Name: Dini Laetitia

NIM: 1209619002

Class: 19SA

Literary Criticism Midterm

Analysis of Irony in Literature in Short Story “Gift of The Magi” by O’ Henry

Irony is a literary element wherein the seemingly conflicting statements or events

show a reality that is not what it appears to be. In literature, there are many different kinds of
irony. The reader's expectations and knowledge of the gap between what "should" happen
and what "really" happens in a literary work are critical to irony's usefulness as a literary
device. An unexpected outcome of an event, a character's unexpected action, or anything
discordant uttered can all be examples of this.

The word "irony" is derived from the Greek figure Eiron, who's an underdog who
used his cunning to defeat a more powerful opponent. This feature gave rise to the Greek
word eironea, which meant "dissimulation" or "purposefully induced ignorance." Ironia was
the Latin name for the word, and it became popular as a figure of speech in English in the
16th century.

Irony could be viewed in two ways: broadly and narrowly. In a narrow sense, irony is
used to express a negative opinion of something by using a word with a positive connotative
meaning. In a broad sense, irony is considered ironic when the speaker's positive or neutral
attitude toward a topic reflects his negative opinion of it. Many words and phrases also have
distinct ironic connotative sense that they maintain in all situations. To make his writing
special and different, O. Henry used irony in his works.

Irony can take many forms as a literary device, but the three most common are verbal,
dramatic, and situational irony. The difference between what is literally spoken and what is
actually meant is established by verbal irony. The status of the action or what is happening as
far as the reader or viewer is aware is the polar opposite of what the players or characters
believe it to be in dramatic irony. Situational irony describes events that turn out to be the
polar opposite of what was expected or thought to be suitable.
 When a speaker says one thing but means another, or when a literal meaning
contradicts the intended effect, this is referred to as verbal irony. Dramatic irony is an
inequity of expression and awareness: when the speaker or character's words and actions
contain expressiveness that the listener or audience recognizes but the speaker or character
does not. When the outcome of an activity is the polar opposite of the anticipated or expected
consequence, this is known as situational irony.

Irony, both verbal and situational, is essentially a defiance of the reader's assumptions
and conventional knowledge. When it comes to verbal irony, the reader may anticipate one
thing from a character's word or answer, only to be disappointed. When it comes to
situational irony, the reader may predict one thing about an occurrence, but it turns out to be
quite another.

Dramatic irony, on the other hand, is more of a vicariously violated expectation or

knowledge. In other ways, the reader/audience is aware of information or conditions that the
characters are unaware of. As a result, the reader is kept guessing until the situation or
information is presented to the characters. A reader, for example, may be aware of a
superhero's true identity, although other characters may not. Dramatic irony gives the reader
the advantage of knowing or understanding something that the main character or characters
do not.

One of O. Henry's most renowned stories is "The Gift of the Magi." It was first
published in 1906 in The Four Million, his first collection of short stories, and has since been
anthologized numerous times. Many of the traits that made O. Henry famous are present in
this story, including poor, working-class characters, a comic tone, realistic realism, and a
surprising finale. Its reinforcement of selfless love is cited as one of the main reasons for its
enduring appeal. Such love, the story and its title suggest, is akin to the gifts presented to
Jesus by the wise men, known as magi, who brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The main characters of "The Gift of the Magi," Della and Jim Young, are a young
married couple with little to no wealth. Jim's wages has been cut by a third, and the two of
them are forced to live on a shoestring budget. Della counts the money she has meticulously
saved for months on the day before Christmas. She's shocked to discover she just has less
than two bucks, barely enough to buy anything. Della resolves to find a way to provide Jim
the present he deserves after a long weep. She gets an idea while looking in the mirror. Jim
and Della have two things that they are both very proud of. Jim's gold watch, which he
inherited from his grandfather, is one of them. Della's hair, which is lustrous, shiny, and falls
past her legs, is the other. Della rushes out of the apartment and to a wigmaker, Mme.
Sofronie, where she sells her hair for $20. Della goes shopping with the money in her hand,
hoping to find something suitable for Jim. She finally discovers it: a platinum watch chain.
Della returns home and seeks to repair her cut hair. She prepares dinner in a frying pan and
stands impatiently by the front door, waiting for Jim. He doesn't say anything when he walks
in and sees Della's hair. None of the emotions Della expected to see on his face: anger,
astonishment, disapproval, or horror. Instead, he just stands there and stares. Della
approaches him and tells him she sold her hair to pay for his present. Jim is having trouble
understanding, until he suddenly breaks out of his stupor. Della's Christmas present is taken
from his pocket. She opens it and discovers a set of combs for her hair that she had long
admired in a store window. She now sees why Jim was taken aback. Jim accepts Della's gift,
but he does not take out his watch to attach it to the chain because he sold his watch to
purchase Della's combs. The narrator recounts that the wise men, sometimes known as magi,
delivered presents to the baby Jesus and thus started the Christmas gift-giving tradition.
These wise men, without a doubt, bestowed wise gifts. The narrator claims that Della and Jim
have made a mistake by sacrificing their most valuable possessions. "They are the magi,"
they say, because they contributed from the heart.

Irony occurs in a story when something unexpected happens, like in O. Henry's "The
Gift of the Magi." According to the Author's Craft website, authors use irony to add a sense
of comedy to their works, to stress a story's moral, or to have the audience consider the
underlying meaning of what a character said. In his short story, Henry uses irony to teach the
reader about sacrifice and love. In this story, the author used sarcasm to encourage the reader
to reflect about love, sacrifice, and what is truly valuable. Simple human love, which the
author elevates to the level of Magi wisdom, is a priceless gift that no amount of money can
buy. With a smile, O. Henry applauds their heroes' acts. The author employed the stylistic
device irony to generate an aesthetic function and an expression of emotional tension in this
case.

The irony is demonstrated by the author when Della cuts her most valuable asset, her
hair, in order to purchase a platinum chain for her husband's watch. Simultaneously, Jim sells
his watch to purchase a tortoise-shell comb for Della's hair. When they met, they were taken
aback and decided to put the gifts on hold for a bit. When Henry described Della's
appearance, he used the word "wonderfully" to convey a verbal irony in his heroine's comic
facade. “Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her
look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy”. The irony was directed at Della's haste with which
she hurried out to sell her hair. “It was not anger, not surprise, not disapproval, not horror, not
any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for.” While pointing out Jim's stressful
condition after revealing Della's Christmas present, the writer skillfully managed to express
situational irony using parallel constructions with the particle "not," the writer skillfully
managed to express situational irony using parallel constructions with the particle "not." "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." In this novella, the author used irony to compel the reader to reflect
on love, sacrifice, and what truly matters. Ordinary human love, as demonstrated by O.
Henry's major characters' acts, is elevated to the level of Magi knowledge. It is a true blessing
that can be purchased for any amount of money. Using humour, O. Henry applauds the
protagonists' efforts. The author employed irony to produce a nuanced depiction of emotional
tension in this example.

After disclosing that the Dillingham Youngs only had $1.87 for gifts, Henry uses
verbal irony in "The Gift of the Magi," saying, "There was clearly nothing to do but flop
down on the shabby little couch and howl." Della was the one who pulled it off. This prompts
the moral observation that "life is made up of weeping, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles
taking precedence." This text is ironic since it depicts Della feeling sorry for herself and her
financial situation, despite the fact that not having enough money for a gift isn't all that awful.
"She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages
made by generosity added to love," Henry writes after Della sells her hair to buy Jim's
present. Which is always a huge job, dear friends — a massive job." When Henry states that
acts of altruistic love have difficult consequences and that shorter hair is difficult to style, he
is being sarcastic.

Della forgets her hair isn't long enough to wear the tortoise shell combs she received
from Jim in the "Gift of the Magi." If a reader guesses Jim sold his watch to buy the coveted
combs ahead of time, dramatic irony may result.

When Jim gets home from work and discovers Della's short hair, he experiences
situational irony. He didn't expect Della to sell her hair, based on the fact that he bought hair
combs for her. Della's predicament is additionally ironic because she had hoped to get a pair
of tortoise shell combs as a gift, but she didn't expect them. Another instance of situational
irony occurs when Jim receives the fob that Della gave him for his watch, despite the fact that
Della was unaware that he had sold it. When Jim says to Della at the end of the story, Henry
throws in a surprise. “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." Instead of being outraged about the gifts they won't be able to
utilize, as a reader might imagine, Jim is content to go on and enjoy dinner. The sacrifices
Jim and Della made for each other were more significant than the gifts themselves, according
to Henry in the final paragraph of the story.

In short, O' Henry is most renowned for his surprise endings, and by making his
novels convincing, he has grasped the key to a surprise conclusion early. One of the reasons
readers like and enjoyed his novels was because the endings were unpredictable. His stories
were based on everyday people and events, which made them believable and plausible. In
other words, whether the story contains an element of sacrifice, coincidence, or irony, you
may take the ending as a mark of a fine writer and know that O' Henry has duped you once
more. In addition, the story has three types of irony: verbal irony, situational irony, and
dramatic irony. Within the confines of a short story The author effectively depicts the story
through the use of irony in an appealing manner. The story's conclusion is also a fantastic
example of situational irony, in which the protagonist is confronted with a situation that is the
polar opposite of what they expected. The narrator of "The Gift of the Magi" repeatedly
interrupts the story with sardonic comments. To develop the story's theme, O. Henry used
ironic language. Ironic remarks frequently contain the explicit presentation of one attitude or
evaluation, and they imply that the speaker wants a totally different and unexpected situation
in the overall speech-situations.
References
Myo Lwin. (2020) A Study of the Use of Irony Highlighted by Fictional Elements in the
Short Story “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry Myo Lwin(Eng).pdf

Dr. V. Parvathi (2020) Irony and Coincidence in the Selected Stories of O’ Henry SSRN-
id3630145.pdf

Mavlonova U.Kh.1 , Makhmurova M.Kh.2. (2020) ANALYSIS OF SITUATIONAL IRONY

IN LITERATURE analysis-of-situational-irony-in-literature.pdf

Hafiz Ahmad Bilal (2012) DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
(Smith’s Discourse Modes) 2012(2.1-67).pdf

O’ Henry (1906) Short Stories For Students, The Gift of The Magi
The_Gift_of_the_Magi_Analysis.pdf

Xenia ARHIPOVSCAIA. THE STYLISTIC FEATURES OF IRONY IN THE ENGLISH

LITERARY WORKS https://ibn.idsi.md/sites/default/files/imag_file/5-8_30.pdf

Sushma, B. (2019) Interpretation of O. Henry's Short Story, 'The Gift of the Magi' Using
Linguistic Approach. https://web.s.ebscohost.com/abstract?
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