王尔德童话(快乐王子)英文分析

An Analysis of the Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilder The Happy Prince Oscar Wilder is a prolific writer who has multiple identities that he is not only a novelist but also a poet as well as a playwright He gained a considerable reputation as he made great contribution to the world literature by inheriting and innovate aesthetics viewpoint in his literary works Based on his creation he is regarded as the milestone in aestheticism Though his novel and plays like The Picture of Dorian Gray and Salom have always been analyzed and counted as typical examples for his view on aestheticism and art by literary critics his fairy tales is more widely spread His fairy tales are popular with both children and adults The story can be simple or profound which depends on understandings of readers One of his most famous fairy tales is The Happy Prince Taking it as an example following are four aspects I analyzed his works of fairy tales I The Content and The Plot The content of his fairy is rich and creative while the plot is dramatic and fascinating The Happy Prince tells a story that in a late autumn a swallow meets the ornate statue of the Happy Prince who lived a pleasant life when he was alive but now he sees the misery and sorrow of ordinary people The statue asks the swallow to help those poor people with precious materials he is built with At last the swallow dies because of chillness and the statue is pulled of as he is worthless Wilder paves the way abundantly with rich backgrounds to highlight the figure of the swallow and the prince It also lay a foundation for the plot development At the beginning when the swallow appear Wilder does not instantly step to the meeting with the Prince instead he narrates an experience which gives reads a primary picture of this bird It is said that the Swallow have ever fallen love with the most attractive Reed however the Reed made no response to his love Pitiful and gloomy he left alone If the whole story is a piece of music this experience is the prelude It gives a human emotion to the swallow which reflects that the Swallow is loving and emotional He never conceal his love and brave to express it to the Reed though he is refused Knowing this we may realize why he agrees to be messenger of the Prince In terms of the Prince the writer lets himself tell readers his past life which is comfortable and pleasant while now being a statue he sees the real life of poor people The sharp contrast highlight the strong sympathy of the Prince for his people which is described in the next paragraphs We sees that the Prince is kind and has a delicate heart that have a insight into society The two parts play a role of the basis of the story which makes the plot develop more naturally not abruptly Except for that the plot of the fairy is never insipid as the turning point always touch a string in one s heart It seems like a sheer wonderment that you may never imagine For example the Swallow helps the Prince four times in total Each time when the Swallow comes back to see the Prince and states that he wants to leave for Egypt readers think that he should go because of the coming winter however each time he is persuaded to stay by the Prince That way of writing makes readers keep curious and focus on the content Besides the ending of the story is surprising and worth thinking First it is sad to see that both the Prince and the Swallow dies tragically While most of readers think it is the end and feel pitiful for them the writer declares it is not the end by the appearance of God who grant the heart of the Prince and the Swallow are the most precious things in the city In other words it is an acknowledge of the value of love and kindness Actually the author intend to express a positive attitude to readers that showing love and kindness is always admiring II The Greatness of the Language The language is accurate elaborate exquisite and poetic which reflects the beauty of art In this story the detailed description of scenery is beautiful which plunge readers into a wonderful picture For example He is wrapped in yellow linen and embalmed with spices Round his neck is a chain of pale green jade and his hands are like withered leaves That is the Swallow s description of the great King in the tomb in Egypt where he will live in during the cold winter The author observes very meticulously and grasp main characters In that sentence there are three colors yellow pale and green which give readers an impression that the King is noble but archaic It also forms a colorful picture which makes the story more lively Besides the author uses simile he compares the hands of the mummy to withered leaves It is appropriate and imaginable When we we think about mummies it is ancient and stiff which is very similar with withered leaves that is also dry and wrinkled There are enormous examples like this which make the story more vivid and interesting not just narrating Another typical example which reflects the writer s artistic talent on language is There is no Mystery so great as Misery In this sentence Mystery and Misery forms an alliteration as well as an embraced rhyme Using two types of rhymes Wilder s mastering of the language has reached a pinnacle point Though this simple sentence has only 8 words but it expresses clearly and concisely which gives readers a deep impression It is a series of musical words that has a great sense of rhythm Furthermore it is also the core expression of the host the Prince that he cares much about his people and feels sad about the misery in their lives Nothing can be more important than that III The Backgrounds and the Theme In the story we can infer that the environment of the city relates to the era where Wilder lives It is a mirror and reference of reality to some extent For example It is a ridiculous attachment She has no money and far too many relations We can know that his fellows does not approve the Swallow s pursuit of the Reed but the reason is a little bit strange It is