"The Gift of the Magi Summary", it is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money.
As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its twist ending are well known; the ending is generally considered an example of cosmic irony. The story was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern on Irving Place in New York City.
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| Summary of The Gift of the Magi |
The Gift of the Magi Summary
The story begins the day before Christmas with a young woman named Della sitting at home counting her savings. The home she lives in with her husband, Jim, is a cheap, furnished rental apartment. When they first moved in Jim was earning more money, but the couple has fallen on hard times and now live in poverty. Della has been putting money aside after buying groceries for many months. She is sad and anxious because despite her efforts, she has not saved enough money. She had been hoping to buy Jim something special for Christmas with her savings. Della begins to cry on her couch as she realizes she does not have enough money to buy Jim a Christmas present.
After she stops crying, Della cleans up her face and looks out the window lost in thought. She suddenly catches a glimpse of herself in the dingy mirror on the wall and gets an idea. She lets down her long brown hair and looks at it for a little while. Della’s hair, notable for its beauty, is her prized possession. She puts on her old coat and hat and visits a shop that buys and sells hair. The shopkeeper, Madame Sofronie, agrees to cut and buy Della’s hair. Della spends the rest of the day going around the city looking for the perfect gift for Jim. His prized possession is a gold pocket watch that has been passed down through his family. She wants to buy him a nice chain to go with it, something special and rare. Eventually, she finds the perfect platinum chain. It costs all the money she got from selling her hair, plus most of her savings. Della goes home feeling very excited to give Jim his present.
When Della gets home, she tries to style her new haircut as best she can. She worries that Jim will be angry and will no longer think she is pretty. When Jim sees Della has cut her hair, he gets a strange look on his face. Not knowing what it means, Della goes to him and quickly explains that she sold her hair to buy him a Christmas present. In response, Jim hugs her and tells her he loves her no matter what her hair looks like. He then gives her a Christmas present: a set of jeweled tortoiseshell combs she’d once admired in a shop window. Della loves the present, but she bursts into tears when she realizes she is unable to use Jim’s thoughtful gift. As Jim comforts her, she reassures him her hair will grow back quickly. She then excitedly gives him the platinum watch chain. Jim laughs and reveals he sold his prized watch to pay for the combs. The narrator concludes the story by praising the couple for their selfless gifts of love, calling them even wiser than the three wise magi who brought gifts to the baby Jesus on the first Christmas Eve.
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The Gift of the Magi Themes
Love and Sacrifice: The central theme revolves around Della and Jim's deep love for each other, leading them to make significant sacrifices for the perfect Christmas gift. They willingly part with their most treasured possessions – Della's beautiful hair and Jim's heirloom watch – showcasing the lengths they'd go to for each other's happiness.
Value vs. Materialism: Despite their poverty, Della and Jim recognize the true value lies not in material possessions, but in their love and commitment. The irony of their sacrifices – selling prized possessions to buy gifts that render them useless – underlines this theme. Their story challenges the societal emphasis on material wealth and emphasizes the importance of love and appreciation over possessions.
Foolishness and Wisdom: O. Henry cleverly plays with paradox, portraying Della and Jim as both foolish and wise. Their actions of selling their valuables for impractical gifts might seem silly, yet their intentions come from love and selflessness. This showcases the duality of human nature and the beauty of seemingly nonsensical actions driven by strong emotions.
Irony and Epiphany: The story is filled with situational irony, as Della and Jim's sacrifices ultimately render their gifts useless. However, this leads to a poignant epiphany – they realize the true value of their gifts lay in the act of sacrifice itself, proving their love is priceless despite their limitations.
Beauty and Poverty: The story subtly contrasts the external poverty of Della and Jim's surroundings with the inner beauty of their love and selflessness. This juxtaposition emphasizes that true beauty resides in one's character and intentions, not in material possessions.
The Spirit of Giving: While poverty prevents Della and Jim from affording elaborate gifts, their story embodies the true spirit of Christmas – the selfless desire to bring joy to others. Their sacrifices showcase the importance of love and thoughtfulness over expensive or extravagant gestures.
Questions about The Gift of the Magi Plot
What is the short summary of the story The Gift of the Magi? "The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry that tells the tale of a young husband and wife who long to give each other meaningful Christmas presents. The couple is constrained by their meagre budget, so each gives up something they treasure in order to afford a gift for the other.
What is the main point of The Gift of the Magi? The main idea or central theme of the story is that true love is more important than money or possessions. This is shown through both Jim and Della's sacrifices for the other. Jim sells his prized watch in order to buy Della a set of combs for her hair.
What does The Gift of the Magi teach us about love? The irony of the literature is they both sell the treasure the other one bought a gift for. What they don't realize is they've given each other a greater gift — their sacrificial love. The lesson they ultimately learn is that their love for each other is worth more than all of the material possessions money can buy.
What magi means? Magi, singular Magus, also called Wise Men, in Christian tradition, the noble pilgrims “from the East” who followed a miraculous guiding star to Bethlehem, where they paid homage to the infant Jesus as king of the Jews (Matthew 2:1–12).
What is ironic in the Gift of Magi? The situational irony in this story comes from the story's climax, in which we discover that Jim has sold his pocket watch in order to buy hair combs for Della, but Della has sold her long hair to buy a watch chain for Jim. It is ironic that each person's sacrifice has rendered the other person's sacrifice pointless.
Who are the characters in The Gift of the Magi? There are three characters in the story "The Gift of the Magi": Della Dillingham Young, her husband Jim, and Madame Sofronie. Della and Jim are a young married couple who want to give each other special Christmas gifts.
Why is love is the theme of the gift of Magi? "Gift of the Magi" is the story of a poor, young couple whose love for each other is the most important thing in their lives. Such is their love that they're led to sacrifice their most valuable possessions to find Christmas gifts for each other.