Romeo And Juliet And The Gift Of The Magi

An age old question throughout the generations has been whether romantic love is force of good or evil. While this has been argued in both directions, this essay will clearly show that it is a force of good. Maya Angelou has said, “It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” Few have such finesse with words, but she is absolutely correct in her description of romantic love. The emotion of romantic love has been a human condition all throughout our recorded history. The great Maya Angelou is certainly not alone in her argument. She has been joined by other greats such as William Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway, O. Henry, and Edgar Allan Poe to name a few. More specifically, in Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” two young lovers who are members of feuding families are forced to keep their love a secret in order to stay together. In O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” two lovers give up their most prized possessions for the sake of the other. Without romantic love, society would never come to know such moving pieces of literature. For this reason alone one could argue the virtue of romantic love.
Moreover, one can see …show more content…
In O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” the reader is allowed to see this aspect of romantic love. Jim and Della sacrifice what is most dear to their hearts for the sake of one another. Della admits to Jim that she sold her hair so she could afford to buy him a present. Then, Jim gives Della her present, which is an assortment of combs, rendered useless now that her hair is short. Della then shows Jim the chain she bought for him, now rendered useless because Jim sold his watch to get the money to buy her combs. Although they are each left with gifts that neither can use, they realize how far they are willing to go to show their love for each other, and how priceless their love really