Della in The Gift of the Magi Character Analysis Della: One Devoted Woman Della is the loving, warm, selfless, and occasionally hysterical heroine of the story. Della's financially poor. She spends all of her days in a cramped flat, as "mistress of the home" (3). In other words, she's a homemaker. Della basically lives for one thing (or rather, person): Jim, her husband. She's spent a lot of the time leading up to Christmas just thinking of what to get him: She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. (5) As you might gather from that, Della throws just about every bit of energy she has into being good to Jim. She's been saving for months just to round up money for a Christmas present. She has even endured the humiliation of pinching pennies at stores.

He may not be bringing in much money, but Jim is the cat's pajamas for Della. He deserves the absolute best, which is why she's so set on getting him the perfect present: "Something fine and rare and sterling – something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim" (6). Della is willing to go to any length to achieve this goal, and ends up selling her one prized possession – her hair – to do it. Although she sheds a tear or two over the hair, really it doesn't seem to affect her that much. She doesn't even think it's much of a choice. She has to get Jim a present: "I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again – you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it" (28). In fact, the thing that seems to bother Della most about losing her hair is that Jim likes it so much. She's worried he won't find her pretty anymore (though she doesn't really have anything to worry about). She barely seems to think of herself at all. That's devotion.

Is Della Too Devoted? Della's so devoted, in fact, you might be a little bit bothered. It might be difficult to define Della apart from Jim: she lives for her husband. But it looks like her husband might live only for her too. After all, he sacrifices his watch – which is a precious object that's been passed down through his family for generations (and won't grow back) – to get her a gift. And given how humble their circumstances are, and how hard his work must be, it's not clear what else he would have to live for besides Della. So is Jim just as devoted to Della as Della is to Jim? It's likely that he is. If that's the case, though Della and Jim definitely play different roles, they're in a relationship of equality, and equal devotion. That makes Della's own devotion less strange, and kind of wonderful – like it's supposed to be. Della and Jim's utter devotion to each other is the whole point of the story, after all. It's because of this devotion that both sacrifice their only prized possessions to get gifts for each other.

That selflessness is what makes them wise givers – magi – and what teaches us the lesson about the meaning of giving that the narrator wants to get across. Still, it's true that we don't actually ever get to go inside Jim's head and see whether he loves her as much as she loves him. So if you want to be skeptical of the narrator's heartwarming ending and be cynical about Della, we suppose you can. Della's Hysteria But you might still find one more complaint to make about Della. She might seem unrealistically emotional. The very first thing we see her do is collapse into a sobbing fit on the couch. And once she gets Jim's present, she shrieks in ecstasy only to burst into tears almost immediately afterwards: And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat. (37) Not only that, throughout the story Della just seems on edge, as if she were continuously overexcited. Do you ever notice how Della never just walks or turns, she "suddenly whirls"?

As in "suddenly she whirled from the window" (8) or "with a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door" (11). Then there's the time when she "leap[s] up like a little singed cat and crie[s] 'Oh, oh!'" just because she wants Jim to have his present so badly (40). Yes, Della's a little on the excitable side, to say the least. You might find it particularly irritating that the narrator seems to think that's part of what it means to be "feminine" (let's remember that O. Henry wrote this story in 1906). Still, in our opinion, Della's excitement is more something to make you chuckle. It makes her more lovable. Della's just head over heels in love. That inflates the importance of just about everything, and makes it rather easy to swing from the heights of happiness to the depths of despair in a matter of seconds. Can't we all relate to that a bit?

(As for Della's sudden eruption of wails over Jim's present, our opinion is that there's a reason for that too: it's only at that moment that it really hits her that her hair is actually gone.) The Gift of the Magi THE GIFT OF THE MAGI by O. Henry One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas. There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating. While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week.

It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad. In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name "Mr. James Dillingham Young." The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good. Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present.

She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim. There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 flat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art. Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length. Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's.

The other was Della's hair. Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy. So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet. On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street. Where she stopped the sign read: "Mne. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds." One flight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting.

Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked the "Sofronie." "Will you buy my hair?" asked Della. "I buy hair," said Madame. "Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it." Down rippled the brown cascade. "Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand. "Give it to me quick," said Della. Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present. She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation--as all good things should do. It was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value--the description applied to both.

Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain. When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends--a mammoth task. Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy. She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically. "If Jim doesn't kill me," she said to herself, "before he takes a second look at me, he'll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do--oh!

what could I do with a dollar and eighty- seven cents?" At 7 o'clock the coffee was made and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops. Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit for saying little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: "Please God, make him think I am still pretty." The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves. Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for.

He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face. Della wriggled off the table and went for him. "Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again--you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say `Merry Christmas!' Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice-- what a beautiful, nice gift I've got for you." "You've cut off your hair?" asked Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent fact yet even after the hardest mental labor. "Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm me without my hair, ain't I?" Jim looked about the room curiously. "You say your hair is gone?" he said, with an air almost of idiocy. "You needn't look for it," said Della. "It's sold, I tell you--sold and gone, too. It's Christmas Eve, boy.

Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?" Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year--what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on. Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table. "Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first." White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas!

a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat. For there lay The Combs--the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims--just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone. But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: "My hair grows so fast, Jim!" And them Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, "Oh, oh!" Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit. "Isn't it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it.

You'll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it." Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled. "Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on." The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest.

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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07.02.92*END* Short Story: 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry Short Story: 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry December 23, 2010 Or download MP3 (Right-click or option-click and save link) SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Now, the VOA Special English program AMERICAN STORIES. (MUSIC) We present a special Christmas story called "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. Here is Shep O'Neal with the story. SHEP O'NEAL: One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it in the smallest pieces of money - pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by negotiating with the men at the market who sold vegetables and meat. Negotiating until one's face burned with the silent knowledge of being poor. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas. There was clearly nothing to do but sit down and cry. So Della cried.

Which led to the thought that life is made up of little cries and smiles, with more little cries than smiles. Della finished her crying and dried her face. She stood by the window and looked out unhappily at a gray cat walking along a gray fence in a gray back yard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only one dollar and eighty-seven cents to buy her husband Jim a gift. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Jim earned twenty dollars a week, which does not go far. Expenses had been greater than she had expected. They always are. Many a happy hour she had spent planning to buy something nice for him. Something fine and rare -- something close to being worthy of the honor of belonging to Jim. There was a tall glass mirror between the windows of the room. Suddenly Della turned from the window and stood before the glass mirror and looked at herself. Her eyes were shining, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Quickly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length. Now, Mister and Missus James Dillingham Young had two possessions which they valued.

One was Jim's gold time piece, the watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the Queen of Sheba lived in their building, Della would have let her hair hang out the window to dry just to reduce the value of the queen's jewels. So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her, shining like a brown waterfall. It reached below her knees and made itself almost like a covering for her. And then quickly she put it up again. She stood still while a few tears fell on the floor. She put on her coat and her old brown hat. With a quick motion and brightness still in her eyes, she danced out the door and down the street. Where she stopped the sign read: "Madame Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds." Della ran up the steps to the shop, out of breath. "Will you buy my hair?" asked Della. "I buy hair," said Madame. "Take your hat off and let us have a look at it." Down came the beautiful brown waterfall of hair. "Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the hair with an experienced hand. "Give it to me quick," said Della.

(MUSIC) The next two hours went by as if they had wings. Della looked in all the stores to choose a gift for Jim. She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. It was a chain -- simple round rings of silver. It was perfect for Jim's gold watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be for him. It was like him. Quiet and with great value. She gave the shopkeeper twenty-one dollars and she hurried home with the eighty-seven cents that was left. When Della arrived home she began to repair what was left of her hair. The hair had been ruined by her love and her desire to give a special gift. Repairing the damage was a very big job. Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny round curls of hair that made her look wonderfully like a schoolboy. She looked at herself in the glass mirror long and carefully. "If Jim does not kill me before he takes a second look at me," she said to herself, "he'll say I look like a song girl. But what could I do--oh!

