Answer:
The statement that best explains how Madame Loisel changes over time is:
<u>A. She is a beautiful, young woman who becomes a haggard old woman.</u>
Explanation:
At the beginning of the story "The Diamond Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel is described as "one of those pretty and charming young creatures who sometimes are born, as if by a slip of fate, into a family of clerks." She is young, beautiful, has good taste for clothes and furniture, and is utterly discontented with her life. Her youth and beauty are not enough. She wishes she were rich.
As the story progresses, Madame Loisel borrows a necklace from a friend. She wears it to a party, to which she had initially refused to go because she believed she had nothing fancy enough to wear. Back from the party, she realizes she has lost the necklace. Thinking it is made of real diamonds, and too proud to tell her friend about it, Madame Loisel buys another one to replace it.
She and her husband have to work way too hard to pay for the debt of buying such an expensive piece of jewelry. The hard work takes its toll on her, making her "heavy, rough, harsh, like one of the poor. Her hair untended, her skirts askew, her hands red, her voice shrill...." She goes from young and beautiful to haggard. In the end, when she finally tells her friend about it, Madame Loisel is told that the necklace was fake. All that time, she had been paying for her own pride.
