The Necklace
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40 free The Necklace trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" needs only a few pages to follow one night of glamour and the long price paid for it. First published in 1884, the short story is still read in classrooms everywhere, and its last line still catches first-time readers off guard. This multiple choice quiz starts with the moments everyone remembers and moves on to the finer details: Mathilde and her husband, the invitation, the borrowed jewels, the ball, the search and the hard life that follows. It also covers what the narrator says about class and appearances, Maupassant's own life, and the writers and film-makers the story inspired. It suits students revising for a test on the story, teachers who want ready-made questions with answers and explanations, and readers who want to see how much of the plot they remember. Every answer has been checked against the text.
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Q 01In "The Necklace", what does Mathilde's wealthy friend tell her about the lost necklace when they meet years later?
It was a fake
It was a fake, worth at most 500 francs, a sliver of what Mathilde and her husband had spent replacing it. The story stops on that line, before Mathilde can say a word.
Q 02In "The Necklace", which wealthy friend lends Mathilde the jewels she wears to the ball?
Madame Forestier
Madame Forestier opens her jewel box and tells Mathilde simply to choose. Maupassant reused the surname a year later for a leading character in his novel Bel-Ami.
Q 03In "The Necklace", Mathilde picks a string of which gems from a black satin box at her friend's home?
Diamonds
Diamonds set her heart racing the moment she saw them, after she had already tried on bracelets, a pearl necklace and a Venetian gold cross.
Q 04In "The Necklace", how long do Mathilde and her husband labour to pay off the debt for the replacement?
Ten years
Ten years of scrubbing floors and night work cleared every loan, with the compound interest on top. By then Mathilde looked old, with red hands and a loud voice.
Q 05In "The Necklace", what was Mathilde's husband saving 400 francs to buy before he spent it on her ball gown?
A hunting gun
A hunting gun was the plan, for Sunday trips with friends to bag larks on the plain of Nanterre. He turns pale at her request, then hands over the money.
Q 06Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" is best known for which storytelling device, a hallmark of his style?
A twist ending
A twist ending is the story's signature, and its tight plot has long served as a model for professional short story writers.
Q 07Which Paris landmark did "The Necklace" author Guy de Maupassant publicly protest against while it was being built?
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower drew a furious open letter in 1887, signed by Maupassant and dozens of other writers and artists. He is said to have lunched in its restaurant because it was the one spot where he could not see it.
Q 08A 1949 television version of "The Necklace" won which award at the prize's very first ceremony?
An Emmy
An Emmy for best film made for television went to the half-hour adaptation, an episode of the NBC anthology series Your Show Time, at the inaugural ceremony in Los Angeles.
Q 09In "The Necklace", what does Mathilde lack that keeps her from marrying a rich and distinguished man?
A dowry
A dowry was the money or property a bride's family was expected to bring to a marriage, and rich suitors looked for large ones. With none, Mathilde "let herself be married" to a minor clerk.
Q 10In "The Necklace", whom do Mathilde and her husband dismiss as soon as they take on the debt?
Their maid
Their maid, a young woman from Brittany, is let go at once, and Mathilde takes over the washing-up, the laundry and the carrying of water herself.
Q 11In "The Necklace", what does Mathilde's husband suggest she wear to the ball when she has no jewels?
Fresh flowers
Fresh flowers were in fashion that season, he argues, and two or three fine roses would cost only ten francs. Mathilde refuses: nothing is more humiliating than looking poor among rich women.
Q 12In "The Necklace", how is Mathilde connected to the rich woman who lends her the jewels?
An old schoolmate
An old schoolmate from her convent days, the friend is the first person Mathilde's husband thinks of, and Mathilde cries out with joy at the idea.
Q 13In "The Necklace", what surname does Mathilde take on marrying a minor clerk in a government ministry?
Loisel
Q 21In "The Necklace", what excuse does Mathilde write to her friend to buy time after losing the jewels?
A broken clasp
A broken clasp being mended was her husband's idea, and Mathilde wrote the note at his dictation. A week later, with every search exhausted, they gave up hope.
Q 22In "The Necklace", where does Mathilde's husband find half the price of the replacement before borrowing the rest?
