Essay Questions

How does Wilde use allegory to comment on ideas in society?

Many of Wilde’s stories in this collection, especially the fairy tales, use much allegory to show certain messages about society. ‘The Selfish Giant’ is a clear allegory for the privatisation of land, and shows the reader that resources are better shared, for both parties involved. The real-life context of this story is shown through distinctly formal language such as ‘Trespassers will be prosecuted’ on the giant’s sign.

Another example is ‘The Remarkable Rocket’, in which the titular rocket serves as a representation of upper-class snobbery. This is shown through his aristocratic style of speaking, and his negative attitude towards the other fireworks, who could be seen as lower-class members of society.

Other stories in the collection don’t always revolve entirely around allegory, but often feature it, such as the Canterville ghost perhaps representing the negative history in historical houses, or Lady Alroy’s fake secret in ‘The Sphinx without a Secret’ representing the human need to feel mysterious. This recurring use of allegory shows Wilde’s ideas about society at the time the stories were written. In Victorian society, the discrepancy between classes was growing due to the industrial revolution depriving the poor of their jobs. Therefore, there was much injustice around, and there was much negative sentiment directed towards the gentry and aristocracy, who held most of the power in society.

Therefore, by creating allegories for these people in ‘The Selfish Giant’ and ‘The Remarkable Rocket’, Wilde reflects these ideas that were gaining traction in Victorian Society.

What is the purpose of the stories’ wistful or bittersweet endings?

Wilde’s stories almost never end entirely happily, and instead end in a melancholy fashion. For example, ‘The Canterville Ghost’ begins as a comedic farce about ghosts, but ends with the ghost finally gaining peace and dying forever. ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’ ends with the nightingale dying for a rose that wasn’t even appreciated by its recipient. The Sphinx without a Secret ends with a seemingly mysterious woman not having any secret after all, and all of the mystery around her was pointless.

Wilde harnesses these wistful endings for two reasons. Firstly, many of these stories are in the fairytale genre, which typically end happily in an often cliched fashion. Therefore by making the endings bittersweet, Wilde plays with the reader’s preconceptions of the fairytale genre, and makes the stories less predictable.

Secondly, the endings give the stories depth and are often the very crux of the story, where everything is illuminated. For example, ‘The Selfish Giant’ would have been a basic story about the joy of sharing, but by having the children find the giant dead under the blossom tree at the end, after seeing Jesus in the garden, the message is less clear and the reader is left wondering why he died, and what it means. Another example is ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’; when the nightingale dies for nothing after the student’s lover shuns the rose, the reader questions the stereotypical notions of love, and realises that often love doesn’t work out in real life. Therefore, these stories gain much depth, interest, and originality through their unique endings.

How does Wilde harness simplistic language to develop the stories?

The fairytale genre of many of these stories means that Wilde often follows conventions around language. The stories use omniscient narration, and while not all of the language is simple, in the most important moments of the plot, Wilde allows unadorned, simple language to shine through.

For example, during the very crux of ‘The Selfish Giant’, when the Giant is found dead, the line simply reads “And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.” By using simple language to describe the wistful beauty of the dead Giant covered with flowers, the reader can very understand the image without its sadness being hindered by unnecessary adornment.

Another example of this is in ‘The Young King’, when the King ditches his fine jewels and robe for a shepherd’s simple garments. The last line of the story reads: “And the young King came down from the high altar, and passed home through the midst of the people. But no man dared look upon his face, for it was like the face of an angel.” The reader can understand the greatness of the King, and understand how holy he looked, despite a lack of particularly detailed language to describe him.

This deliberate use of simple language occurs throughout all of the stories, and helps advance the imagery due to the fact that it isn’t over-complicated and distracting from the point.

What did Wilde mean when he said that these stories ‘were not intended for the British child, nor the British public’?

These stories would have been unusual at the time they were written, due to their unconventionality. They weren’t exactly children’s stories, as even though they mainly used simplistic language, passages such as “It is a ridiculous attachment,” twittered the other Swallows; “[the Reed] has no money, and far too many relations”, use mature language and concepts that weren’t designed for children.

Additionally, the allegorical nature of many of the stories, and the adult concepts reflected in them, would have been entirely missed by children. For example, the town councillors are clearly satirical, as evidenced in them saying things like “And here is actually a dead bird at his feet! ...We must really issue a proclamation that birds are not to be allowed to die here.”

As mentioned previously, many other stories feature an allegory as their basis, such as The Remarkable Rocket and The Selfish Giant, both of which poke at the upper-class Victorian gentry. Therefore, we can concur that these stories weren’t necessarily written for children. As for them not being intended for the ‘British public’, this perhaps referred to the prudish values of the Victorian era. Wilde’s work was widely criticized in his time, due to the fact that he covered topics such as homosexuality, socialism, and religious criticism, things all considered rebellious.

Therefore, Wilde was perhaps referring to the moral backlash he faced from these largely satirical stories, and stating that these stories were fit for no-one, due to being too complex for children, but too outlandish for conservative Victorian society.

How are characters used to further the plot of the stories?

Due to the brevity of these stories, the characters are very important in furthering the plot. It is mostly the characters that drive the story, and create most of the action. For example, in the story ‘Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime’, the plot revolves around Lord Arthur Saville trying to fulfill the prediction that he is going to murder someone. He first tries to murder Lady Beauchamp, then his uncle, but due to his plans being poorly thought out, he ends up eventually murdering the cheiromancer who made the prediction in the first place. Therefore, it is entirely his actions that drives the story.

Another story, ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’, has a character drive its plot, although it isn’t a human character. Most of its duration focuses on the Nightingale stabbing itself with a thorn in order to create a perfect red rose for the lovesick student. This strong decision from this character drives the ultimate bitter end of this story, where the Nightingale dies for nothing.

The other stories also use characters strongly, such as the elusive Lady Alroy in ‘The Sphinx without a Secret’ creating the mystery around her which the narrator obsesses over, the Giant in ‘The Selfish Giant’ banning children from his garden, which creates the eternal winter, and the swallow in ‘The Happy Prince’ delivering gold and jewels to the children of the city.