American literature varies from other literary works around the world. Each story seems to express a different theme, yet somehow they all seem similar. The Gift of the Magi and The Story of an Hour, written 15 years apart from each other, at first glance seem like two unrelated stories, but after delving deeper into them, it is clear that both contain similar elements, such as the theme , time, and perspective, along with many conflicting points of view. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The overall theme of both stories is sacrificial love, although different aspects of it are revealed. The Gift of the Magi establishes the author's vision of selfless love between husband and wife, while The Story of an Hour explores the overwhelming love of freedom that comes from the loss of a marriage. The reader sees in the first story how the wife, Della Young, makes an altruistic decision and gives up her most prized possession to buy her husband a Christmas present. When she learns of her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard is overcome with despair until she looks out the window and begins to yearn for freedom which overcomes her love for her husband to her dismay. The death of a dream is also an important theme in both stories. . In The Gift of the Magi, all Della wants in life is to give her husband, Jim, the perfect gift, but because they are so poor she has to sell her hair to afford the gold watch chain. As she waits patiently at home for Jim to return, she is overcome with excitement and nervousness as she hopes her dream of giving the most extraordinary gift will come true. To her apprehension, he, in turn, had the same dream and sold his most prized possession, his gold watch, to buy expensive combs for her hair. Eventually, their “perfect gifts” became useless to the recipient and the dream faded. Similarly, in The Story of an Hour, when Mrs. Mallard is informed of her husband's death, she begins to dream of the freedom she will now have without him. There would no longer be a “mighty will to bend hers,” or anyone “to live for in the years to come,” other than her. Following her newfound, but short-lived, dream of freedom, her husband returns home, neither dead nor injured. Torn away from her, she immediately dies along with her dream. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The late 1800s and early 1900s were a time of dramatic changes regarding gender roles in society. Women were often overlooked by men and their opinions were considered inferior, yet in American literature we are beginning to see some level of equality form. Although both stories are written with women as protagonists, The Story of an Hour was written by a woman, Kate Chopin, and The Gift of the Magi was written by a man, O. Henry. It provides perspective on how opinions on gender roles differed during this time period. O. Henry's story portrays the wife as loving and devoted to her husband, never wanting anything more than her cozy home life, but in Chopin's story he depicts Mrs. Mallard as not satisfied with the oppression of her will. She wants to live a free life for herself, without anyone else being able to bend her will. These differences show the discrepancies in how both genders viewed women's oppression.