The Gift of the Magi

E725545

The Gift of the Magi is a classic short story about a young couple who sacrifice their most prized possessions to buy each other Christmas gifts, illustrating the themes of love, selflessness, and irony.

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Label Occurrences
The Gift of the Magi canonical 1

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf literary work
short story
author O. Henry NERFINISHED
authorRealName William Sydney Porter NERFINISHED
collectionPublicationYear 1906
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
firstPublicationDate 1905-12-10
firstPublicationYear 1905
firstPublishedIn The New York Sunday World NERFINISHED
genre Christmas story
realist fiction
short story
hasAdaptation film adaptations
opera adaptations
radio adaptations
stage adaptations
television adaptations
intendedAudience general readership
isFrequentlyAnthologized yes
isTaughtIn college literature courses
high school literature courses
laterPublishedIn The Four Million NERFINISHED
literaryMovement American realism NERFINISHED
mainCharacter Della Young NERFINISHED
Jim Young NERFINISHED
moral true wealth lies in love and selfless giving
narrativeDevice situational irony
narrativePerspective third-person limited
notableFeature concise urban setting description
twist ending
use of sentimental tone
originalLanguage English
plotElement Della sells her hair to buy a chain for Jim’s watch
Jim sells his watch to buy combs for Della’s hair
protagonist Della Young NERFINISHED
Jim Young NERFINISHED
settingPlace New York City NERFINISHED
settingTime early 20th century
symbol Christmas gifts
hair
watch
theme gift-giving
irony
love
poverty
sacrifice
selflessness
titleAllusion Biblical Magi NERFINISHED

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Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

O. Henry notableWork The Gift of the Magi