trying to really rationalize the situation he's trying to really see things from her perspective and now the simple sentences so her responses to him shows she actually reverts listening to her husband when it suits her now here the minor sentence and remember a verb a subject verb now in this instance the minor sentence so her response shows she was caught up in a fanciful imagination that she was unaware of what had happened to the necklace so let's carry on they looked at each other in dismay finally loizel got dressed again I'm going to go back the way we came he said see if I can find it he went out she remained as she was still wearing her evening gown not having the strength to go to bed sitting disconsolently by the empty grate her mind are blank her husband returned at about 7 o'clock he'd found nothing he went to the police station called at the newspaper offices where he had advertised a reward toward the cab companies and tried anywhere where the faintest of hopes led him she waited for him all day long in the same distracted condition thinking of the appalling catastrophe which had befallen them loizel came back that evening hollow-cheeked and very pale he had not come up with anything look he said you have to write to your friend and say you broke the catch on her necklace and you're getting it repaired that will give us time to work out what we'll have to do she wrote to his dictation a week later they'd lost all hope now here essentially the simple sentence where it states they looked at each other in dismay really now creates tension for us as the readers because we now really wonder is this necklace really gone then the simple sentence he went out highlights the self-sacrificial nature of matilde's husband he really wants to save face for her now in contrast his self-sacrificial nature she remained as she was now the sibilance she and of course the repetition of she emphasises how matilde is really not self-sacrificing she's completely focused on herself and what she wants furthermore her mind a blank this metaphor emphasises her really vapid nature she really cannot come up with any useful ideas to help in this situation now the repetition of the third person pronoun he shows how frantically he was trying to help her as his wife he really really cares about saving her social face now matilde is in a distracted condition again this emphasises her very vapid mindset she really cannot come up with any useful way to react to this situation and essentially this catastrophe now her husband advises her you'll have to write to your friend so you broke the catch on her necklace and you're getting it repaired that'll give us time to work out what we'll have to do now essentially what this is showing is he's trying to save face for her he's trying to of course save face for himself but more importantly he's trying not to embarrass his wife to her friend and this shows he listens to him when it benefits her she wrote to his dictation so previously when it really didn't benefit her she totally ignored him but now it's benefiting her she listens to exactly what he says now the verbal phrase of time a week later shows the drastic change in their fortunes as a result of this necklace and as a result of matilde's focus on superficial objects and superficial material items so let's carry on lozel who'd aged the next day they took the case in which it had come and called on the jeweler whose name was inside he looked through his order book it wasn't me that sold the actual necklace I only supplied the case after this the trailed around jeweler's shops looking for a necklace just like the other one trying to remember it and both ill with worry and anxiety in a shop in the palais royal they found a diamond collar which they thought was identical to the one they were looking for it cost 40,000 francs the jeweler was prepared to let them have it for 36 they asked him not to sell it for three days and they got him to agree to take it back for 34,000 if the one that had been lost turned up before the end of february lozel had 18,000 francs which his father had left him he would have to borrow the rest now things really start to escalate essentially so after they realised that the necklace is gone they go around town searching for it however in the end and ultimately they find a similar diamond collar which costs astronomically more and it seems that matilde's husband lozel is so self-sacrificial that he is considering giving up his inheritance just to help her save face now here where it states lozel who'd aged five years essentially mon passant uses this hyperbole to show how his wife is really causing him ruin also the tragic vert case emphasises this pandora's box it's now been opened it's now causing all of these problems and of course we learn that the jeweller is not the same person who actually sold the same necklace furthermore the statement that trailed around jeweller shops this shows now that they're really frantically searching really frantically trying to come up with alternatives now the alliteration they thought really shows that they only rely on superficial furthermore 40,000 francs this is an astronomical sum of money we now start wondering as readers what's going to happen we think that maybe the most rational decision will just be for Matilde to go back to her friend and really confess her sins but really they seem even in spite of how expensive this replacement