Student Question
What color rose is the student in "The Nightingale and the Rose" searching for?
Quick answer:
The student in "The Nightingale and the Rose" is searching for a red rose to win the affection of a girl who promised to dance with him if he brings her one. The red rose symbolizes his love and passion, but none are available in his garden. The nightingale ultimately sacrifices her life to create a red rose for him, highlighting themes of love and sacrifice.
In "The Nightingale and the Rose," the student is searching for a red rose. This is because he has fallen in love with a girl and she has specified that he brings her a red rose, as we learn in the opening line:
She said that she would dance with me if I brought her red roses.
The red rose symbolizes the love and fiery passion of the student towards the girl but the absence of red roses in his garden presents a major problem: if he cannot find a red rose for the girl then the student's life will be "wretched" and "his heart will break" because his love will not be reciprocated.
Fortunately, the nightingale gets involved in the search on the student's behalf but she can only find white and yellow roses, quite the opposite of the required red. After more searching, however, she learns that to get a red rose, she will have to make a great sacrifice and end her own life.
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