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
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Period
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Victorian
era
His works
Novel 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 text
Part 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 love
Part 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
necessary
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 poverty
3) 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.
bloom
vi. to produce flowers, yield flowers, come into flower or be in
flower开花
The roses are blooming.
blossom
1) vi. (of a seed plant, esp a tree or plant) to produce or yield
flowers, bloom
The apples trees are blossoming.
2) vi. to develop
Their friendship blossomed when they found out how many
interests 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
through the leaves and wondered. (2)
 The bird is here personified, hence the
capitalization. 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,
loaf-loaves
 roof-roofs, proof-proofs, hoof-hoofs/hooves,, cliffcliffs

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
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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
night, 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.
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 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
flied 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 Rosetree 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
at 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
the 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 immediately plucked it and ran to the professor’s
daughter. The professor’s daughter, however, 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
reflected, 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 feelings”) 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, producing love and beauty with blood from his heart, and yet the
world was too stupid to understand and appreciate him.