NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGE

COMPILE BY NAZISH SATTI

MAM SHEHLA
ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
BS 2 SEMESTER OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

THEMES:
THEME OF SACRIFICE:
A central theme of “The Nightingale and the Rose” is that true art requires some form of sacrifice on the
part of the artist. This theme is explored with the Nightingale’s ordeal in creating a red rose at the cost
of her own life. At the beginning of the story, the Nightingale offers to trade a song to a tree for a rose,
hoping she can deliver the rose to the Student. The rose the Nightingale seeks represents a true work of
art, something breathtaking in its beauty, and finding the rose proves more difficult than simply trading
any ordinary song. The final Rose-tree tells the Nightingale that she must create a red rose by piercing
her heart on the tree’s thorn while singing.

Although this is a steep price to pay for a rose, the Nightingale represents Oscar Wilde’s (1854–1900)
ideal of a true artist. She accepts the arrangement, declaring “Love is better than Life.” The Student, on
hearing the Nightingale’s declaration of intent and not understanding it, criticizes her for being “like
most artists … all style, without any sincerity.” He believes she would never sacrifice herself for anything.
In making this statement, the Student defines a true artist: someone sincere about their art and willing
to make sacrifices for its creation.

If the Nightingale represents a true artist and her narrative arc represents the lot of a true artist, then
the fact that her sacrifice is unappreciated may also suggest that Wilde believes a true artist doesn’t
require acknowledgment or acclaim. The Nightingale creates the red rose through the act of singing her
most beautiful song, which costs her her life. If the Nightingale is the true artist, then the rose is the
truest form of art, a work the artist literally poured her heart and soul into. The Nightingale dies feeling
she has sacrificed herself for a worthy cause: the cause of “Love,” or, as the case may be, art.

Wilde was certainly a proponent of the idea that artists should make sacrifices in the name of their art.
In a recently discovered letter to an unknown recipient called “Mr. Morgan,” Wilde claimed that artists
should not expect to earn a living from their art but rather should expect to suffer for it. In the letter,
Wilde remarked: “Make some sacrifice for your art and you will be repaid but ask of art to sacrifice
herself for you and a bitter disappointment may come to you.” Following this logic, Wilde would have
seen the Nightingale as a true artist: willing to make sacrifices for art and expecting no compensation.

THEME OF LOVE:
“The Nightingale and the Rose” is a story about the nature of love. Nightingale agreed to take the red
rose in exchange for the maximum cost, which was her life. She did this because she believed love is
divine and random. It always cannot be expressed logically. At last, Nightingale proved it by sacrificing
her life.

What is the meaning of true love? To find this out, Wilde relates and distinguishes two sorts of love.
First, the story presents love, which involves a high cost: a nightingale gives her life. Therefore the
Student can own a red rose, an item which he intensely wishes.

On the other hand, it presents a second sort of love between the young Girl and the Student. She asked
for a red rose in return for her love. Later, when the Student got the rose, suddenly the Girl swings her
mind as another admirer has given her some ornaments she prices more greatly.

By exposing the story’s characters in this way, the writer clarifies that true love contains countless
sacrifices. If love is constructed based on wealth or belongings, it is not true at all. In the story, the only
‘True Lover’ was the Nightingale. She was the only one with sincere feelings, and for those feelings, she
was prepared to sacrifice her life. Even though she knew she would not gain anything in return. The fact
was only Love to her. She was doing it for her love and that she was making her beloved happy it was
enough for her. This is how love should be. We can have explicit learning from the bird how we should
act for our loved ones.

MATERIALISM:
The Student, the main character of ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’, is a thinker who pursues knowledge
and places logic and reason above all. In the very beginning he proclaims: ‘I have read all that the wise
men have written, and all the secrets of philosophy are mine…’ This excessively confident and rather
naïve remark indicates the Student’s true character, and instantly connects him to realist art movement
whose key features are the emphasis on modern world and belief in the power of science. He is briefly
distracted from his studies by a beautiful daughter of his Professor who promised to dance with him if
he brought her red roses.

From the beginning he is presented as a materialist; fixated on the rose and not questioning the
worthiness of his love pursuit. His thoughts upon listening to the Nightingale’s song reveal his
incapability of experiencing true emotions: ‘…she has some beautiful notes in her voice. What a pity it is
that they do not mean anything, or do any practical good.’ In a true manner of literary realism, Wilde
chose a student for his character, continuing the long line of student characters such as Balzac’s
Rastignac or Dostoyevsky’s Raskolnikov.

Professor’s Daughter, a haughty, vain, rude and ungrateful girl, is another character that represents
materialism. Dr Jarlath Killeen claims: ‘As daughter of the Professor, the girl in ‘The Nightingale and the
Rose’ is a powerful representation of the desire for knowledge allied with a profound commitment to
materialism.”
However, the Student kept courting her, without realizing her shallowness and class snobbery. When he
found the rose, colored beautifully by the Nightingale’s crimson red blood, he noticed its beauty, but
only as a means of dancing with his beloved. He is incapable of appreciating beauty without expecting
something material in return. When the Professor’s daughter received the rose, she stated: ‘I am afraid
it will not go with my dress and, besides, the Chamberlain’s nephew has sent me some real jewels, and
everybody knows that jewels cost far more than flowers.’ She makes it clear that she’s uninterested in
love that doesn’t include wealth and social position, adding further ‘… who are you? Only a Student.
Why, I don’t believe you have even got silver buckles to your shoes as the Chamberlain’s nephew has’.

Although she rejected him cruelly, he is not to be pitied because he got what he deserved. His
preoccupation with reason, logic and knowledge, alongside his materialistic worldviews made him a bad
judge of character. His feelings are artificial as is his character, and since his love wasn’t deep and
sincere he quickly returned to his studies, proclaiming: ‘What a silly thing Love is,it is not half as useful
as Logic, for it does not prove anything, and it is always telling one of things that are not true. In fact, it
is quite unpractical, and, as in this age to be practical is everything, I shall go back to Philosophy and
study Metaphysics.‘ The Student is doomed never to be happy because he seeks refuge in reason and is
incapable of experiencing true emotions. Blinded by his pursuit of knowledge, the Student fails to notice
and admire beauties around him; sweet scent of the flowers, song of the birds, fresh air and sunlight.