The Nightingale and The Rose

📘 The Nightingale and the Rose – Study Notes

  • Author: Oscar Wilde

  • Genre: Short story / Fairy tale

  • Published: 1888, in The Happy Prince and Other Tales

  • Tone: Romantic, tragic, ironic

🧠 Summary

A young student is sad because the girl he loves promised to dance with him if he brings her a red rose—but he cannot find one. 

A nightingale, touched by his sorrow, decides to help. 

She sings through the night, pressing her heart against a thorn to create a red rose with her blood, sacrificing her life. 

But when the student offers the rose to the girl, she rejects it in favor of jewels from a richer man. 

The student throws the rose away and returns to his books, calling love “silly” and “unpractical.”

💡 Key Themes

1. Sacrifice and Selflessness

  • The nightingale gives her life for love—true, noble love.

2. Materialism and Superficiality

  • The girl chooses wealth over love, showing how material things often win over feelings.

3. The Irony of Love

  • The bird believes in pure, romantic love, but the human world values money and status more.

4. Tragic Beauty

  • Wilde shows how true beauty and love can go unnoticed or unappreciated.

🕊️ Main Characters

  • The Nightingale: A symbol of true love and sacrifice; poetic and idealistic.

  • The Student: Intelligent but emotionally shallow; doesn’t understand real love.

  • The Girl (Professor’s daughter): Represents materialism and selfishness.

✍️ Style and Literary Devices

  • Allegory: The story is symbolic; each character represents a human quality or idea.

  • Irony: The student ignores the nightingale’s sacrifice and returns to logic.

  • Personification: Nature (trees, flowers, animals) is given human emotions.

  • Imagery: Wilde uses vivid language to describe the rose, the night, and the bird’s pain.

📜 Important Quotes

  1. "She said that she would dance with me if I brought her red roses."
    – The beginning of the student’s desire, based on conditions.

  2. "What is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of a man?"
    – Irony: the bird's heart is far more noble and loving.

  3. "She has form... but no sincerity."
    – The student fails to understand the depth of love, even after the bird’s death.

  4. "What a silly thing Love is."
    – Final line showing the loss of belief in love—sadly ironic.

✅ MCQs

1. What does the student need to win the girl’s love?

A. A poem
B. A red rose
C. A song
D. A book of philosophy
✅ Answer: B. A red rose

2. How does the Nightingale create the red rose?

A. With her tears
B. By asking the gods
C. By pressing her heart against a thorn and singing all night
D. By magic
✅ Answer: C. By pressing her heart against a thorn and singing all night

3. What does the girl choose instead of the red rose?

A. Another flower
B. A dance with someone else
C. Jewels from a wealthy man
D. A golden cage
✅ Answer: C. Jewels from a wealthy man

4. What does the student do after the girl rejects him?

A. Cries and begs
B. Plants the rose
C. Throws away the rose and returns to his books
D. Follows her
✅ Answer: C. Throws away the rose and returns to his books

5. What theme does the Nightingale’s death best represent?

A. The power of science
B. The joy of nature
C. Sacrifice for true love
D. Revenge and jealousy
✅ Answer: C. Sacrifice for true love


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