NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English (Supplementary Reader) Chapter 7 The Necklace

Ans : Mme Loisel was a pretty young lady born in a family of clerks. She felt that she was born for all the delicacies and luxuries. Instead, she had to live a simple and economical life. She completely disliked her circumstances. This made her angry and unhappy. 

Ans : Her husband was a clerk in the office of the Board of Education. Unlike Mme Loisel, he was content with his life. While Mme Loisel used to suffer thinking about luxuries and delicacies, he could derive great sense of satisfaction even from a humble ‘potpie’. He was also a loving husband, as is seen from his behavior towards his wife. He readily parted with the four hundred francs that he had saved to buy a gun, so that Mme Loisel would be able to wear a nice dress to the Minister’s ball. This shows that his wife’s happiness was more important to him. 

Ans : After buying a pretty dress, Mme Loisel was bothered by yet another problem. She had no jewel to adorn herself with. She said she would have a poverty-stricken look. Her husband suggested that she should wear some natural flowers. However, she refused and said that there was nothing more humiliating than to have a shabby air in the midst of rich women. 

Ans : Mme Loisel’s husband solved this problem. He told his wife to request her friend, Mme Forestier to lend her some jewels. When she went to Mme Forestier, the latter brought a jewel case, so that Mme Loisel could choose whichever jewels she liked. 

Ans : When M. and Mme Loisel realized that the necklace was missing, they tried finding out where she could have lost it. They concluded that it could have been dropped in the cab. They did not know its number. Therefore, Loisel went over the track where they had walked. When he found nothing, he went to the police and to the cab offices. He even put an advertisement in the newspapers, offering a reward. He then asked Matilda to write a letter to Mme Forestier, explaining that she had broken the clasp of the necklace and would get it repaired. This gave them time to find the necklace. However, they eventually decided to replace the necklace with a new one.