The GIFT OF THE MAGI

"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money.
THE CONFLICT
In "The Gift of the Magi," the main conflict is that Della does not have enough money saved to buy the gift she thinks Jim deserves.
THE EXPOSITION
The exposition of "The Gift of the Magi" is the narrator introducing the young, struggling couple, and the rising action features Della wishing to buy her husband a nice gift. ... The falling action and resolution is the exchange of gifts, in which Della realises her husband sold his watch for her gifT.
THE ANTAGONIST
Lack of money is the antagonist in "The Gift of the Magi." O'Henry goes to pains to show that Jim and Della are poor, and that Jim, the husband, has recently taken a pay cut.