1。 Introduction

1。1 A Brief Introduction of Oscar Wilde and his Fairy Tales

Needless to say one of the most extensively recognized and idiosyncratic voices of English literature is admittedly that of Oscar Wilde。 It is mostly believed that his outstanding ingenuity has made him one of the most remarkably quotable figures in English language, not only in his era, but also right up to the present day。 Apart from Wilde’s fame and popularity which have well-spread both personally and literally in English language, his particular variety of wit turned him to be the unforgettable person of English Literature of the century。From~优E尔L论E文W网wWw.YoUeRw.com 加QQ7520.18766

His mother as an Irish nationalist and literary mistress directed her children to the brilliant literary meetings at her salon, which had a great impact on adolescent Wilde。 While being accused of homosexual affairs in prison committed with his student Bosie (1895 – 1897), he composed the apology “De Profundis”, and surprisingly during that time, he had found an admiration for Jesus Christ and, he converted to Roman Catholicism just prior to his death and that is why love of God can also be claimed to be seen as a clear theme in his short stories。

The Industrial Revolution began at 1860s, which was close to the initiation of the Victorian era, greatly influenced the economy and society。 For instance, a lot of farmers lost their lands and migrated to the industrial cities。 Among others were the liberation, resulting from spread of enfranchise; religious restrictions, the progress of scientific knowledge, and evaluation of woman in the society。 In the present time, the term Victorian morality might be described as any set of values in espouse sexual prevention and intolerance of crime。 The principles and values of the period can be pided into religion, morality, elitism, industrialism and improvement。 These values took root in Victorian morality, causing change in the Empire of British。 Although Wilde was an Irish gentleman he lived in Victorian society in London, where the atmosphere and almost all aspects of Victorian values were against his point of views, and these values were quite severe and religion based that Wilde could not survive in it, but all he had done was to give social messages through his works。 As reported by some great biographers such as Richard Ellmann, Wilde was not just a playwright, poet, novelist, author but he was also an intelligent story teller since he was a child。 In the light of such experience he discusses Victorian issues in his short stories by the help of his characters as they implicitly criticize or even humiliate the Victorian society which had a great impact on political and social issues especially for those poor people who had very little chance for education or for those who were forced to send their children to work。 On the other hand, Irish novelist George Moore who became a good friend of the young Wilde and spent his summer holidays with him at Moytura noticed that Wilde conducted his education in public by telling stories in a humorous way。论文网

As a witty critic himself, Wilde emphasized on ignorant prejudiced Victorians who were evaluating Wilde with not just reason or logic but with religious attitudes。 His intention was to awaken people and make them think better and measure everything with reason。 In that sense, by having a closer look to his life one might compare Victorian Era with the Modern Age and conclude that Wilde was not a typical representative of that period because a biased society holds no place for him to show himself and to share his creeds with people。

Wilde had published nine fairy tales included in two volumes: Happy Prince and Other Tales and A House of Pomegranates。 According to the previous studies, Wilde’s fairy tales contain various moral themes。 These moral themes violet his artistic views and reflect the moral reality。