Is The Nightingale and the Rose (Oscar Wilde) just a child's fairy tale or a criticism of love and society?

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Is ‘The Nightingale And The Rose’ just a child’s fairy tale or is it a more complex criticism of love and society?

        The Nightingale and the Rose is a ‘fairy tale’ story written by Oscar Wilde, originally for his two sons, in the late 1880s.

         Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin (Ireland) 1854, and was well known for his wit and story telling. He was a famous poet, art lecturer, author and scriptwriter. But at the height of his success he was involved in a court case over a homosexual affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. Found guilty, he was sentenced two years hard labour and when he was eventually released, he was physically and psychologically broken.

When Wilde wrote The Nightingale and the Rose, he was working as an editor for a woman’s magazine (1887-1889), just before the height of his career. It was written as part of a collection of fairy tales: The Happy Prince and other stories and is a story, which focuses on a lovelorn student, anxious to find a rose to bring his love and a sympathetic nightingale, observing the student's anguish. As there is no rose, the student fears his heart will be broken. The nightingale then seeks a rose for the student, encountering a tree that can provide a rose, but only if the nightingale sacrifices itself, its own blood providing the redness of the rose. The nightingale embarks on one final flight prior to its martyrdom, telling the student to only be a true lover, “…for love is wiser than philosophy.” Here, the student attempts to analyse the bird, and while enjoying her singing, claims, “they do not mean anything or do any practical good.” The final outcome is tragic, the student’s love refuses the rose for jewels, the student throws away the rose and doesn’t realise how it was produced. So the nightingale's sacrifice is not appreciated.

Many have described this story, including his son, Vyvyan, as “poems in prose” for example, Wilde creates a powerful image of the nightingale when she sacrifices her life in order to produce the rose:

And the marvellous rose became crimson, like the rose of the eastern sky. Crimson was the girdle of its petals, and crimson as a ruby was the heart … then she gave one last burst of music. The white moon heard it, and she forgot the dawn, and lingered in the sky. The red rose heard it and trembled all over with ecstasy, and opened its petals to the cold morning air.

The way he uses the similar mannerisms of a poem; like the way in which the sentences flow with the use of similes, personification and repetition in the text, to portray the sad but beautiful ambience of the scene, all reinforce the opinion: “poems in prose”. But if it was written in a similar style as a poem, then does it also, like many poems, share the elements of symbolism? Does it have a deeper, more complex meaning than what first meets the eye? Is it merely a sophisticatedly written fairy tale or could it be a social criticism aimed at adults? Wilde himself, states it is meant for children, but then later contradicts himself. In one of his letters (1888) he explains“…meant for children, and partly for those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy, and who find in simplicity, a subtle strangeness.” But also states in another letter (1889) “…meant not for children, but for childlike people from eighteen years to eighty years!” So is The Nightingale and the Rose primarily aimed at adults as a symbolic short story or primarily aimed at children as a simple fairy tale?

        Fairy tales are usually described as fanciful tales, written for children, which typically have a conflict and some sort of resolution or secure ending. Stories such as Sleeping beauty, The little mermaid, Snow white and the seven dwarfs, The three little pigs, etc. are all well known fairy tales. Throughout Europe there was a deep interest in fairy tales, not only were they traditional to tell children but enjoyable. The famous scientist, Albert Einstein (1879-1955) felt they were very important:

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.”
When Albert Einstein was asked how to develop intelligence in young people, he answered: “Read fairy tales. Then read more fairy tales.”

In 19th century U.K., there was a renewed interest in fairy tales. This was partly due to Hans Christian Anderson, the famous author who wrote many fairy tales like The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Princess and the Pea and The Little Mermaid. His work was first published in the 1840s (just before Wilde was born) and remained popular throughout England and Ireland for the rest of the 19th century and our still popular today. Therefore Wilde would have grown up with the popularity and interest in fairy tales, which would have more than likely influenced his style of writing, and in one of Wilde’s stories, The Devoted Friend, one of the characters is called ‘Hans’. Anderson and Wilde’s work are often compared, as they both usually have the similar literary styles, for example, romanticism and realism.

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The Nightingale and the Rose can be seen as a beautifully written fairy tale for children, because not only was it written during a period where fairy tales were popular among the public but also because it shares the same ‘properties’ as fairy tales. For example:

“She said that she would dance with me if I brought her red roses,” cried the young Student; “but in all my garden there is no red rose.”

Taken from the start of the story, it has a small, simple and clear conflict easy for children to understand, because if it is aimed ...

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