The Gift of the Magi Love Quotes
How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
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. (5)
Della and Jim's love creates a different kind of world just for the two of them, a warmer world than the indifferent outside. In this more intimate world, they go by their first names – it's "Jim," not the more formal "Mr. James Dillingham Young" he presents to outsiders. This private, welcoming world is home, and it's made of their love.
Quote #2
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. (6)
Della is completely dedicated to "her Jim." She spends a great deal of time just thinking about what to get him. In her eyes, Jim is someone very "rare and fine," deserving of something exceptional – quite different from the shabby image he presents on the street.
Quote #3
Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present. (18)
Doing something for Jim makes time move faster for Della than it would otherwise. It's her love for her husband animates her and gives her energy.
Quote #4
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. (20)
Della's love has "ravaged" her – it's cost her dearly. As the narrator admits, repairing the damage is a "mammoth task." Della's not only given up something she loved, she's also potentially made herself less attractive to Jim. Love's wonderful, but it's certainly not undemanding, or necessarily easy.
Quote #5
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. (23)
Della devotedly makes the flat ready for Jim in preparation for his arrival. That feeling of "home" that the narrator described earlier is created in part by the very concrete things Della does to maintain it and make the flat a welcoming place.
Quote #6
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." (24)
Della actually seems worried that Jim won't find her pretty. We've got to wonder how well placed her concern is. How much do her looks really matter to Jim?
Quote #7
"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?" (30)
Della's hair isn't what makes Della Della, nor, she's suggesting, should it be what makes her special to Jim. What is it that makes her special to Jim? Is it her heart, her warmth, what she does for him?
Quote #8
"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?" (33)
Della calls her love uncountable – it's limitless, unlike the precious hair she gave away. The value of her love is likewise limitless, again unlike what she gave away.
Quote #9
"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. (36)
Jim doesn't really care about Della's loss of her most beautiful feature. His love for her extends beyond her looks. Her fears were unfounded. He speaks of Della as "my girl," just as she's thought of him as "her Jim." They both belong uniquely to each other.
Quote #10
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. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi. (45)
The narrator seems to indicate that Della and Jim are "the wisest" because their gifts to each other are selfless – they give out of pure love. But you might wonder, what is the real significance of those gifts for their love? Do they prove that they love each other – was it in need of proof before?