necklace is they care more about replacing it so that they can look good in front of their friend now here where we learn 1000 francs inheritance we learn that he's willing to give it up just to preserve his wife's unhappiness maybe this is his own undoing too furthermore the emphasis on him even borrowing more shows that Matilde is really bringing him financial and her focus on superficial materials is causing this financial chaos is wreaking financial chaos on their lives so let's carry on he borrowed the money 1000 francs here 500 there sometimes 100 60 he signed notes agreed to pay exorbitant rates of interest resorted to users in the whole tribe of money lenders he mortgaged the rest of his life signed papers without knowing if he would ever be able to honour his commitments and then sick with worry about the future the grim poverty which stood ready to pounce and the prospect of all the physical probation and mental torture ahead he went round to the jewellers to get the new necklace with 36000 francs which he found forestier said in a huff you ought really to have brought it back sooner I might have needed it she did not open the case as a friend had feared she might if she had noticed the substitution what she have thought what she have said would she not have concluded she was a thief then began for madame loiselle the grindingly horrible life of the very poor but quickly and heroically she resigned herself to what she could not alter that pooling debt the maid moved out of the apartment and rented an attic room so by this stage of the story essentially we learned that both metilde and her husband loiselle decided to go into debt in order to save face this is how much appearances holding up a social appearance is important to them more important than their own futures and of course ultimately they actually fall in social status so metilde initially this discontent she felt with her lower middle class around actually it's now gets even worse now here where we learned that loiselle borrowed the money a thousand francs here 500 there the ascendant that's used shows how frantically he's borrowing from several people simply to save social face and he's a martyr for his wife so if you remember ruda martyrs this is now really bringing it to full circle because this is really extremely self sacrificial on his part also there's a semantic field of debt that's used interest knowing just how he's getting into financial ruin as a result of his very superficial wife now the mention of the grim poverty what this shows is that superficial appearances have costed them heavy the cost it's costed them the social status and this poverty which stood ready to pounce now the personification of poverty emphasises its brutality and the grinding poverty that they're going to have to undergo simply because to look good in front of matilde's friend furthermore the reference to physical probation and mental torture it's really ironic that matilde is now about to experience real suffering whilst actually early on in the story she thought she was experiencing some kind of suffering which is going to be nothing compared to now the years of grinding poverty that stare them also the conditional verb might when madame lozel matilde returned it to her friend this conditional verb shows just how self-centred and greedy her friend is and of course just how superficial their friendship is moreover her friend actually doesn't even really care for that necklace because we learned she did not open the case she didn't even care enough for a necklace or even value it to check that it was actually there and it was the right thing now we have a view into matilde's worries through the rhetorical questions what she would have thought what she would have said so much about social appearances and saving face now we start to see the contrast to her previous earlier life of somewhat okay leisure so now she's really going to start experiencing the grindingly horrible life of the very poor furthermore the adverbs quickly and heroically show to some extent actually matilde starts to see value in her suffering so her suffering which has been caused because out of poverty she starts to see a lot of value in doing so moreover the simple sentence she was determined to pay makes us actually wonder whether matilde's poverty might change her superficial outlook and make her less materialistic moreover the repetition of the third person plural pronoun emphasises how the social fall from middle class to working class status is very very final so let's carry on she became used to heavy work and all kinds of ghastly kitchen chores she washed dishes wearing down her pink nails on the greasy pots and saucepins she washed her dirty sheets shirts and floor cloths by hand and hung them up to dry on a line each morning she took the rubbish down to the street and carried the water up pausing for breath on each landing and dressed like any working class woman she shopped at the fruiterers the grocers and the butchers with a basket each month they had to settle some accounts renew others and bargain for time her husband worked in the evenings doing accounts for a shopkeeper and quite frequently sat up into the early hours doing copying work for five suits a page they lived like this for ten years by the time ten years had gone by they'd repaid everything with not a penny outstanding in spite of the extortionate conditions and including