what could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?" At seven o'clock that night the coffee was made and the pan on the back of the stove was hot and ready to cook the meat. Jim was never late coming home from work. Della held the silver chain in her hand and sat near the door. Then she heard his step and she turned white for just a minute. She had a way of saying a little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: "Please God, make him think I am still pretty." (MUSIC) The door opened and Jim stepped in. He looked thin and very serious. Poor man, he was only twenty-two and he had to care for a wife. He needed a new coat and gloves to keep his hands warm. Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a dog smelling a bird. His eyes were fixed upon Della. There was an expression in them that she could not read, and it frightened her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor fear, nor any of the feelings that she had been prepared for. He simply looked at her with a strange expression on his face. Della went to him.

"Jim, my love," she cried, "do not look at me that way. I had my hair cut and sold because I could not have lived through Christmas without giving you a gift. My hair will grow out again. I just had to do it. My hair grows very fast. Say 'Merry Christmas!' Jim, and let us be happy. You do not know what a nice-- what a beautiful, nice gift I have for you." "You have cut off your hair?" asked Jim, slowly, as if he had not accepted the information even after his mind worked very hard. "Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Do you not like me just as well? I am the same person without my hair, right? Jim looked about the room as if he were looking for something. "You say your hair is gone?" he asked. "You need not look for it," said Della. "It is sold, I tell you--sold and gone, too. It is Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it was cut for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you.

Shall I put the meat on, Jim?" Jim seemed to awaken quickly and put his arms around Della. Then he took a package from his coat and threw it on the table. "Do not make any mistake about me, Dell," he said. "I do not think there is any haircut that could make me like my girl any less. But if you will open that package you may see why you had me frightened at first." White fingers quickly tore at the string and paper. There was a scream of joy; and then, alas! a change to tears and cries, requiring the man of the house to use all his skill to calm his wife. For there were the combs -- the special set of objects to hold her hair that Della had wanted ever since she saw them in a shop window. Beautiful combs, made of shells, with jewels at the edge --just the color to wear in the beautiful hair that was no longer hers. They cost a lot of money, she knew, and her heart had wanted them without ever hoping to have them. And now, the beautiful combs were hers, but the hair that should have touched them was gone.

But she held the combs to herself, and soon she was able to look up with a smile and say, "My hair grows so fast, Jim!" Then Della jumped up like a little burned cat and cried, "Oh, oh!" Jim had not yet seen his beautiful gift. She happily held it out to him in her open hands. The silver chain seemed so bright. "Isn't it wonderful, Jim? I looked all over town to find it. You will have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it." Instead of obeying, Jim fell on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled. "Dell," said he, "let us put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while. They are too nice to use just right now. I sold my gold watch to get the money to buy the set of combs for your hair. And now, why not put the meat on." (MUSIC) The magi were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Baby Jesus. They invented the art of giving Christmas gifts. Being wise, their gifts were wise ones.

And here I have told you the story of two young people who most unwisely gave for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days, let it be said that of all who give gifts, these two were the wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi. (MUSIC) SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: You have heard the American story "The Gift of the Magi." This story was written by O. Henry and adapted into Special English by Karen Leggett. Your storyteller was Shep O'Neal. The producer was Lawan Davis. I'm Shirley Griffith. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry: Summary, Theme & Analysis - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry: Summary, Theme & Analysis Watch short & fun videos Start Your Free Trial Today An error occurred trying to load this video. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. You must create an account to continue watching Register for a free trial Are you a student or a teacher?

I am a student Start Your Free Trial To Continue Watching As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you succeed. Coming up next: Desdemona from Othello: Character Analysis & Overview You're on a roll. Keep up the good work! Your next lesson will play in 10 seconds 0:15 Plot Summary 2:40 Analysis: Theme and Moral 6:20 Lesson Summary Add to Add to Add to Want to watch this again later? Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course. Custom Courses are courses that you create from Study.com lessons. Use them just like other courses to track progress, access quizzes and exams, and share content. Teachers Organize and share selected lessons with your class. Make planning easier by creating your own custom course. Students Create a new course from any lesson page or your dashboard. From any lesson page: Click "Add to" located below the video player and follow the prompts to name your course and save your lesson. From your dashboard: Click on the "Custom Courses" tab, then click "Create course".

