The Furnished Room

“The Furnished Room” is often incorporated in ghost story collections and featured at Halloween. Write an essay examining what elements, literary devices, and word choice in the text make it uniquely suited to be a ghost story.

Examine how the setting of the text impacts the plot and themes of “The Furnished Room.” Why is the setting so important to the story’s message?

How does the author create sympathy for the protagonist in “The Furnished Room”? Why does the young man remain nameless?

Select at least three details about the furnished room and examine their significance. What do these details reveal about the prior inhabitants of the room?

Read “The Gift of the Magi,” one of O. Henry’s most famous short stories. (A free version of “The Gift of the Magi” from Project Gutenberg can be found here.) What similarities and differences do you see between the couple in “The Gift of the Magi” and the young man and Eloise? Compare O. Henry’s use of situational irony in the two texts.

Readers are not told much about Eloise as many of her characteristics and the events leading up to her death are left to the imagination of the reader. Using the limited details provided, write a companion piece to “The Furnished Room,” written from the perspective of Eloise when she arrived in New York City.

Of the four identified characters in “The Furnished Room,” could any of them be considered an antagonist? If so, which character, and why?

In the last line of the story, after the revelation that Eloise died in the same room as the protagonist, Mrs. Purdy states, “Do fill up your glass again, Mrs. McCool” (Paragraph 43). Why do you think O. Henry chose to end the story with this line? What does this line indicate about Mrs. Purdy, and even New York City?