His father's legacy
His father's legacy covered half, and for the rest he went to friends and usurers, a thousand francs here and a few louis there. He signed notes without knowing whether he could ever honour them.
Q 23In "The Necklace", how many francs do Mathilde and her husband pay a Paris jeweller for the replacement necklace?
Loisel is the name on the invitation to the ball, addressed to "M. and Madame Loisel". Her husband's first name is never given anywhere in the story.
Q 14When Mathilde greets her old friend after years of hardship in "The Necklace", what is the friend's first reaction?
She does not know her
She does not know her at all, and stammers that the roughened woman calling her by her first name must be mistaken. Only when Mathilde gives her own name does she cry out.
Q 15In "The Necklace", where do Mathilde and her husband move after giving up their flat to cut costs?
A rooftop garret
A rooftop garret means every bucket of water has to be carried up the stairs, and Mathilde stops for breath at each landing.
Q 16In "The Necklace", where is Mathilde standing when she realises the borrowed necklace is gone?
Before her mirror
Before her mirror at home, she had paused to admire herself one last time in her finery, and the sight of her bare neck made her cry out.
Q 17In "The Necklace", how does Mathilde's rich friend look when the two finally meet again on a Sunday walk?
As youthful as ever
As youthful as ever, she is strolling with a child, untouched by the years that have turned Mathilde strong, hard and coarse.
Q 18In "The Necklace", which outfit does Mathilde's husband first suggest she wear to the ball?
Her theatre dress
Her theatre dress looks very well to him, he stammers, and only her tears show him his mistake. He had not thought about clothes at all when he fought to get the invitation.
Q 19In "The Necklace", what is Mathilde's husband doing from midnight while she dances at the ball?
Dozing in a side room
Dozing in a side room since midnight, he has the company of three other husbands whose wives are still enjoying themselves. Mathilde dances on until about four in the morning.
Q 20In "The Necklace", why does Mathilde hurry out of the ball instead of waiting indoors for a cab?
To hide her cheap wraps
To hide her cheap wraps from women putting on costly furs, she runs down the stairs into the cold. The flight leaves the couple searching for a cab along the Seine in the small hours.
36,000
36,000 francs was the bargain price, knocked down from the 40,000 the jeweller first asked. He also agreed to buy it back for 34,000 if the original turned up before the end of February.
Q 24In "The Necklace", why has Mathilde stopped calling on her rich friend before the ball invitation arrives?
Visits leave her wretched
Visits leave her wretched: she comes home so sad at the contrast with her own bare walls and worn chairs that she has given up going.
Q 25When Mathilde returns the replacement in "The Necklace", what does her friend neglect to do, to Mathilde's relief?
Look inside
Look inside is the one thing she fails to do, though she does complain coldly that it should have come back sooner. Mathilde had dreaded being taken for a thief.
Q 26In "The Necklace", how does Mathilde do her shopping at the grocer and butcher during the years of debt?
Haggling over every coin
Haggling over every coin, basket on her arm and dressed like a working woman, she defends her money "sou by sou" and is met with rudeness from the shopkeepers.
Q 27In "The Necklace", which dance do all the Cabinet attachés want to share with Mathilde at the ball?
The waltz
The waltz was what every attaché hoped for, and even the minister noticed her. She was the prettiest woman there, and men kept asking her name.
Q 28According to the narrator of "The Necklace", what takes the place of family and birth for women?
Beauty, grace and charm
Beauty, grace and charm do the work of rank for women, the narrator claims in the second paragraph. That is why Mathilde is as unhappy as if she had fallen from a higher station.
Q 29In "The Necklace", Mathilde's husband is a clerk in which French ministry, where Maupassant himself once worked?
Education
Education, then called the Ministry of Public Instruction, employed Maupassant himself for a time, so he wrote about a junior clerk's world from experience.
Q 30In "The Necklace", what late-night work, paid by the page, does Mathilde's husband take on to clear the debt?
Copying manuscripts
Copying manuscripts earned him five sous a page, on top of evenings spent keeping a tradesman's accounts and his day job at the ministry.