Next, go to any lesson page and begin adding lessons. Edit your Custom Course directly from your dashboard. Personalize: Name your Custom Course and add an optional description or learning objective. Organize: Create chapters to group lesson within your course. Remove and reorder chapters and lessons at any time. Share your Custom Course or assign lessons and chapters. Teacher Edition: Share or assign lessons and chapters by clicking the "Teacher" tab on the lesson or chapter page you want to assign. Students' quiz scores and video views will be trackable in your "Teacher" tab. Premium Edition: You can share your Custom Course by copying and pasting the course URL. Only Study.com members will be able to access the entire course. Create an account to start this course today Try it free for 5 days! Lesson Transcript Instructor: Francesca Marinaro Francesca M. Marinaro has a PhD in English from the University of Florida and has been teaching English composition and Literature since 2007. This lesson covers O. Henry's famous short story, ''The Gift of the Magi''. We'll cover the story's plot, analyze some of its major themes, and finish with a brief quiz.

Plot Summary The Gift of the Magi is a well-known short story by American short story writer O. Henry, the pen name of William Sydney Porter. The story first appeared in The New York Sunday World on December 10, 1905 and was later published in O. Henry's collection The Four Million on April 10, 1906. The story tells of a young married couple, James, known as Jim, and Della Dillingham. The couple has very little money and lives in a modest apartment. Between them, they have only two possessions that they consider their treasures: Jim's gold pocket watch that belonged to his father and his grandfather, and Della's lustrous, long hair that falls almost to her knees. It's Christmas Eve, and Della finds herself running out of time to buy Jim a Christmas present. After paying all of the bills, all Della has left is $1.87 to put toward Jim's Christmas present. Desperate to find him the perfect gift, out she goes into the cold December day, looking in shop windows for something she can afford. She wants to buy Jim a chain for his pocket watch, but they're all out of her price range.

Rushing home, Della pulls down her beautiful hair and stands in front of the mirror, admiring it and thinking. After a sudden inspiration, she rushes out again and has her hair cut to sell. Della receives $20.00 for selling her hair, just enough to buy the platinum chain she saw in a shop window for $21.00. When Jim comes home from work, he stares at Della, trying to figure out what's different about her. She admits that she sold her hair to buy his present. Before she can give it to him, however, Jim casually pulls a package out of his overcoat pocket and hands it to her. Inside, Della finds a pair of costly decorative hair combs that she'd long admired, but are now completely useless since she's cut off her hair. Hiding her tears, she jumps up and holds out her gift for Jim: the watch chain. Jim shrugs, flops down onto the old sofa, puts his hands behind his head and tells Della flatly that he sold his watch to buy her combs.

The story ends with a comparison of Jim and Della's gifts to the gifts that the Magi, or three wise men, gave to Baby Jesus in the manger in the biblical story of Christmas. The narrator concludes that Jim and Della are far wiser than the Magi because their gifts are gifts of love, and those who give out of love and self-sacrifice are truly wise because they know the value of self-giving love. Theme and Moral The Gift of the Magi is a classic example of irony in literature. Irony is a literary technique in which an expectation of what is supposed to occur differs greatly from the actual outcome. In this case, Jim and Della sacrifice their most treasured possessions so that the other can fully enjoy his or her gift. Jim sells his watch to buy Della's combs, expecting her to be able to use them. Della sells her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch. Neither expects the other to have made that sacrifice. The irony here works both on a practical and on a deeper, more sentimental level. Both Della and Jim buy each other a gift that ultimately seems financially foolish. Being poor, they can't afford to waste money on things they can't use.

