Unit 4 The Nightingale and the Rose

by Oscar Wilde

About the author Oscar Wilde Born16 October 1854(1854-10-16)

Dublin, Ireland Died 30 November 1900 (aged 46)

Paris, France Occupation Playwright, short story writer, poet, journalist Nationality Irish Period Victorian era

His worksNovel The Picture of Dorian Gray

Articles "The Decay of Lying" · "The Soul of Man under Socialism“

Short stories The Canterville Ghost The Portrait of Mr W.H.

Collections Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories · The Happy Prince and Other Stories · A House of Pomegranates

PoemsThe Ballad of Reading Gaol

PlaysThe Duchess of Padua · A Florentine Tragedy · An Ideal Husband 

Introduction to the text

This is a fairy tale. Fairy tales are stories in which fairies play a part or which contain other supernatural or magical elements such as imaginary persons, animals, and inanimate objects. These stories are of course primarily meant for children, but the best fairy tales such as those by Hans Andersen, are also eagerly read by older people who are interested in their deeper meaning.

Structure of the textPart 1 (Para. 1-12):Nightingale struck by the “the mystery of love”Part 2 (Para. 13-34):Nightingale looking for a red rose to facilitate the lovePart 3 (Para. 35-45):Nightingale sacrificing her life for a red rose Part 4 (Para. 46-54): Student discarding the red rose

Word study

want: 1)the condition or quality of lacking something usual or necess

ary              for /from want of 由于缺少              The plants died for/from want of water.              stayed home for want of anything better to do.2) pressing need; 贫困              to live in want = to live in poverty3) something desired:              in want of = in need of              Are you in want of money?               He’s a person of few wants and needs.

fling

1)  to throw violently, with force

         Don’t fling your clothes on the floor.

2) to move violently or quickly

         She flung herself down on the sofa.

         She flung back her head proudly.

3) to devote to

         He flung himself into the task.

bloomvi. to produce flowers, yield flowers, come into flower or be in flo

wer 开花        The roses are blooming. blossom 1) vi. (of a seed  plant, esp  a tree or plant) to produce or yield fl

owers, bloom        The apples trees are blossoming. 2) vi. to develop        Their friendship blossomed when they found out how many i

nterests they shared.

ebb

n. 1.The tide is on the ebb.

            2.The financial resources have reached its lowest ebb.

vi. 1) fall back from the flood stage

          The tide will begin to ebb at 4 o’clock.

         2) to fall away or back; decline or recede

          The danger of conflict is not ebbing there.

. linger

vi. 1) to be slow in leaving, especially out of reluctance

          The children lingered at the zoo until closing time.

2) to proceed slowly linger over one’s work ( 磨洋工）3) to persist Winter lingers.

vt. to pass (a period of time) in a leisurely or aimless manner.

         We lingered away the whole summer at the beach.

Detailed discussion of the text 1. From her nest… the Nightingale… looked out t

hrough the leaves and wondered. (2) The bird is here personified, hence the capitalizati

on. The Red Rose, the Lizard, the Daisy, etc. are capitalized for the same reason.

Leaves: leaf. More examples: life-lives, wife-wives, knife-knives, thief-thieves, loa

f-loaves roof-roofs, proof-proofs, hoof-hoofs/hooves,, cliff-cl

iffs

2. "Ah, I have read all that the wise men have written…my life is made wretched." (3)

Notice the sarcastic tone of the author when he had the Student refer the "wise men." As a champion for "art for art's sake", the author argues that one should not paint or write for financial, political or religious reasons. He therefore keeps poking fun at the Student, the professor, the dusty heavy books, logic, philosophy, intellect, and metaphysics

3. The Prince gives a ball tomorrow night, and my love will be there. (5)

"gives" here is used for expressing the future, and means "is going to organize".

Give a reception, banquet, cocktail party, press conference, a dance, etc.

Ball: a large formal occasion at which people dance. My love: my sweetheart. The prince is going to organize a dancing party tomorrow ni

ght, and my sweetheart will be there.

4. and the little Lizard, who was something of a cynic, laughed outright. (12)

Something of a cynic: a cynic without fully deserving the name.

Cynic: a cynical person; a person who believes that everybody is motivated by selfishness.

Laughed outright: laughed out loud; burst out laughing.

and the little Lizard, who was, to some extent, a cynical person (one who believes that everybody is motivated by selfishness), laughed out loud.

5, Suddenly she spread her brown wings for flight, and soared into the air. (13)

Flight: noun of "fly". It can also be used as the noun of "flee".

Soar: to fly upward quickly. Suddenly she spread her brown wings, and f

lied high up into the sky.

6. "Give me a red rose, and I will sing you my sweetest song." (14)

"and": as a result of this (giving me a red rose)

sweet can refer to taste, smell, or sound.

7. "If you want a red rose, … you must build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with your own heart's blood." (23)

Our of music: using music as the material. You can't build a big house out of sand. We can't produce anything out of nothing. Stain: to color; to dye;

8. And on the topmost spray of the Rose-tree there blossomed a marvelous rose,…(36)

Spray: here means a twig/branch bearing buds, flowers or berries.

9 The girdle of petals. (42) Girdle: a belt or something like a belt worn a

t the waist. Here it means a band of red color round athe middle of the petals.

10"…it will not go with my dress." … (51) Go with my dress: to match my dress; to be

harmonious with my dress. This furniture does not go with the color of th

e walls.

Understanding of the story The plot of the story is very simple. A young student thought

that he was madly in love with the professor’s daughter. He felt miserable because he could not find a single red rose in the whole garden to give to his love, and he knew that without the rose she would not agree to dance with him in the ball to be given by the prince the next day. The Nightingale overheard this and was deeply touched by what she believed was the expression of the young man’s true love. So she decided to help the young man, but she was told that the only way to get a red rose in this cold winter was for her to build it out of her music and her heart’s blood. The Nightingale of course also valued her life, but she was ready to lay down her own life for the happiness of the young couple. She therefore did what she was told to do.

The next morning, the most beautiful red rose appeared, but the Nightingale was found dead under the rose-tree. Not knowing what it had cost to produce the rose, the student thought that he was very lucky to find this flower and he immedi ately plucked it and ran to the professor’s daughter. The professor’s daughter, how ever, turned him down because she had already agreed to dance with the Chamberlain’s nephew who had given her precious stones. The student was very angry, so he threw the rose away and returned to his reading.

The story however, contains some veiled comments on life. In fact, as is often the case, the author is very much an actor in this little drama. Like Hans Andersen’s “The Ugly Duckling” in which the author’s childhood was clearly reflec ted, in this story, there are also things that remind us of the author’s life. Oscar Wilde advocated the idea of art for art’s sake, and for this he was much criticized. So what the student said about the Nightingale’s music (“It has form, but no feel ings”) could be viewed as a sarcastic response to the author’s critics. Wilde seemed to be saying here that he was like the Nightingale, singing song after song, produ cing love and beauty with blood from his heart, and yet the world was too stupid to understand and appreciate him.