GCELiterature in EnglishNon-African Prose2023

The central irony in Guy de Maupassant's The Necklace is that Mathilde Loisel spends years in poverty replacing the lost necklace only to discover that

AThe original necklace had already been found and returned
BThe necklace had been insured by Madame Forestier
CThe original necklace was made of paste and worth very littleCORRECT
DMadame Forestier had forgotten she ever lent the necklace
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Toaster Teacher
Why the answer is C, and why the others tempt you.
At the story's conclusion, Madame Forestier reveals that the original necklace Mathilde borrowed was costume jewellery worth at most five hundred francs. Mathilde and her husband had spent ten years in grinding poverty to repay thirty-six thousand francs for a real diamond replacement, making this one of literature's most celebrated ironic endings.
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