However, what they get is something they don't expect: a more intangible gift that reminds them how much they love each other and are willing to sacrifice to make each other happy. The story's setting at Christmas time makes it a popular story for the holiday season. Its major theme is the difference between wisdom and foolishness, or having or not having, a sense of judgment and understanding. Both Jim and Della behave impulsively, sacrificing their greatest treasures without thinking about the consequences and focusing instead on making one another happy. From an entirely practical perspective, this doesn't make much sense because they can't enjoy the gifts that are supposed to make them happy. Jim and Della are thinking about the present moment and the material possessions that give us pleasure. What they foolishly don't realize, however, is that 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. O.

Henry makes a somewhat humorous though a meaningful comparison between the Magi in the Bible and Jim and Della at the end of the story: The Magi, as you know, were wise men -- wonderfully wise men -- who brought gifts to the newborn babe in the manger. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat… who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days, let it be said that of all who give gifts, these two were the wisest. × Irony In The Gift Of The Magi Irony In The Gift Of The Magi What is the irony in "The Gift of the Magi"? Asked on troutmiller | High School Teacher | (Level 2) Educator Posted on March 3, 2009 at 3:51 AM The irony lies in the fact that she cut her hair so that she could afford to buy him a fob chain for his watch. She was willing to sacrifice something of worth to get him something nice.

When cutting her hair, she made his gift to her useless. He bought her hair combs to hold up all of her long hair. Now they are useless. The irony on top of that is that he sold his watch for money to purchase the expensive combs for her. This irony is the twist in the plot. It is then tied into the sotry of the wise men who brought such expensive yet meaningless gifts to show respect, loyalty and admiration to the baby Jesus. What could a baby do with gold? But it was the effort and the sacrifice that counted. Just as it is in this short story. They both sacrificed something very important to themselves to purchase something special for the other. That is true love. like 3 dislike 0 March 4, 2012 at 1:54 AM Irony is a literary device that occurs when the author uses elements of the story, like plot or character development, setting, or action to show contrast or the opposite of what the characters or the author may be feeling.

Here's an example-- In "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner," there is a line that says "Water, water every where, not any drop to drink." This is an example of irony, because the ship is in the middle of the ocean. Yes, the crew is surrounded by water, but they can not drink any of it. Ah, the irony! like 1 dislike 1 November 7, 2011 at 9:55 PM The main, general theme of this story by O'Henry is that giving is the greatest gift of all. Della gives up her most cherished possession, her beautiful hair, to get a gift for her husband, Jim. She buys him a fob for his favorite possession--a pocket watch. Jim sells his pocket watch to buy beautiful combs for Della to adorn her hair. Both gave up their most valued possession in order to give something to the one they loved. The story is classic O'Henry with well developed characters, a city setting for the impoverished pair of young marrieds, and an ironic twist to the end of the story. like 4 dislike 2 The Gift of the Magi Summary - eNotes.com The Gift of the Magi Summary O.

Henry The Gift of the Magi Summary In “The Gift of the Magi,” Della is determined to give her husband a Christmas gift. In order to afford the fob for her husband's watch, she sells her long, beautiful hair, only to learn that he has sold his beloved watch to buy her a set of combs. “The Gift of the Magi” summary key points: Della Young decides to sell her beautiful hair to buy a watch fob for her husband’s beloved watch. When Jim comes home, he is saddened and surprised to see Della’s beautiful hair missing. He offers her his gift: bejeweled combs that she no longer needs. Della offers her gift to Jim. He looks at her and admits that he has sold his watch to buy her the combs. The two are overcome with love as they realize they have sacrificed their most prized possessions for one another. Download Study Guide Start Free Trial Start your free trial with eNotes to access more than 30,000 study guides. Get help with any book. link Link Della Young is a devoted young married woman.

Christmas Eve finds her in possession of a meager one dollar and eighty-seven cents, the sum total of her savings, with which she wants to buy a gift for her husband, Jim. A recent cut in the family income, from an ample thirty dollars a week to a stingy twenty dollars a week, has turned Della’s frugality into parsimony. Although she lives in an eight-dollar-a-week flat and her general surroundings, even by the greatest stretch of the imagination, do not meet the standards of genteel poverty, Della determines that she cannot live through Christmas without giving Jim a tangible reminder of the season. Distraught, she clutches the one dollar and eighty-seven cents in her hand as she moves discontentedly about her tiny home. Suddenly, catching a glance of herself in the cheap pier glass mirror, a maneuver possible only for the slender and agile viewer, the perfect solution suggests itself. Whirling about with happiness, she lets down her long, beautiful hair. It is like brown sable and falls in caressing folds to below her knees.

