Footprints ch07 The Necklace - CBSE Test Papers

CBSE Test Paper 01
The Necklace
  1. Why did Matilda not want to see her rich friends?
  2. What was the cause of Matilda's ruin?
  3. What did Matilda’s husband ask her to write to her friend and why?
  4. Why does Matilda (Mme Loisel) leave the ball in a hurry? What does it show about her character?
  5. Why was Matilda Loisel always unhappy?
  6. Draw the character-sketch of Matilda.
  7. What did Loisel do to replace the necklace?
  8. What was the cause of Matilda's ruin? How could she have avoided it?
CBSE Test Paper 01
The Necklace
Solution
  1. Matilda did not want to see her rich friends because she suffered from an inferiority complex. She was married to a simple clerk, whereas her friends were rich and full of money power. Her lofty ambition of possessing material goods was not fulfilled, so seeing her rich friends would make her unhappy. 
  2. Her own discontentment was the cause of her ruin. She always felt that she had been born for a better life. So her desire to be rich and becoming known was never fulfilled which caused her to be unhappy and ruined. She borrowed a necklace from her friend for a ball and lost it there. As a result, she had to work hard and lead a life of poverty to pay up for the loss.
  3. He asked Matilda to write to her friend that the clasp of the necklace had got damaged and it would be repaired soon. He wanted to get time for making arrangements for the new necklace. Meanwhile, he approached lenders to arrange for the amount to pay for the lost necklace.
  4. She leaves the ball early as she loses the necklace borrowed from her friend. She is in a hurry to leave the scene as she does not want anyone to know about the loss and this shows her pride and vanity.
  5. Matilda Loisel was very pretty. She considered herself being born for a luxurious life but the reality differed from her dreams. In reality, she was born into a family of clerks and subsequently, she married a petty clerk. She led a very simple life. Her desire to own expensive jewels and luxurious goods and her inability to own them made her very unhappy.
  6. Matilda was exceptionally pretty. By virtue of her good looks, she felt that she was born for all delicacies and luxuries. She wished to be admired and loved and to be married to some rich or renowned person but she was unlucky. She was born into a family of clerks. Since she had no dowry, she agreed to marry a petty clerk. She was always grumbling. She dreamed of lavish parties and rich dresses and jewels. Her dreamy, ambitious and vain nature pushed her into trouble. She paid a heavy price for her foolish desires. She borrowed a necklace to wear at a ball. She was intoxicated with joy and success but the necklace was lost. She did work to replace the lost necklace with a new necklace. She worked hard ungrudgingly to pay off her loan. She became a crude, hard shabby woman of a poor family but she was brave and honest. That ruined her beautiful appearance and life.
  7. The couple needed thirty-six thousand francs to purchase a diamond necklace and return it to Mrs. Forestier but Mr. Loisel had only eighteen thousand francs with him. He raised a loan of eighteen thousand francs for purchasing the necklace. Now, Loisel and his wife worked hard in order to repay that debt. They changed their lodgings. They shifted to a small room. They dismissed their maid. Mrs. Loisel did all her household work herself. She had to be very frugal in her purchases. She bargained for small amounts. Mr. Loisel did extra work in the evenings sometimes late at night. He did the work of copying manuscripts. After ten years of hard work, they were able to pay off their debt but because of hard work and misery, Mrs. Loisel looked old. Thus the couple’s life was completely changed after they had raised the loan for the necklace.
  8. Matilda’s pride and her materialistic aspirations coupled with her dishonesty paved the way for her ruin. She could avoid it by learning to accept her current situation and being content with what she had but she was not ready to accept her reality. She was a day-dreamer. She never behaved like a mature woman. She loved to have new and luxurious dresses. She liked to have jewellery. She was never satisfied. She did not follow her husband’s good advice. Thus, Matilda’s unrealistic dreams were the cause of her ruin. Another way could have been to try getting a job or starting a business. One should either try to work hard to realise one’s dreams or stop dreaming altogether.