The stories of “The Necklace” and “The Gift of The Magi” tell of two women who live a poor lifestyle and the challenges they face due to their financial statuses. The women, Madame Loisel and Della Dillingham Young, show similarities in the lifestyles they both live. However, their attitudes, personalities, the way they treat their husbands, and values differ in multiple ways.
Madame Loisel and Della live similar lives, for they both live a rather poor lifestyle. Madame Loisel lived among, what she believed as, drab furnishings and conditions. She genuinely thought she endured a appalling life and found much embarrassment when comparing herself to other women she knew. “She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, …show more content…
Madame Loisel has a deep desire to maintain her reputation so when she loses her friend’s necklace she finds herself in a pit of despair. In order to maintain her reputation Madame Loisel takes great measures to lie to her friend and have her husband purchase a close replica. These actions lead them to stress-filled life for the next several years. “ She came to know the heavy work of the house, the hateful duties of the kitchen. She washed the plates, wearing out her pink nails on the coarse pottery and the bottoms of pans. She washed the dirty linen, the shirts and dish-cloths, and hung them out to dry on a string; every morning she took the dustbin down into the street and carried up the water, stopping on each landing to get her breath. And, clad like a poor woman, she went to the fruiterer, to the grocer, to the butcher, a basket on her arm, haggling, insulted, fighting for every wretched halfpenny of her …show more content…
After these ten years end, Madame Loisel sees how her lie has affected her life and body. Later she feels a rush of pain when she discovers the necklace she lost was nowhere near the cost of the replacement of the necklace. Madame Loisel’s worry for her reputation caused her to live in a poor life, matching her poor morals and values. Similarly, Della faces financial issues and fears she will not have enough money to give Jim a decent gift for Christmas. However, she makes the decision to sell her hair, in order to have enough money for a present. Afterwards she faces a new worry. “‘If Jim doesn’t kill me,’ she said to herself, ‘before he takes a second look at me, he’ll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do--oh! What could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?’” (O’Henry 3-4). Similarly to Madame Loisel, Della finds concern in how she looks to others and worries that her new look will affect the way in which Jim perceives her. However, Della’s actions were done out of love and generosity for her husband. In result of her actions, Della and Jim end up in pure bliss and holiday spirit and joy, for Jim knows how selfless his wife acted. While Della has a personality of love and compassion and ethical values, Madame Loisel contains a personality of hatred and selfishness with values of greed
Madame Loisel and Della live similar lives, for they both live a rather poor lifestyle. Madame Loisel lived among, what she believed as, drab furnishings and conditions. She genuinely thought she endured a appalling life and found much embarrassment when comparing herself to other women she knew. “She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, …show more content…
Madame Loisel has a deep desire to maintain her reputation so when she loses her friend’s necklace she finds herself in a pit of despair. In order to maintain her reputation Madame Loisel takes great measures to lie to her friend and have her husband purchase a close replica. These actions lead them to stress-filled life for the next several years. “ She came to know the heavy work of the house, the hateful duties of the kitchen. She washed the plates, wearing out her pink nails on the coarse pottery and the bottoms of pans. She washed the dirty linen, the shirts and dish-cloths, and hung them out to dry on a string; every morning she took the dustbin down into the street and carried up the water, stopping on each landing to get her breath. And, clad like a poor woman, she went to the fruiterer, to the grocer, to the butcher, a basket on her arm, haggling, insulted, fighting for every wretched halfpenny of her …show more content…
After these ten years end, Madame Loisel sees how her lie has affected her life and body. Later she feels a rush of pain when she discovers the necklace she lost was nowhere near the cost of the replacement of the necklace. Madame Loisel’s worry for her reputation caused her to live in a poor life, matching her poor morals and values. Similarly, Della faces financial issues and fears she will not have enough money to give Jim a decent gift for Christmas. However, she makes the decision to sell her hair, in order to have enough money for a present. Afterwards she faces a new worry. “‘If Jim doesn’t kill me,’ she said to herself, ‘before he takes a second look at me, he’ll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do--oh! What could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?’” (O’Henry 3-4). Similarly to Madame Loisel, Della finds concern in how she looks to others and worries that her new look will affect the way in which Jim perceives her. However, Della’s actions were done out of love and generosity for her husband. In result of her actions, Della and Jim end up in pure bliss and holiday spirit and joy, for Jim knows how selfless his wife acted. While Della has a personality of love and compassion and ethical values, Madame Loisel contains a personality of hatred and selfishness with values of greed