After a moment’s self-admiration, and another half-moment’s reservation, during which time a tear streaks down her face, she resolutely puts on her old hat and jacket and leaves the flat. Della’s quick steps take her to the shop of Madame Sofronie, an establishment that trades in hair goods of all kinds. Entering quickly, lest her nerve desert her, she offers to sell her hair. Madame Sofronie surveys the luxuriant tresses, unceremoniously slices them off, and hands Della twenty dollars. For the next two hours, Della feels herself in paradise, temporarily luxuriating in the knowledge that she can buy anything she wants. She decides on a watch fob for Jim’s beautiful old watch. If there are two treasures in the world of which James and Della Dillingham Young are inordinately and justly proud, they are her hair (lately and gladly sacrificed) and Jim’s revered gold watch, handed down to him by his grandfather. She finally sees exactly what she wants, a platinum watch fob that costs twenty-one dollars. She excitedly anticipates Jim’s reaction when he sees a proper chain for his watch.

Until now, he has been using an old leather strap, which, despite the watch’s elegance, has forced him to look at the time surreptitiously. Arriving back at the flat, breathless but triumphant, Della remembers her newly bobbed appearance. She reaches for the curling irons and soon a mass of close-cropped curls adorns her shorn head. She stares at herself anxiously in the mirror, hoping that her husband will still love her. As is her usual custom, she prepares dinner for the always punctual Jim and sits down to await his arrival. The precious gift is tightly clutched in her hand. She mutters an imprecation to God so that Jim will think she is still pretty. At precisely seven o’clock, she hears Jim’s familiar step on the stairs, his key in the door. He is a careworn young man, only twenty-two and already burdened with many responsibilities. He opens the door, sees Della, and an indiscernible look, neither sorrow nor surprise, overtakes him. His face can only be described as bearing a mask of melancholy disbelief.

Even though Della rushes to assure him that her hair grows fast and that she will soon be back to normal, Jim cannot seem to be persuaded that her beautiful hair is really gone. Della implores him to understand that she simply could not have lived through Christmas without buying him a gift; she begs him, for her sake, as well as the season’s, to be happy. Jim, as if waking from a trance, embraces her and readily tells her that there is nothing a shampoo or haircut could do to Della that would alter his love for her. In the excitement he has forgotten to give her gift, and now he offers her a paper-wrapped package. Tearing at it eagerly, Della finds a set of combs, tortoise shell, bejewelled combs that she has so often admired in a shop on Broadway, combs whose color combines perfectly with her own vanished tresses. Her immense joy turns to tears but quickly returns when she remembers just how fast her hair grows. Jim has not yet seen his beautiful present. She holds it out to him, and the precious metal catches all the nuances of light in the room.

It is indeed a beautiful specimen of a watch chain, and Della insists on attaching it to Jim’s watch. Jim looks at her with infinite love and patience and suggests that they both put away their presents—for a while. Jim has sold his watch in order to buy the combs for Della even as she has sold her hair to buy the watch chain for Jim. Like the Magi, those wise men who invented the tradition of Christmas giving, both Della and Jim have unwisely sacrificed the greatest treasures of their house for each other. However, of all those who give gifts, these two are inevitably the wisest. link Link Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and Della is distraught. The meager savings she managed to put aside to purchase a gift for her beloved husband is a mere $1.87. It is simply not enough for a present worthy of her Jim. There were brighter days for this young, loving couple. Earlier, Jim managed to bring home thirty dollars a week. Now, with their income reduced to twenty dollars a week, there is nothing left after basic living expenses are met.

