The Gift of the Magi

Despite their poverty and lack of nice things, Della is proud of her hair. The narrator says, “Della’s beautiful hair fell about her, shining like a falling stream of brown water. It reached below her knee. It almost made itself into a dress for her” (3). Della’s hair represents her femininity, her beauty, and her sense of self-worth: “If a queen had lived in the rooms near theirs, Della would have washed and dried her hair where the queen could see it. Della knew her hair was more beautiful than any queen’s jewels and gifts” (2).

She gains confidence from her hair, and in sacrificing her hair to buy Jim a Christmas present, she gives up what she sees as the best part of herself. She feels the sacrifice acutely: “Her eyes were shining brightly, but her face had lost its color. Quickly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its complete length” (2). After cutting her hair, she worries that Jim will no longer think that she is beautiful. She says, “Please God, make him think I’m still pretty” (4). After cutting her hair, Della’s opinion of herself changes. Instead of seeing herself as a respectable housewife, she wonders if she looks like a lower-class woman: “‘If Jim doesn’t kill me,’ she said to herself, ‘before he looks at me a second time, he’ll say I look like a girl who sings and dances for money’” (4). Jim is shocked when he sees Della after her haircut, and Della pleads with him, “Be good to me, because I sold it for you.” She adds, “Maybe the hairs of my head could be counted, but no one could ever count my love for you” (5). She tries to separate her value and worth from her hair, and her hair loses some of its symbolic significance. She realizes that it will grow back.