Yes I agree with you.Though wilde's essays are immensely intellectual and carries wit,his short stories too are really praiseworthy.I had to teach " The Nightangale and the Rose'" to my students of eighth gread.I really enjoyed the story.
Yes I agree with you.Though wilde's essays are immensely intellectual and carries wit,his short stories too are really praiseworthy.I had to teach " The Nightangale and the Rose'" to my students of eighth gread.I really enjoyed the story.
I cried when reading The Nightingale and the Rose, The Selfish Giant, and The Happy Prince. I think Wilde knew he had the power to evoke tears, and I think he got tired of it. It seems like he was trying to manipulate emotions in these stories... his real fascination seemed to be lies and aesthetics. I believe that his stories are excellent, but especially so in the context of what came after.
More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read.
-Algernon, The Importance of Being Ernest
This is the true joy in life; being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod.
-George Bernard Shaw
I liked Dorian Gray, so I decided to read his fariy tales and stories. Rarely have I found a more pleasing writing style, I agree that those stories are gems, each on its own. They are quite, quite wonderful.![]()
Čłowjek je dwójny, tež sam sebi. Tysacy słowow sym kaž paćerki stykał na swoje lĕta a na kóncu spóznał, zo ani jednoho słowa njeje, kotrež by jeho w ćĕle a duši we wšej wĕrnosći wĕrnje pomjenowało.
I had an ironic smile after reading The Nightingale and The Rose. A scholar who risked and let himself to be overcome by love but end up learning it the hard way. The Happy Prince left a bitter feeling in my heart. Those stories are today's reality, captured by Wilde years and years ago. Such a fine description of the human world.
I completely agree. His short stories read so much like fairy tales, but they're all infused with his brilliant prose and tragic tone so that they end up making a really deep impression. I was moved to tears by both "the nightingale and the rose" and "the happy prince". In these short stories, his writing has such a timeless quality to it that, IMO, contrast so sharply with Dorian Gray and his plays (perhaps with the exception of Salome).
But my favorite short story is Lord Arthur Saville's Crime. You can see soooooo many precursors of Dorian Gray there that it's really interesting to see how much he developed the novel seemingly out of the short story.
Has anyone read Wilde's poetry? The one that jumps to mind is, of course, the "Ballad of Reading Gaol" which Wilde wrote while imprisoned for his alleged affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. It's so tragically beautiful. But some of his shorter poems are absolute gems as well. He has such a way with words. *sigh*
No. By "timeless" I meant that universal fairy-tale quality that Wilde achieves in his short stories. Not "timeless" as in classic or thematically significant. For instance, I feel like "the nightingale and the rose" could take place anywhere, at any time. Whereas Wilde's plays, I feel, are always set in a very specific time period.
But I agree with you that Wilde's influence in the literary is based mostly on his plays.