THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE

AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION

Oscar Wilde is poet, and dramatist whose reputation rests on his only novel, The Picture of
Dorian Gray (1891), and on his comic masterpieces Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892) and The
Importance of Being Earnest (1895).He has also written short stories as well.
Oscar was from a prpminent family.during his studies at OXFORD he gain fame as poet,scholr
and as spokenman for Aesthetic movement in England.The main purpose of this movement to
develop art as beauty,Art for art’s sake.

SUMMARY
Many of Wilde’s fairy tales are about characters sacrificing themselves. ‘The Nightingale and the
Rose’ is a fairy tale by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), included in his 1888 collection The Happy
Prince and Other Tales. ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’ is about romantic love.
In this short story nightingale sacrifices herself for a student who fell in love with teacher’s
daughter.She asks him that she will dance with him if brings red rose for her but student;s garden
has no red rose.He begin to cry.The Nightingale listens to crying him and decides to help him
because she has seen his true love for girl.
A lizard,a butterfly and a Daisy all tell the Nightingale that it is useless to cry for red rose but
she sympathizes with him.
She goes to Rose_tree and asks to produce red rose,and in return she will sing for it.But
Rose_tree says that is produces only white roses.It asks to go towards Rose-tree by the sun dial.
The Nightingale offers same to it but it says that it only produces only yellow roses,so it cannot
help her.However,it suggests to the Rose-tree right under the window of student.But it was
frozen due to winter and does not produce roses.
The Nightingale asks if there is any possibility to get rose for student.The tree replies there is
only one way of producing rose.The Nightingate is supposed to sing by moonlight while
allowing a thorn to pierce her heart,so her blood seeps through to the tree and produces a red
rose.
The Nightingale agrees to this, because for her love is more valuable than life,and a human heart
is more precious than hers.
She goes and tells him that she is going to do this but he does not understand,because he only
understands things written down in books.Only Oak-tree understands her words.

She sings, but the Student is rather unimpressed, because the bird’s song has no practical use.

That night, the Nightingale sings with her heart against the thorn, until it eventually pierces her
heart. Her heart’s blood seeps into the tree and produces a red rose, but by the time the flower is
formed the Nightingale has died.