The Gift of the Magi

Summary and discussion

 Summary of the story

The story begins with Della thinking about the tiny amount of money she has
saved to buy her husband Jim a Christmas present.
After looking at her long hair in the mirror, she realizes how she can get some
money; she immediately goes to a shop and sells her hair.
She finds the perfect gift for Jim, a platinum watch chain for his pocket watch.
She is worried that Jim won’t like her new hairstyle and spends a lot of time
trying to style her short hair. When Jim comes home, he just stares at her and
doesn’t say a word.
 Summary of the story

Jim tells her that she is beautiful regardless of her hairstyle, but he was shocked for a
different reason.
He shows her the Christmas gift he bought for her – The Combs that she had wanted for a
long time.
Della shows Jim her gift and he says to forget about the gifts because like her, he sold his
most valued possession, too.
What does this mean?
“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.”
Let’s take a few minutes to check our
answers to the MCQs
How do you plan to answer the second part?
What are the three kinds of irony and which of the three can
you identify* in this story?

*literary analysis requires EVIDENCE to support an opinion, even if it

seems like something obvious