about money and benefits The Swallow can obtain nothing but take care of the Reed and get a burden from her relations In other swallow s eyes the Swallow s love is blind and useless Actually love should be a simple matter between two persons but now it becomes a treat business that calculates interests It reflects the commercialism and materialism in the Victoria era The development of economic gives people a value of wealth Moreover a serious problem is the wide gap between the rich and the poor In the story a poor old woman seamstress stays up late to embroider passion flowers on a satin gown for a maid of the Queen and has no time and money to take care of his ill baby however in another place the maid is watching the stars in sky and complaining about the laziness of the seamstress It is also a reference of reality There are two completely different world inside and outside palace Poor people suffers from miserable life while nobles enjoy pleasant life As the Prince says it is a palace of Sans Souci where sorrow is not allowed Through the contrast the author actually expresses his criticize on this unfair phenomenon and sympathy for poor people What the Prince does proves that view Because of the total difference between the inside and outside of palace the Prince extremely feels the suffering of people His tears shows his sorrow and his sincere help shows his kindness He distributes all to those who in need even his life at last The author tries to conduct readers into a real world in an artistic way Frankly it is a tragic story but it never depressed readers but reminds them to pay attention to the world where they live in and people who they live with As Lu Xun said a tragedy is to show people the destruction of valuable things In that case in that fairy tale we feel a sense of grief not merely because of the deaths of the Prince and the Swallow The real reason is that they are the most kind and humanitarian but fewer people realize that In other words as the author wrote in end officials tear down the statue and abandon its heart and the Swallow which are the most precious thing in the city in the God s eyes A good fairy can awaken the consciousness and let people think about what is good and what is evil It is also the value of this story IV The Views of Aestheticism Wilder s aesthetics viewpoints are not only in his novels and plays but also have clues in fairy tales In The Happy Prince we can also find the author s art of beauty First the word beautiful appears in the story for nine times 1 He is as beautiful as a weathercock 2 for he is in love with the most beautiful Reed 3 His face was so beautiful in the moonlight that the little Swallow was filled with pity 4 everything about me is so beautiful 5 a beautiful girl came out on the balcony with her lover 6 and when he looked up he found the beautiful sapphire lying on the withered violets 7 I ll bring you two beautiful jewels in place of those you have given away 8 saw the rich merry in their beautiful houses while the beggars were sitting at gates 9 as he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful The word describes different people or things including the Prince the Reed the palace a maid in the palace the decorations on the statue and the rich s houses No matter whom the beauty belongs to good or evil the beauty itself is beautiful Everyone can appreciate from his prospective as Wilder said that it is the spectator and not life that art really mirrors Those descriptions on the one hand is used to instantly underline the beauty of figures on the other hand is used to contrast For example the girl s beauty and the seamstress s toil which stresses difference between the comfortable life of the girl and the hard life of the woman It stimulates reader s nerve However knowing the beauty has different kinds of forms we may should find out what is the most valuable and meaningful in this story Actually it is told by the author in the end the sympathy of the Prince and the love of the Swallow The Happy Prince never knows what sorrow is until he stands in the center of the city as a statue He began to recognize the world with a benevolent heart The heart is snapped into two at last but even fire can not melt it The reason is that it is filled with his care and love for his people It is powerful As the famous poet John Keats said Beauty is truth truth beauty It is valid in this story Real beauty is full of real emotions but not ostensible and void praises The Prince s sympathy for his people is true love which is eternal and indestructible Even Wilder himself stated that when he was in prison he had a heart which was as hard as a stone and he just pursued pleasure but at that moment his heart was completely broken He was filled with sympathy which he finally understood that sympathy was the greatest and the most beautiful thing in the world Although he said these words nearly ten years after The Happy Prince was published it is still an accurate explanation of the theme of the story In terms of the Swallow he is kind and better than human Though two rule boys ever throws stones to him he still appeases his grievance and helps another little boy Moreover he even contributes his life to help prince and his people There are two reasons One is his love for the Prince and the other is that he obtains happiness form helping others It is likely that the author also tried to sarcasm and criticize the rich and selfish people They are even inferior to an animal in nature In this case we may conclude that the author thinks nature is more beautiful than human world Love is also a symbol of beauty In terms of the love between the Prince and the Swallow it is sheer love Actually the Swallow loves the Reed before he meets the prince but it ends up with Reed s refusal and his leaving In the contrast the love between the Swallow and the Prince is forever and more sincere In the end the Swallow does not leave the Prince even it is becoming colder and colder because he loves him too much Also the Pri