NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 7 The Necklace

NCERT
SOLUTIONS
CLASS - 10th

aglase .co

Class : 10th
Subject : English-2
Chapter : 7
Chapter Name : The Necklace

Q1 What kind of a person is Mme Loisel — why is she always unhappy?

Answer. 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.

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Q2 What kind of a person is her husband?

Answer. Her husband was a clerk in the of ce 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.

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Q3 What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?

Answer. 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 owers. However, she refused and said that there
was nothing more humiliating than to have a shabby air in the midst of rich women.

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Q4 How is the problem solved?

Answer. 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.

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Q5 What do M. and Mme Loisel do next?

Answer. When M. and Mme Loisel realized that the necklace was missing, they tried nding 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 of ces. 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 nd the necklace. However, they eventually decided to replace the necklace with a
new one.

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Q6 How do they replace the necklace?

Answer. Loisel asked Matilda to write a letter to Mme Forestier, explaining that she had broken
the clasp of the necklace and would get it repaired. They found a chaplet of diamonds in a shop
of the Palais-Royal. This necklace seemed to be exactly like the one that had been lost. They
could buy it for thirty-six thousand francs. Loisel had eighteen thousand francs, which his father
had left him. He borrowed the rest from various sources. Finally, he bought the necklace and
gave it to Matilda for her to take it back to Mme Forestier.

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Q1 The course of the Loisels’ life changed due to the necklace. Comment.

Answer. The course of the Loisel’s life changed due to the necklace. After replacing the lost
necklace with a new one, they had to replay all the money that they had borrowed to buy the new
necklace. They sent away the maid and changed their lodgings. They rented some rooms in an
attic. Matilda learnt the odious work of a kitchen. She washed the dishes, soiled linen, their
clothes and dishcloths. She took down the refuse to the street each morning and brought up the
water, stopping at each landing to catch her breath. She went to the grocer’s, the butcher’s, and
the fruiter’s, with her basket on her arm, shopping, haggling to save her money. Loisel worked in
the evenings, putting the books of some merchants in order. At night, he did copying at ve sous
a page. This lasted for ten years, and at the end of the said period, they were able to repay their
lenders.

Q2 What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it?

Answer. The cause of Matilda’s ruin was her dissatisfaction with whatever life offered her. She
was always unhappy. She felt that she was born for all the delicacies and luxuries. She disliked
her circumstances.

She could have avoided the ruin by being content with what she had.

Q3 What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend that she had lost her
necklace?

Answer. If Matilda would have confessed to her friend that she had lost her necklace, she might
have been in lesser trouble than what she faced after having replaced the necklace. Her friend
would de nitely have been angry with her. Most probably, she would have asked Matilda to
replace it. She would have given her the details from where she had bought the necklace and how
much it had cost her. Matilda would thus have known that the jewels in the necklace were not
real diamonds. It would have cost her a far lesser amount to replace it. Matilda would thus have
saved herself and her husband all the trouble they went through.

Q4 If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it?

Answer. DIY

Q1 We should be content with what life gives us.

Answer. DIY

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