Della managed to save her $1.87 by doggedly bullying the grocer, the vegetable man, and the butcher into giving her better prices. Lean living, however, has not dimmed the couple’s devotion to one another. Jim returns home from his job punctually every evening to be greeted by Della’s loving embrace. Della simply cannot bear the thought of giving her husband a shabby gift or no gift at all. She collapses in tears of frustration, but then inspiration strikes. After taking a long look at herself in a mirror, Della is reminded that her assets extend beyond the pittance she is hoarding. She catches sight of her long, flowing hair, the one worldly possession she takes pride in, and realizes that there is a way to accomplish her goal. Della sheds a few tears for what will be her lost glory. Just as quickly, however, she represses her emotions, scoops up her old jacket and hat, and leaves the flat. Arriving at a shop whose sign reads Mme Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds, Della inquires what the proprietress would pay for her hair.

Coldly, Madame Sonofrie appraises Della’s tresses with an experienced eye and hand and offers twenty dollars. Without hesitation, Della submits to the shearing and walks out with money in hand. After two hours of joyful searching, Della finds the perfect gift for Jim. If Della has one possession that means the world to her, Jim has one, too, a beautiful gold watch that belonged to his father and his grandfather before him. Jim does not display the watch willingly, however, for it hangs on an old leather strap instead of a suitable gold chain. Jim will not have to be circumspect any longer about his watch; Della finds a platinum fob chain, simple in design and of exquisite quality, which will do justice to Jim’s treasure. Thrilled that she procured a gift worthy of her husband, Della hurries home to repair the damage the shearing did. After styling her short hair into curls that resemble those of a “truant schoolboy” or a “Coney Island chorus girl,” Della readies the dinner things and sits down near the door. As she waits expectantly, gift in hand, she prays that he will still find her pretty.

Punctual as always, Jim arrives. As he steps inside the door, he freezes, his eyes on Della. Della cannot read his reaction. It does not seem to be anger, disapproval, surprise, or anything she might expect. He simply stares. She runs up to him and pleads with him not to be upset; she sold her hair so that she could give him a present for Christmas. When Jim finally comes out of his stupor of disbelief, he takes Della into his arms. He admits that nothing could make him love her any less, but that if she will have a look at what he bought her for Christmas, she will understand his shock. He draws a package out of his overcoat pocket and hands it to her. Della quickly unwraps the parcel and lets out a shriek of joy that soon turns to tears, for Jim’s gift to her is a pair of combs, side and back, tortoise shell with jeweled rims, which she long admired in a shop window. She never dreamed that she would actually be able to have them. Once her tears subside, she reminds Jim, weakly, that her hair grows very fast.

She brightens when she recalls that Jim did not yet see his present. She holds the fob out to him expectantly, reminding him that now he can look at the time a hundred times a day. Upon seeing Della’s gift, Jim collapses on the couch and smiles at her. He suggests that they put their lovely Christmas gifts away for a while; he sold his watch to buy Della the combs. The Gift of the Magi - Research Paper / English The Gift of the Magi Research Paper The Gift of the Magi and over other 26,000+ free term papers, essays and research papers examples are available on the website! Autor: people • September 10, 2012 • Research Paper • 3,728 Words (15 Pages) • 724 Views Page 1 of 15 The Gift of the Magi Marlisa Allen English 125: Introduction to Literature Instructor Hamlin September 3, 2012 The Gift of the Magi "The Magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger.

They invented the art of giving Christmas presents." (Henry). In the works of literature, authors often use biblical terms to reveal the meaning of a short story. The Gift of the Magi is a popular short story by O. Henry that uses biblical allusions. By the use of this O. Henry ties in the many themes of this story. Sacrifice, poverty, and love are the many themes used throughout the story. The characters sacrifice their most valuable possessions for each others happiness. Poverty is emphasized all throughout the story repeatedly. The apartment and how the characters save every penny they have to use on each other are another theme in the story. The theme love in the story has the ultimate power and influence in the characters decisions. The author's use of many literary elements in this short story is used to reveal themes. The main antagonist of the story is the society. The society throughout the whole story is very flat and does not change at all. Near the beginning, Della gets her wage from 30 bucks a month cut down to 20 bucks a month which does not help her get a good gift for Jim.

