The Necklace 'And The Gift Of The Magi'

Can love force you to take unnecessary steps? Many people have stated that love can make them do crazy things when not intended. Although this message is presented in different ways throughout all forms of literature. In Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace,” Madame Loisel loses the necklace that she had previously borrowed from a friend and her husband Monsieur loisel meticulously searches the streets to find the necklace which doesn’t turn up and have to work hard to pay it off not knowing that the necklace is of little value. Contrariwise, in O. Henry’s short fiction “The gift of the Magi,” the characters Jim and Della selflessly use the little wealth they have to buy each other a gift for christmas and then soon come to find out that their gifts were useless. At the end they see that their actions weren’t worth it and could’ve been avoided. The theme that these stories share is that love will force you to do things that you do not intend to do.
One reason this is the theme of “The Necklace” is because Madame Loisel is angered at not having any jewelry to wear to the party. While in this state of mind she states, “I hate not having a single jewel, not one stone, to wear … I’d almost rather not go to
the party”( de Maupassant 335). This insinuates that she wants what she doesnt have. Already having a dress bought with her husbands money he saved up to buy a hunting rifle with and an invitation to the ball, she is still unsatisfied. She later on borrows a necklace from her friend Madame Forestier which she assumes has a lot of worth and leaves. The next day she goes to the party and her husband sleeps in a small deserted sitting room without a close eye on her. She later goes home at almost four in the morning and goes in front of a mirror to gaze at her beauty once more before she undresses. She quickly notices that the necklace is gone saying to Jim, “The . . . the . . . necklace-it’s gone” and starts to feel outright dejection. Madame Loisel rifles her thoughts as Monsieur Loisel thoroughly scans the streets looking for this low worth necklace. Their last resort is looking for a replacement necklace to return to Madame Forestier. After learning that the replacement necklace cost 36,000 francs, they work hard for ten years and borrow money to buy this replacement necklace. This theme connects to the story because Monsieur Loisel buys her a dress with his savings and works harder than ever to repay someone for her loss because he doesn’t want to lose her which makes this unnecessary.
The reason this is the theme for “The Gift of the Magi” is because Jim and Della are two low income people who love each other very much that they buy each other gifts that they can’t afford. For example, O. Henry writes, “Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim.” which indicates that she has a deep love for jim and would do anything for him. She later spot a platinum watch chain in a window and decides thats what she wants to buy for jim, but she doesn’t have enough to afford it. Soon after this, Della goes to Mme. Sofronie, who works at a hair parlor to find the worth of her hair for jims gift. Mme. Sofronie examines her hair and gives her the price of $20 and she accepts. Then she ransacks the stores for Jim’s present and finds a platinum fob chain for Jim to put on his watch. She rushes home to give Jim his present and works herself into a surprising situation. Jim sells his watch to buy Della a set of tortoise shell combs for her hair that she sells to buy him a platinum watch chain for a watch he no longer has. Not only is this a paradoxical situation, it is unnecessary. They realise that the gifts they’ve bought are useless and are of no value to each other. This is the reason that the theme is love can make you do unnecessary things and why they have the unsatisfactory of knowing that their gifts are useless.
The idea that love can make you do unnecessary things connects to both of these stories because in the end they realise that their actions are unnecessary and efforts are useless.
These stories present the same theme but in different and similar ways. These stories are similar in a way that both stories characters are surprised to find that they didn’t have to do what they’ve done. These situations were also misinterpreted by the characters, which caused them to take these steps. Although, in “The Necklace” Madame Loisel doesn’t show love for Monsieur Loisel and seems to care about the necklace more than him. These facts and insinuations make the theme love makes you do unnecessary things connect to both of these stories with similarities and
differences.
The theme love can make you do unnecessary things is a theme found in all places. It’s found in movies, shows, and even in life. People with great lavishness use their wealth to buy someones heart and then that person turns around and leaves you just to get wealth out of you. There are even some real life examples such as Playboy-Bunny Anna Nicole-Smith Marrying a billionaire government official, attorney, and professor Howard Marshall to get a big portion of his wealth when he died and when he died she showed no remorse. A few days later she had another boyfriend and had forgotten about Howard. There are many more situations around the world that present this theme directly and indirectly, but in “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi” this theme is proved and shows that love makes you do unnecessary things.