What are the themes of "The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde?
Oscar Wilde deals with a number of themes in "The Nightingale and the Rose." Perhaps the most obvious theme is love: it drives the plot as the student searches for a red rose in his garden and prompts the nightingale to sacrifice her life. It is also contrasted against academic subjects, like logic, when the student realizes the young girl does not truly love him:
"What a silly thing Love is," said the Student as he walked away. "It is not half as useful as Logic, for it does not prove anything."
Materialism is another theme in the story and is best demonstrated through the character of the young girl. At the beginning, her interest in the student is driven by her desire for a red rose. Later, she turns her attention to the jewels offered by the Chamberlain's nephew. By portraying her in this way, Wilde suggests that materialism is an ugly and worthless attribute. To further reinforce this point, Wilde contrasts the girl's materialism against the good-natured and selfless character of the nightingale.
What is the character analysis for "The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde?
In the story, the principal characters are the student and the nightingale.
The student is idealistic, passionate, and determined. However, he is also capricious, selfish, and irresolute. At the beginning of the story, he mourns that he will never be able to dance with the girl he is smitten with. Despite his desire to dance with her, however, he does little to find the red rose he seeks beyond a cursory initial search for the flower.
When the nightingale makes a sacrifice on his behalf, he doesn't recognize or even acknowledge it. Instead, he questions whether the nightingale's song has any value beyond the most obvious. In other words, the nightingale's song is beautiful, but can it convince the girl to dance with him?
Later, when the girl rejects the red rose, the student is furious. He decides that he will no longer believe in love. Instead, he chooses logic, because he believes that it will deliver more intrinsic results. The student conflates the rejection of a moment with the inability of love to contribute to his abiding happiness. In doing so, he reveals his capricious, irresolute nature.
Meanwhile, the nightingale is a loyal, idealistic, and sacrificial character. It relinquishes its life in order to promote love.
What is the character analysis for "The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde?
In "The Nightingale and the Rose," the boy is a student who falls in love with the daughter of his professor. In terms of his character, the boy is a defeatist, as shown by his reaction to the quest for the red rose. When he cannot find one in his garden, for example, he quickly loses hope and declares that his "heart will break."
In addition, the boy is also a fickle type of person. When the girl is not impressed by his red rose, for instance, the boy instantly falls out of love with her. He says that she is "very ungrateful" and he decides that love is completely pointless and not worth his time and efforts. Instead, he returns to his studies of "Philosophy" and "Metaphysics" and, presumably, never bothers with love again.
Provide a character sketch of the Nightingale in "The Nightingale and the Rose".
The Nightingale is, first, idealistic. He sees only the best in the student who is in love with rose. The Nightingale longs to witness true love and is overjoyed when he believes he has found it. He says, as he watches the Student:
Surely Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine opals.
The Nightingale shows his pure heart by valuing love because it is something money cannot buy. In contrast to the cynical Lizard, who laughs at the Student for crying over love, the Nightingale is moved by the Student's plight.
The Nightingale also reveals himself to be a giving and generous creature as he tries to find a red rose for the Student to love. But there are no red roses to be had. They are all white.
The Nightingale learns from the Tree that he has to sacrifice his life by giving his blood to turn a white rose red. He shows himself to be sacrificial by being willing to do so. He dies for his idealistic trust in true love, but neither the young woman offered the rose nor the Student understand what love is and cannot appreciate what he has done.
In summary, the Nightingale is idealistic, pure-hearted, generous, and sacrificial. He is a Christ-figure, pouring himself out for others. We appreciate his goodness and sacrifice even if the people in the story cannot.
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