The Last Leaf

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"The Last Leaf"
Short story by O. Henry
CountryUnited States
Language English
Genre(s) Short story
Publication
Published inThe Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories
Publication date1907

"The Last Leaf" is a short story by O. Henry published in his 1907 collection The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories. It first appeared on October 15, 1905, in the New York World . [1] [2]

Contents

Summary

The story is set in Greenwich Village during a pneumonia epidemic. It tells the story of an old artist who saves the life of a young neighbouring artist, dying of pneumonia, by giving her the will to live. Through her window, she can see an old ivy creeper (growing on a nearby wall), gradually shedding its leaves, as autumn turns into winter, and she has taken the thought into her head that she will die when the last leaf falls. The leaves fall day by day, but the last lone leaf lingers on for several days, giving her motivation to recover and live her life. The ill woman's health quickly recovers. At the story's end, we learn that the old artist, who always wanted to produce a masterpiece painting but had never had any success, spent considerable time painting with great realism a leaf on the wall for the whole night. Furthermore, the old artist himself dies of pneumonia contracted while being out in the wet and cold.

The scene of the story of "The Last Leaf" is the Greenwich artist colony in New York City. Over the past century, it has developed from a poor literati settlement to a world-famous art center and tourist attraction. [3]

Characters

Adaptations

"The Last Leaf" has been adapted frequently on the stage and the big screen. [4] Notable short film adaptations include

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References

  1. "O. Henry's Full House". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  2. "The Last Leaf". The FictionMags Index. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  3. "A Summary and Analysis of O. Henry's 'The Last Leaf'". Interesting Literature. 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  4. Hischak, Thomas S. (2012). American Literature on Stage and Screen: 525 Works and Their Adaptations. McFarland. pp. 113–114. ISBN   978-0-7864-9279-4.
  5. "The Last Leaf". Stories of the Films. Moving Picture World. 34 (11): 1675. December 15, 1917. Retrieved 2015-10-01 via Internet Archive.
  6. "O. Henry's Full House". Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  7. "Easter TV Special To Affirm LDS Belief in Resurrected Christ". News of the Church. Ensign . April 1984. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  8. "5 films that take their cue from short stories". IBNLive.com. CNN-IBN. July 9, 2013. Archived from the original on July 12, 2013.