An Error of Destiny
The story opens with a verdict.
↳ Nothing in her life is wrong. Everything in it is a disappointment.
📚 Chapter Learning Kit
The Necklace · Class 10 English · Footprints Without Feet
English 3 topics 135 leveled MCQs 60 flashcards 4 games Free
Shared by a Veda teacher · Generated with Veda AI · Oct 2026
⚡ Veda Bites
💡 Key Idea
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✏️ Example
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The whole idea, one bite at a time
Veda Bites are swipeable micro-lessons — each one teaches exactly one idea. Here's a taste from this kit; the app has the full deck.
Suffering by Comparison
Why is she always unhappy?
↳ A set question: her unhappiness is a habit of measuring, not a shortage of things.
The Tureen
One meal, two marriages.
He uncovers the soup with a delighted air and says he knows nothing better.
↳ He is pleased by what is there; she is wretched about what is not.
A Fresh Problem
The dress is ready. Now this.
↳ One want satisfied, and the next arrives within days.
The Flowers She Refuses
He offers a cheap solution.
His suggestion: natural flowers, which in this season are very chic.
↳ Flowers would be pretty. They would not be mistaken for wealth.
“Go and Find Your Friend”
And then the idea.
↳ A set question: the problem is the jewels, and this is how it is solved.
📖 Smart notes
What you'll study, topic by topic
1
Born for Luxuries, Married to a Clerk
Matilda Loisel is pretty, poor and permanently miserable, convinced that she was meant for a finer life than a clerk's flat can give her. When her husband brings home an invitation he had to work to obtain, she throws it…
- Matilda is pretty and young, born — as the story puts it — as though destiny had made a mistake, into a family of clerks. With no dowry, no…
- She was simple, and she was unhappy. She suffered without pause, feeling that she had been made for delicacies and luxuries, and the poverty…
- At dinner her husband uncovers the soup with delight and says he knows nothing better; she sits opposite him imagining elegant dinners, shin…
~26 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
2
The Borrowed Diamonds, the Ball, and the Empty Neck
A new grievance — no jewel — sends Matilda to her rich friend, who opens a jewel-case and tells her to choose. She takes a superb diamond necklace, is the success of the ball, runs from the modest wraps at four in the mo…
- With the dress nearly ready, Matilda becomes sad and anxious again: she has no jewel of any kind, will look poverty-stricken, and would rath…
- Her husband suggests natural flowers, which are very chic in that season; she is not convinced. Then he has the idea that saves the evening…
- Matilda cries out with joy, goes the next day, tells her story of distress, and is shown a large jewel-case with an invitation to choose.
~28 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
3
Ten Years to Pay for Five Hundred Francs
The search fails, a lie buys time, and thirty-six thousand francs buy a replacement. The Loisels give up their servant, their rooms and ten years of their lives to repay it — and then Mme Forestier tells Matilda, kindly,…
- They search the folds of the dress and the cloak, the pockets, everywhere. She is sure she still had it as they came out; her husband reason…
- Loisel dresses again and retraces their whole route on foot, returning at seven with nothing. He goes to the police, to the cab offices, and…
- He then dictates a letter: she is to write that she has broken the clasp of the necklace and is having it repaired. It is a lie, and its pur…
~28 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
❓ Leveled MCQ practice
Try the smart MCQs from this kit
135 questions laddered from warm-up to topper-level, each with an explanation. A taste:
How does the story describe Matilda's birth?
Intermediate
A Into a rich family that later lost its money
B Into a family of shopkeepers in a small town
C Into the household of a government minister
D By a mistake of destiny, into a household of clerks
Show answer & explanation
By a mistake of destiny, into a household of clerks
It is how she sees herself, and the story adopts her view to begin with.
Why could Matilda not marry a rich or distinguished man?
Intermediate
A Her parents had already arranged another marriage
B She had refused several offers when she was younger
C She had been educated only at a convent school
D She had no dowry, no expectations and no way of being introduced to one
Show answer & explanation
She had no dowry, no expectations and no way of being introduced to one
So she allowed herself to marry a petty clerk instead.
What was M. Loisel's employment?
Beginner
A A junior officer in the Ministry of Finance
B A shopkeeper in the Palais-Royal
C A petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education
D A schoolmaster in a convent school
Show answer & explanation
A petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education
Which is why an invitation from the Minister was such an achievement.
Which sentence sums up Matilda's character at the start?
Intermediate
A She was simple, but she was unhappy
B She was proud, and she was cruel
C She was poor, and she was patient
D She was clever, but she was idle
Show answer & explanation
She was simple, but she was unhappy
There is nothing vicious in her, and nothing contented either.
🃏 Flashcards
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60 flashcards in this kit — the app reviews them with spaced repetition so the right card returns on the right day.
🎮 Learning games
Play your way through this kit
Every game is built from this kit's own content — scores feed your mastery, so playing counts as studying.
Word Match
True False
Fill Blank
Word Scramble
Playable in the app
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The full Veda Bites deck, complete notes, spaced-repetition flashcards, leveled MCQs, tests and games for this kit — plus Daily Facts and the Arena, every day.