Everything Della wanted to get was too expensive for her to afford and made her cut her own hair and sell it to buy Jim a nice gift for him. Without the society in play there would have been no major theme that it is originally. Society is always a static type of form because it never changes at all during the story. The proof of that is the money Della had at the beginning could not get her any gift she wanted to get for Jim at all. The main motivation that Della has is to have the best of everything. Della will not just settle for an average or cheap gift for Jim. Della needs to sacrifice her in in order to get Jim something nice. O. Henry shows the importance of Della's hair and how large of a sacrifice it was to cut it off by stating, "Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Young in which they both took mighty pride in. One was Jim's gold watch. The other was Della's hair." Della was so motivated to get Jim the perfect gift that she gave up her most prized possession. Relate ability is an important component when writing a short story.

If the story can relate to a wide variety of people, the amount of readers will increase. For the story, The Gift of the Magi, writer O.Henry did an excellent job of making this story apply to the majority of people in that time period. Critic Karen Charmaine Blansfield states, "There are a variety of reasons that readers like O.Henry. Perhaps one of the most important is that not all art is meant to appeal primarily to the intellect or intellectuals"(Blansfield). The protagonist or the main character of this short story is Della Young, the wife of James Dillingham Young. Della and Jim are a young married couple living in a cheap apartment. They are barely scraping by, and Della just found out that her check from work has been cut down from $30 dollars a week to $20. Christmas is tomorrow and Della needs to find a gift for Jim. Della would be considered a flat character. Throughout the whole story all she wants to do is find a Christmas present for Jim, and she is willing to go to any measures to find the perfect gift for him.

Not once does she act selfish or put herself first, all of her actions relate to Jim, and she puts him before herself. Della only has $1.87 saved up from a month of work to buy Jim a Christmas present. She wants to get him something nice and that he will love. She decides to sell her hair, which is past her knees, for $20 to buy Jim a chain for his pocket watch. These events impact the story because Della is sacrificing one of her prized possessions, her hair, for Jim's happiness. Della would be considered a static character, or a character that remains unchanged, for many reasons. One being her focus is Jim, and also she was crying because she only had not even $2 to spend, so she did something about it and sold her hair. The goals of Della are pretty simple. She needs to buy a Christmas gift for her husband. This motivates her because she loves Jim and she wants to do something special for him. This phase, it is the thought that counts, does not apply to Della she is determined to buy him something he will cherish. In the Gift of the Magi the setting plays a major role in describing the characters, Della and Jim.

The place and time where Della and Jim are placed fits perfectly into the story and helps emphasize their dilemma. Although, the setting is not clearly stated in the story, O. Henry gave away many clues to give the reader an idea of where the story takes place. Della and Jim live in a cheap, run-down apartment flat in New York City. While researching about O. Henry I found out that he placed a majority of his short story settings in New York City. One critic said, "O. Henry was a politic American short story writer who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City."(Overview). Since it was common for O. Henry to base his story in New York City, it made sense that that was where he would place Della and Jim. In the beginning of the story O. Henry states, "There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl." By saying the couch was shabby O. Henry gives off the clue that they do not have the best furniture. If Jim and Della had a nice apartment they would not have a beat up, broken-down couch in it. Also, while O.

Henry is describing their apartment he mentions how much it costs, "Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 flat." Eight dollars is not a lot of money, so obviously this apartment flat isn't anything fancy or even nice. Since O. Henry has described their apartment as beat up, cheap, and run-down it really put an impact on the story. The setting really captures how little money Jim and Della have. It makes their sacrifice for the perfect gift look even greater. The time that the Gift of the Magi took place was most likely in the late 1800's or the early 1900's. Most of O. Henry's works were based off of ordinary people he knew, so to have it the setting for this book placed in the late 1800's to the early 1900's would make sense. Also, O. Henry states in the story, "The 'Dillingham' had been flung to the breeze during a former ...

Question: In the O. Henry story “The Gift of the Magi”, what did Della sell to buy a chain for her husband’s prized pocket watch?
Answer: Her hair