“The Nightingale and the Rose”

Questions Read Oscar Wilde’s short story and answer the following questions in
complete sentences. When appropriate, use a short quote from the story to show
where you got your answer. Remember to put all quotes in quotation marks.

1. What do red roses usually symbolize?

➢ Red roses usually symbolize love and romance. In a romance movie/story, we often
witness the male leads gift the female leads a bouquet of red roses to confess his love.

2. What does the nightingale admire about the Student?

➢ The nightingale admires the student because he has read “all that the wise men have
written, and all the secrets of philosophy” that makes the nightingale recognize him as
a person who is truly in love.

3. Briefly discuss a theme from this story.

➢ One of the main themes of this story is love. Love comes in various shapes. It could
form in any coincidental moment, by an action or even simple words by someone.
Firstly, the student who desperately seeks for a red rose just so he could dance with
the girl he admires because of love. “She said that she would dance with me if I
brought her red roses,' cried the young Student; 'but in all my garden there is no red
rose.” Secondly, the bird who admire true love ended up sacrificing its own life to help
the student to achieve his true love. “Be happy,' cried the Nightingale, 'be happy; you
shall have your red rose. I will build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with my
own heart's-blood.” But in the end, the sacrifices of the nightingale ended up in vain
because of a simple rejection from the girl.
4. The Nightingale sacrificed her life for true and ideal love, but is this worth it? Why?
Give at least 2 reasons and examples from your everyday experiences to support your
opinion.

➢ I do not think it is worth the sacrifice from the beginning. The student should have
known to learn more about the girl before blindly following his own desire to
desperately search for a red rose just so she could grant him a dance even though
judging by the girl’s attitude towards the boy, it is obvious that the girl was only teasing
the boy when she asked for a red rose which is difficult to search for during winter.
After the nightingale learn about the boy’s desperation, the nightingale was more than
willing to sacrifice itself for the sake of true love but in the end the red rose that was
made with its heart was crushed by a cart-wheel. Just like that, it ended in vain where
the boy who had no idea what the red rose costed and the nightingale who didn’t know
that its sacrifice in the end was all in vain.
Talking about sacrifices made out of love, I have seen lots of similar event from the
people around me including my family and friends. Such as sacrificing time for
someone important which sometimes was worth it but sometimes not because not
everyone can be grateful. Denying own feelings are also considered as a sacrifice, for
example not voicing out own feelings just to be considerate of the feelings of someone
they care.