the accumulated interest Madame Luzelle looked old now she had turned into the battling hard who ruled working-class homes her hair wasn't tidy her skirts were askew and her hands were red she spoke in a gruff voice and scrubbed floors on her hands and knees but sometimes when her husband had gone to the office she would sit by the window and think of that evening long ago when she had been so beautiful and so admired so now we get an insight into essentially this life of grinding poverty and this is really now a cautionary almost morality tell by Guy de Maupassant of being excessively materialistic now here we learn that Mathilde gets used to heavy domestic work ghastly kitchen chores and the pre-modifiers so heavy domestic and ghastly kitchen these are ironic because she actually used to look down on having a simple maid from Préton also the repetition of the third person pronouns she of course referring back to Mathilde shows and makes us really focus on how drastically her situation has changed and obviously how vapid her worry and unhappiness at her earlier lower middle class status really was moreover the mention of pink nails especially the adjective pink emphasises how dainty her parents once was but now she no longer has those luxuries also she's described as pausing for breath and each landing and essentially what this does is emphasise what Mathilde really was also the simile like any working class woman constrars Mathilde to her early appearance at the party how dainty and beautiful she was now she's really a working class woman also she has to settle some accounts renew others and bargain for time and really the rule of three hair shows just how deeply in depth they were simply because she was so focused and superficial as a result her husband worked and the alliteration here emphasises his self-sacrificial nature and they live like this for ten years so the mention of ten years showed the experience grinding poverty for a long time as a result of their reliance and superficial appearances and of course ten years is repeated just so that mon person can really emphasise this furthermore the simple sentence Madame Louselle looked old now she is a warning that beauty fades and she is a victim of the same superficial standards that she greatly admired so she will become a victim of the same superficial standards which uphold beauty too highly also we learnt that she turned into the battling hard uncouth housewife now the tricode on here battling hard and uncouth shows she no longer has the same social graces she once did furthermore the mention of working class homes shows that Matilde has become accustomed to her work in a craft voice and swap floor with her hands and knees this complex sentence shows how degrading her life has become now she is really experiencing real suffering she then thinks of that evening long ago so her daydreams also have changed they are no longer lofty illusions but she does miss her past life and her faded beauty moreover the intensifiers so shows her internal dialogue let's continue what might not have happened had she not lost her necklace who could tell who could possibly tell life is so strange so fickle how little was needed to make or break us one Sunday kneading a break from a heavy working week she went out for a stroll in Champs Elyse suddenly she caught sight of a woman pushing a child on a pram it was madame forestier still young still beautiful and still attractive madame loiselle felt apprehensive should she speak to her yes, why not now that she had paid him for she would tell her everything why not she went up to her hello Gian the friend did not recognise her and was taken aback at being dressed so familiarly by a common woman in the street she stammered but I'm sorry I don't know there's some mistake no mistake I'm Matilda Loiselle her friend gave a cry but my poor Matilda oh how have you changed yes I've been through some hard times since I saw you very hard times and it was all on your account on my account whatever do you mean so now in this part the passage is after 10 years have passed and of course they've settled all their debts of course they're now back to being working class so they've no longer recovered in terms of their status but Matilda goes out on a walk and then she sees her friend from the past the friend that essentially calls them to go into so much and it's interesting this exchange so let's look at the opening part of this part of the passage so what might have happened had she not lost a knock necklace who could tell now these rhetorical questions show Matilda's wishful thinking as she's reflecting on that really fateful night that changed all her fortunes so these rhetorical questions show how she's wondering what might have happened had things gone differently furthermore the series of exclamatory sentences which answer these rhetorical questions to an extent how life is so strange so fickle how little was needed to make or break us these exclamatory sentences may be show some level of growth however of course that growth is a little bit limited as we'll learn later on now there's an adverbial phrase of time here to show now a sudden shift so we are signified of this by Guy Matilda goes for a walk and suddenly she caught sight of a woman and the surveillance here signifies a sharp shift in the tempo of this story now we learn that Madame Forestier is still young still beautiful and still