History Literature / TheNecklace

* PoorCommunicationKills: Not admitting to the lost necklace, or that the necklace was fake in the first place, resulted in Matilde and her husband working themselves ragged to replace a piece of costume jewelry with a real one.

* ShaggyDogStory: This story's version of the trope is so strong, it nearly crosses over to ShootTheShaggyDog territory (if the reader wasn't laughing from the story's cruel irony). What saves it from that extreme is that the situation could have been ''very'' easily avoided, had Matilde not been so deathly prideful and she and her husband simply [[PoorCommunicationKills admitted]] that they lost the necklace in the first place. (Admittedly, it also could have been avoided if the friend had simply told her the necklace was an imitation right from the start!)

* {{Foreshadowing}} : There's some hint that the necklace isn't as valuable as Mathilde -- obsessed with appearances as she is -- thinks it to be, judging by how casually her friend lets her borrow it, and how the clasp easily broke.

* MockMillionaire: Mathilde's lady friend. Of her assorted collection of jewelry, the most valuable-looking of the lot is ''that'' fake necklace, and it's very likely her other jewels are probably duplicates aa well.

* MockMillionaire

* AnAesop: Admit to your mistakes up front; trying to run away from them will make it worse.

* {{Foreshadowing}} : There's some hint that the necklace isn't as valuable as Mathilde -- obsessed with appearances as she is -- thinks it to be, judging by how casually her friend lets her borrow it.
* KarmicTwistEnding: Mathilde borrows a diamond necklace from her jeweler friend to wear at a state gala. She ends up losing it, and instead of telling her friend the truth, she and her husband have a replacement made and return that one, borrowing so much money that they end up struggling in debt for ten years. Just after they finally repay all the loans, she sees her friend for the first time in a decade and tells the woman the story of the necklace. Her horrified friend then informs her that the necklace had been fake and was only worth one-seventieth of what they paid for the replacement.

* NeverMyFault: While it's understandable that Mathilde feels resentful after ten years of misery, she claims that all the suffering was because of her friend, when she reveals the truth to her. If she had told the truth ''a decade before,'' she wouldn't be in this mess.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Not admitting to the lost necklace or that the necklace was fake in the first place resulted in Matilde and her husband working themselves ragged to replace a piece of costume jewelry with a real one.

* BrokenTreasure: [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed.]] It turns out that the 'treasure' isn't what it seems to be, and was worth ''substantially'' less than its' replacement.

* AnAesop: Admit to your mistakes up front, trying to run away from them will make it worse.
* BrokenTreasure: [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills

* ShaggyDogStory: This story's version of the trope is so strong, it nearly crosses over to ShootTheShaggyDog territory (if the reader wasn't laughing from the story's cruel irony). What saves it from that extreme is that the situation could have been ''very'' easily avoided, had the couple simply [[PoorCommunicationKills admitted]] that they lost the necklace in the first place.
** It also could have been avoided if the friend had simply told her the necklace was an imitation right from the start
** Or if Matilde wasn't so deathly prideful.

* KarmicTwistEnding

* ShaggyDogStory: This story's version of the trope is so strong, it nearly crosses over to ShootTheShaggyDog territory (if the reader wasn't laughing from the story's cruel irony). What saves it from that extreme is that the situation could have been ''very'' [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot easily avoided]], had the couple simply [[PoorCommunicationKills admitted]] that they lost the necklace in the first place.

* NeverLendToAFriend
* NoAntagonist

A young, lower middle class couple borrows some nice clothes and jewelry from an upper class friend to wear to a party. During the course of the party, the lady loses the stunning necklace that she borrowed from her friend. Hiding the truth, the couple sell their house and take out an exceedingly harsh loan to buy a diamond necklace to replace it, and work for the next ten years to pay back the debt...only to be told at the end of the story by the lady's friend that the original necklace was ''costume jewelry,'' worth only a couple of dollars at the most.

* BreakTheHaughty: The lady's desire for finer things than what she and her husband can afford are partly what gets them into the mess in the first place. By the end of the story, she's had to go through a lot to pay for that one moment of indulgence.

* NoDoubtTheYearsHaveChangedMe: When the lady meets her friend again at the end of the story, the friend doesn't recognise her at first because of all she's gone through to pay off the second necklace.

A young, lower middle class couple borrows some nice clothes and jewelry from an upper class friend to wear to a party. During the course of the party, the lady loses the necklace that she borrowed from her friend. Hiding the truth, the couple sell their house and take out an exceedingly harsh loan to buy a diamond necklace to replace it, and work for the next twenty years to pay back the debt...only to be told at the end of the story by the lady's friend that the original necklace was ''costume jewelry,'' worth only a couple of dollars at the most.

* NoDoubtTheYearsHaveChangedMe: When the lady meets her friend again at the end of the story, the friend doesn't recognise her at first because of all she's gone through to pay off the necklace.

* ShaggyDogStory: This story's version of the trope is so strong, it nearly crosses over to ShootTheShaggyDog territory (if the reader wasn't laughing from the story's cruel irony). What saves it from that extreme is that the situation could have been ''very'' [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot easily avoided]], had the couple [[PoorCommunicationKills admitted]] that they lost the necklace in the first place.

A young, lower middle class couple borrows some nice clothes and jewelry from an upper class friend to wear to a party. During the course of the party, the lady loses a necklace. Hiding the truth, the two sell their house and take out an exceedingly harsh loan to buy a diamond necklace to replace it, and work for the next twenty years to pay back the debt, only to be told at the end the original necklace was costume jewelry, worth only a couple of dollars at the most.

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

A young, lower middle class couple borrows some nice clothes and jewelry 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 jewelry, and worth only a couple of dollars at the most.

* WhatAnIdiot: You’d think she would have at least momentarily wondered why a necklace supposedly worth thousands upon thousands of francs would break and fall off her neck.

* TooDumbToLive

* AnAesop: Basically, know your place. Or honesty is the best policy.

* ShaggyDogStory: This story's version of the trope is so strong, it nearly crosses over to ShootTheShaggyDog territory (if the reader wasn't laughing from the story's cruel irony). What saves it from that extreme is that the situation could have been ''very'' easily avoided, had the couple admitted that they lost the necklace in the first place.

''TheNecklace'' is an 1884 short story by Guy de Maussapant.

* ShaggyDogStory: This story's version of the trope is so strong, it nearly crosses over to ShootTheShaggyDog territory (if the reader wasn't laughing from the story's cruel irony). What saves it from that extreme is that the situation could have been ''very'' easily avoided, had the couple admitted that they lost the necklace in the first place.

* ShaggyDogStory: This story's version of the trope is so strong, it nearly crosses over to ShootTheShaggyDog territory (if the reader wasn't laughing from the story's cruel irony). What saves it from that extreme is that the situation could have been ''very'' easily avoided, had the couple admitted that they lost the necklace in the first place.

* TwilightZoneTwist

''TheNecklace'' is a short story by Guy de Maussapant.