CBSE Class 10 Footprints Without Feet Chapter 7: The Necklace NCERT Solutions

Madame Loisel is depicted as a woman who possesses beauty and charm but is born into a family of modest means, working as a clerk. Despite her outward appearance, she is perpetually unhappy. Her discontent stems from her dissatisfaction with her ordinary life and her intense longing for a life of luxury, wealth, and admiration. She constantly dreams of grand houses, elegant furnishings, and being adorned with jewels, feeling that she deserves a much more opulent existence than her current reality allows.

Her husband is portrayed as a simple, contented clerk working at the Board of Education. He is a loving and caring spouse who tries his best to make his wife happy, despite her constant dissatisfaction. He leads an economical life with few personal desires. However, he faces challenges due to his wife's unrealistic aspirations and her inability to appreciate their modest lifestyle.

A new problem arises when Monsieur Loisel receives an invitation to an exclusive evening reception at the Ministry's residence. Madame Loisel becomes greatly disturbed because she feels she has nothing suitable or elegant to wear to such a prestigious event. Her desire is to impress everyone with her appearance, and she is also distressed by the lack of appropriate jewelry to complement her attire.

Madame Loisel expresses her need for a new, beautiful dress, which would cost around four hundred francs. Her husband, Monsieur Loisel, sacrifices his own savings, money he had intended to use for purchasing a gun for hunting, to provide her with the funds for the dress. He then suggests that she borrow some suitable jewelry from her wealthy friend, Madame Forestier, to complete her ensemble.

Upon realizing that the diamond necklace borrowed from Madame Forestier is missing, Mr. and Mrs. Loisel are thrown into a state of panic. They immediately begin a frantic search, looking everywhere in the folds of her dress, the pockets, and retracing their steps from the Ministry back home. Despite their thorough efforts, the necklace cannot be found. Monsieur Loisel even reports the loss to the police and places an advertisement in a newspaper offering a reward, but all attempts to locate the necklace prove futile.

To replace the lost diamond necklace, Mr. and Mrs. Loisel decide to purchase an identical one. The new necklace is very expensive, costing thirty-six thousand francs. They only have about half the required amount, so Monsieur Loisel borrows the remaining sum from various moneylenders, known as usurers, at high interest rates. After acquiring the new necklace, they return it to Madame Forestier, unaware of its true cost. This act marks the beginning of a decade of extreme hardship and suffering for the Loisels as they struggle to repay the substantial debt they have accumulated.