The fairy tales of oscar wilde and the gain of suffering

Abstract

This thesis aims to study the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde and draw a conclusion as to why he incorporated so much pain, suffering, sadness and death in his stories. In other words, my aim was to study the "gain of suffering " in his fairy tales. It looks at whether Wilde merely wished to write different fairy tales than the traditional ones, or if he had a different purpose. The fairy tales that have been chosen are as follows- "The Star Child", "The Happy Prince", "The Nightingale and the Rose" and "The Devoted Friend". The thesis itself is divided into the introduction, four chapters, and finally the conclusion. In the first chapter I have given a summary of the origins and evolution of fairy tales in Europe, in the second chapter I have talked about the background of Oscar Wilde , his life and works . The third chapter looks at how his stories differ from those of the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen, and the fourth chapter focuses on the four fairy tales, their important structural elements and content. Having studied the fairy tales and discussed the important elements in each, I have stated, according to my findings and interpretation, what Wilde ' s intentions or purpose might have been- to depict how the modern society or life in the modern age could not be related to those depicted in traditional fairy tales, that the fairy tale could no longer serve the purpose it previously did in simpler societies , and how Wilde used the genre to fashion stories suited to not just own times, but the future as well.