History Literature / TheNecklace

* BreakTheHaughty: Mathilde'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.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Not admitting to having lost the necklace results in Mathilde and her husband working themselves ragged to replace a piece of costume jewelry with a real one. Even worse, Mathilde's husband had brought up the idea of just telling their friend, only for his words to fall on deaf ears. At the same time, had the friend ''told'' Mathilde that the necklace was a substantially cheaper knockoff, things wouldn't have been become so dire.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Not admitting to the lost necklace, or that the necklace was fake in the first place, resulted in Mathilde and her husband working themselves ragged to replace a piece of costume jewelry with a real one. Even worse, Mathilde's husband brought it up, only for his words to fall on deaf ears. At the same time, had the friend ''told'' Mathilde that the necklace was a substantially cheaper knockoff, things wouldn't have been become so dire.

* 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 as well.
** However, it's very likely that the friend simply did not want to lend Mathilde her most valuable jewelry, and only presented her with the least valuable items.

--> "[[spoiler: Oh, my poor Mathilde! My necklace is made of paste! It was worth five hundred francs at most!]]"

* BreakTheHaughty: Mathilde'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.

* IdiotBall: Mathilde doesn't stop to wonder why a piece of jewellery supposedly worth thousands upon thousands of francs would break and fall off her neck.
* IWasQuiteALooker: After paying off the necklace, Mathilde and her husband are in immense debt and have to cut expenses to the bone in order to survive. Mathilde starts losing her looks as a result, and by the time she meets her friend, she's unrecognizable.

* StormInATeacup: Most decidedly ''not'' PlayedForLaughs. A woman borrows her friend's diamond necklace for a fancy dress party, only to lose it and buy a new one, using loaned money that takes her a decade to pay back. Near the end of the story, she runs into her friend (whom she hasn't seen since the party) and reveals the truth. The friend, tears welling up in her eyes, reveals that her necklace was merely "paste" (costume jewelry), and didn't cost a fraction of the replacement's price tag.

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, named Mathilde, 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.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Not admitting to the lost necklace, or that the necklace was fake in the first place, resulted in Mathilde and her husband working themselves ragged to replace a piece of costume jewelry with a real one. Even worse, Mathilde's husband brought it up, only for his words to fall on deaf ears. At the same time, had the friend ''told'' Mathilde that the necklace was a cheap knockoff, things wouldn't have been become so dire.

--> "[[spoiler: Oh, my poor Mathilde! My necklace is made of paste! It's worth at most 700 francs!]]"

* AnAesop: Admit to your mistakes up front; trying to run away from them will only make things 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, and how the clasp easily broke.
* KarmicTwistEnding: Mathilde borrows a diamond necklace from her wealthier 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.
* IdiotBall: Mathilde doesn't stop to wonder why a piece of jewelry supposedly worth thousands upon thousands of francs would break and fall off her neck.
* IWasQuiteALooker: After paying off the necklace, Mathilde and her husband are poor and must work to survive. Mathilde starts losing her looks as a result, and by the time she meets her friend, she's unrecognizable.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Not admitting to the lost necklace, or that the necklace was fake in the first place, resulted in Mathilde and her husband working themselves ragged to replace a piece of costume jewelry with a real one. Even worse, Mathilde's husband brought it up, only for his words to fall on deaf ears. At the same time, had the friend ''told'' that the necklace was a cheap knockoff, things wouldn't have been become so dire.

* 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 Mathilde not been so deathly prideful—if she and her husband had 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!)

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, named Mathilde, 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.

* AllForNothing: Mathilde and her husband work themselves for ten years to repay a debt of a necklace that was completely cheaper than their replacement and could've avoided their embarrassment if they just told the truth.
* BrokenTreasure: [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed.]] It turns out that the 'treasure' isn't what it seems to be, and was worth ''substantially'' less than its replacement.
* BreakTheHaughty: Matilde'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.
* {{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.

* IdiotBall: You’d think Mathilde who borrowed the necklace would have at least momentarily wondered why a piece of jewelry supposedly worth thousands upon thousands of francs would break and fall off her neck.
* IWasQuiteALooker: After paying off the necklace, Mathilde and her husband are poor and must work to survive. Mathilde starts losing her looks as a result and by the time she meets her friend, she's unrecognizable.

* NoNameGiven: Of the young couple, only Mathilde's name is given, her husband and friend's are not.
* 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. Even worse, Matilde's husband brought it up, only to fall on deaf ears. At the same time, had the friend ''told'' that the necklace was a cheap knockoff, things wouldn't have been become so dire.
* {{Pride}}: The cause of the heroine's troubles is that she didn't want to admit to losing the necklace -- had she unbent enough to tell the truth, she would have been spared a lot of suffering.
* 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!)

--> "[[spoiler: Oh my poor Mathilde! My necklace is made of paste! It's worth at most 700 francs!]]"

* StormInATeacup: Played for drama.
* WhamLine: The last line delivered by Mathilde's friend. In certain republised versions, the story literally ends ''after'' said line.