attractive and the repetition of still as well as the rule of three which lists she's young, beautiful and attractive shows the contrasting appearances and of course a vast social gap Madame Forestier was still able to stay in her upper class position now there's this of course this contrast and this is obviously a contrast between station and social pedigree this is emphasized through the proper formal reference to Madame Forestier versus Madame Loiselle and of course this is a massive contrast to show just how vastly the social status has changed now Madame Loiselle Matilde wonders should she speak to her yes why not and these rhetorical questions show that she does for the first time in a long while feel really self-conscious because she looks poor now then she mentions her name and this is a really informal address again this is showing that Matilde has really lost her social graces now word states the friend did not recognize her this shows the deceptiveness of appearances so her friend really relies on appearances too so Madame Forestier she relies on the appearance of Matilde when she used to be beautiful but now she doesn't recognize her but also we wonder whether this is really a true friendship if she never really kept in touch with her for 10 years furthermore the reference to Matilde as a common woman this adjective common shows her fall in social status and how her friend now really looks down on her there's a series of ellipses when Madame Forestier responds to her and this shows her fear of women from a lower social class and a lower social pedigree the fear of upper class women now Matilde responds by saying and these simple sentences are quite blunt and again these show that she's really lost her social graces she's no longer speaking in that very dainty very measured social way now Madame Forestier gives a cry and again this onomatopoeia is used to show her shock now Matilde confesses to her that she's been through hard times and the repetition of hard times shows how she's become probably more grounded in reality after facing however we wonder whether she's really changed because she blames her friend she says it was on your account she's blaming her friend for her poverty she doesn't actually realise and she doesn't possess the power of self-reflection to maybe realise that it was actually her own fault that she's now in this situation so let's continue do you remember that diamond necklace you lent me to go to the reception at the ministry yes what about it well I lost it lost it but you returned it to me no I returned another one just like it and we've been paying for it at least past ten years you know it wasn't easy for us we had nothing but it's over and done with now and I'm glad Madame Forestier stopped you mean you bought a diamond necklace to replace mine yes you never noticed the difference did you do exactly like and she smiled a proud innocent smile Madame Forestier looked very upset and taking both her hand and her said oh my poor Matilde but it was only an imitation necklace it couldn't have been worth much more than 500 francs now this ending of course is a massive plot twist because Matilde realises that all her suffering was for nothing her suffering was actually caused by her reliance on thinking expensive things actually had value expensive looking things had value and of course this is caused by her over reliance on superficial appearance of things now here when she confesses well I lost it now we see through the simple sentence that she's finally confessing when she knows she has saved face now her friend is really confused she says lost it but she returned it to me and Matilde tells her and again we now start to sense that Matilde she saw some meaningfulness in her suffering however she hasn't grown that much because she's still very accusing of her friend she states you know it wasn't easy for us and this shows that Matilde is still not taking responsibility for her actions now the simple sentence Madame for ACA stopped signifies a plot twist now Matilde states and you never noticed a difference did you they were exactly alike and this hyperforo shows she's so proud of what she was able to accomplish and remember she's correctly answered right after now we learned that she has this proud innocent smile and these adjectives show how Matilde to some extent did find some meaning in her suffering but she only found meaning in her suffering when she was relying on the superficiality of the appearances she was upholding now her friend tells her oh my poor Matilde and this exclamatory sentence shows she's about to reveal something that's a really earth shattering truth she then reveals to Matilde it's an imitation necklace and the adjective imitation highlights the deceptiveness of superficial appearances and of course the moral of this story that we should not rely on superficial appearances and of course we learned that the necklace was actually only worth 500 francs which shows the danger of giving too much power to material belongings now that's all if you found this video useful we do have a course covering the GCSE anthology and all the texts in this I GCSE Pearson edXL anthology so make sure you sign up and you head over to our course and also check out our website which is www.firstretutors.com for lots of English worksheets, courses and materials to help you in this and indeed other areas of English thank you so much for listening