The Analysis of the Biblical Symbolism in Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales

程玉嬌

Oscar Wilde presents his understanding and cognition of love and life， sacrifice and salvation， home and heaven as well as death and soul in his fairy tales.

1. Love and life

The Nightingale and the Rose is a story about love and life. At first the student fell in love with a girl. But the girl said she would only dance with him if he could give her a red rose， and the season was winter. Oscar is telling us that this is not true love， because it is not unconditional love. But for the nightingale， when she overheard the students crying， she thought that was true love and she would protect the true love even though the payment was death. The nightingale did not know that when she made up her mind to sacrifice for true love， she already displayed true love. When the disciples asked Jesus how they could follow the way， Jesus said：“ To love your brothers， treat your neighbors the way you treat yourself.”4 That is the true love Oscar Wilde searches for all his life.

The nightingale here is a symbol of Jesus Christ who sacrifices himself for human beings. The rose thorn symbolizes the cross， and the red rose is the symbol of the true love. The nightingale gets the true love after she sacrifices her life； it means that the true love is as precious as life. And the student and the girl are the symbols of people who do not know what true love is and never know how to cherish love.

Under the social background of the industrialization and capitalism， nobody cares about morality or love. They only care about money and material benefit. The girl is such kind of person and at last， the student also “wakes up” and becomes doubtful about love.Wilde wants to tell us that at the very beginning human beings have the desire to ask for true love， but without the true love from God， we humans are so weak and have no power to fight against the evil and sin from the world.

2. Sacrifice and salvation

In Oscar Wildes Fairy Tales， the theme of sacrifice and salvation are obvious.

First of all， the happy prince and the nightingale sacrificed to give generously salvation to the people in the story. And the fairy tales are also stories of passion. The people who are saved often do not initially realize the sacrifice behavior of the savior. For example， in the Bible， Jesus was misunderstood and even treated with hostility. This archetypal plot is tragically presented by the happy prince and the nightingale whose passion is not understood by others. The happy prince was pulled down and the statue of him was melted in a furnace. The nightingale was dead after her last burst of music， the student just took the red rose away delightedly but he never thought about where the red rose came from and how valuable the red rose was. Whats worse， after he was refused by the girl， he threw the red rose away in the gutter and a car destroyed it. All of these symbolized the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross. And people throw away the true love like rubbish. The people never believe that he is the savior who dies for them. He is struck and spat at by the people who never know his sacrifice and salvation.

3. Death and paradise

The application of the Bible prototypes and the charitable and humanitarian tendencies that are triggered by religious emotion as well as the expression of the social care gives Oscar Wildes Fairy Tales much more feeling of loftiness and seriousness. In particular， “death” have been mentioned many times in the fairy tales. The statue of the happy prince was melted after he gave away everything； the little swallow was dead after he helped the poor for the last time， the nightingale was dead after her last drop of blood flowed out； the giant was found dead with many white blossoms covering his body； the star-child was dead three years later after he became a king.

And from the story plots we know that every hero in the fairy tales “died twice”. When the happy prince was alive and had a human heart he did not know what tears were， but after he was dead and became a statue， he saw all the suffering and misery in the city. This was the first death of the happy prince which wakes him up and makes him begin to re-examine himself and the society. In the same situation， the little swallow， the nightingale， the giant and the star-child also face with a dilemma. They had to make a choice of a comfortable but old and decayed past or a new and vital beginning which may be painful and difficult. But at last， the little swallow did not go to warm Egypt but chose to stay； at first， the nightingale thought death was a great price to pay for a red rose， but she still chose to sacrifice for the sake of true love. They have overcome their fears and controlled their desires. They say goodbye to their old selves， have a magnificent turning and get the spiritual sublimation.