Prose Study (Oscar Wilde)

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English coursework (Oscar Wilde)

In an essay of 3-4 pages discuss how Oscar Wilde uses stereotypes and concepts from traditional fairy-tales and in invert them in his short stories.

In the majority of Oscar Wilde’s fairytales there are numerous stereotypical characters and concepts. In an exemplary fairytale there is the philanthropic character, who is very important to the format of fairytale, for instance a Prince or King, This individual usually, forms an advantageous partnership with a bi-character such as Princess, Queen, Frog, or a Wizard, this may work in reverse in some fairy tales where e.g. the Princess is the leading character and the King is the sub-role. The enemy of the protagonist is called as a villain whose only existence in a fairytale is to try and prevent the leading character and his/hers acquaintances from saving the day or more importantly the world. The evil being is primarily associated with negative images for example bad manners, ruthless personality, or the trademark evil express of amusement. In contrast the valiant hero/heroine is linked with a clean depiction. Witches, Dragons, and Wolves are more often than not portrayed as Villains. Fairy-tale writers use techniques in which they lead the reader to believe that the hero/heroine will prevail in the battle against evil, because the story gives the impression that the villain is superior to the central character.

Almost ever fairy-tale begins with the opening phrase ‘Once Upon a Time’ and end with ‘…and they live happily ever after.’ Use of these phrases result in the reader instantaneously recognises that it is a fairy-tale. Castles are prominent buildings in fairytales because most of fairy-tales were written in medieval-times where castles were the biggest buildings you would see, and they are also related to Kings and Queens.

        Wilde makes extensive use of traditional fairy-tale characters, which do not exist in real life, in his stories such as ogres, giants and talking birds. I think Wilde choose to do this because he knew bizarre creatures put the message of his choice across much easier to the readers, children in particular.

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I know this from ‘The Happy Prince’ and ‘The Selfish Giant’ where the winter season is given human characteristics and actually given a voice to speak: “He is too selfish”.

 What separates Oscar Wilde from other writers in Victorian times is that he uses traditional fairy-tale characters to address contemporary issues to express his opinion.

In ‘The Happy Prince’ Wilde embarks upon the difficulty of poverty and privilege, which were disregarded subjects in that era.

When the Prince was alive he lived in the palace of San-Souci, here he wasn’t allowed to see the outside world, that didn’t bother ...

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