Allusions to Kings in O. Henry
O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi is Full of Religious References
William Sydney Porter assumes his reader's have a solid knowledge of the Bible and will not only recognize but understand the allusions he uses in his narrative.
Queen of Sheba
The first historical account of the Queen of Sheba appears in the Bible. In I Kings 10: 1-3 it reads:
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.
According to the biblical account, the Queen of Sheba was a seeker after wisdom and she had tremendous wealth with which to fund her quest. Unfortunately, there are few other factual references to the Queen of Sheba and it is uncertain as to where her country is located. The hints given us by the biblical list of her treasures and wealth suggest Somalia or Ethiopia, which are located in the Horn of Africa, or Oman or Yemen, which are located on the Arabian Peninsula.
While the Bible only reveals a political relationship between the two monarchs, popular tradition claims that the two had an affair and that Sheba became pregnant with Solomon’s child. According to the Ethiopians, this child was named Menelik, which means Son of the Wise. All Ethiopian rulers claim to be able to trace their lineage back to Menelik and this fabled union between two of the world’s most wise and powerful rulers.
King Solomon
King Solomon is the son of the King David and Bathsheba. When Solomon became King, he asked God for wisdom so that he might rule God’s children well. God was pleased with Solomon’s request and blessed him saying “And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.” I Kings 3:13
The Purpose of These Two Wise Sovereigns in the Story
Solomon and Sheba supply three things in the story; humor, comparison, and foreshadowing.
The reference to Solomon and Sheba is simply ridiculous in the context of the story. King Solomon would never have worked as a janitor (unless it was one of his experiments mentioned in Ecclesiastes) and Sheba would never have lived in a poor neighborhood such as that of Jim and Della. Because of the completely ridiculous image their presence creates they break up the rather melancholy tone of the story and provide humor.
The comparison of Jim’s watch and Della’s hair to Solomon and Sheba’s treasures underscores how valuable the watch and hair were to these two little church mice. Jim and Della have nothing and their treasure lies in each other and in a gift from Jim’s grandfather. These two small treasures hold as great a value (because of what they are) as any empty but rich gift hidden in some monarch’s treasury.
There is also a chance that Porter was paying tribute to the fabled love story between Sheba and Solomon. Perhaps it was a way of defining the depth of love Della and Jim had for each other that each esteemed the other’s most prized possession so highly.
Finally, the reference to Solomon and Sheba foreshadows the magi. Solomon and Sheba were monarchs who the Bible explicitly states were wise. The magi were often believed to be kings and while that idea has been challenged and is no longer considered true – many people can still see the kingly connection between the magi and the monarchy of Solomon and Sheba. In addition, the wisdom of Solomon and Sheba prefigures that of the magi who brought prophetic and valuable gifts to the infant Jesus.
For More about the Short Story by O. Henry Read
For more about the prophetic gifts of the magi read: Biblical Allusions in Gift of the Magi
A Summary of Gift of the Magi:
