The Necklace

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
The cover of Gil Blas Illustré, October 8, 1893, which featured "The Necklace"

"The Necklace" is an 1884 short story by Guy de Maupassant.

A young, lower middle class couple borrows some nice clothes and jewellery from an upper class friend to wear to a party. During the course of the party, the lady loses a diamond necklace. Hiding the truth, the two sell their house and all their possessions and work for the next twenty years to pay the friend back, only to be told at the end it was costume jewellery, and worth only the price of a good dress at the most.

Read it here, on this very wiki, in the original French or in an English translation.


Tropes used in The Necklace include: