ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -"The Gift of the Magi” 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.

Detailed explanation-2: -The story concerns James and Della Dillingham Young, a young couple who, despite their poverty, individually resolve to give each other an elegant gift on Christmas Eve. Della sells her beautiful long hair in order to buy a platinum fob chain for Jim’s antique gold watch.

Detailed explanation-3: -Genre. While The Gift of the Magi certainly falls in the fictional short story genre, it employs what could be called a sub-genre of “dramatic irony.” Dramatic irony is where the reader learns a secret that the main character(s) don’t know about yet.

Detailed explanation-4: -Answer and Explanation: In “The Gift of the Magi, ” the significance of the title lies in the allusion to the magi, or wise men, who traveled to find the infant Jesus and bring him gifts. At the end of the story, Henry discusses how the magi created the “art of giving Christmas presents” and alludes to their wisdom.

Detailed explanation-5: -’The Gift of the Magi’. This is surely O. Henry’s best-known story of all. Published in 1906, it’s about a husband and wife, Jim and Della, buying Christmas presents for each other, without much money to spend on them.