Comparing Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales (Grade A*) - page 1
Keywords: Oscar Wilde Fairy Tale Compare Reality
By wiseone on 19/11/2006 17:05:05
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 1 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
“… An attempt to mirror modern life in a form remote from reality” (Wilde). How far can this be said to be true of Oscar Wilde’s fairy tales?
Conventional fairytales have many features in them that make them unique. These can include the characters, events or the actual setting. Characters may include a Princess that needs rescuing, Royalty, evil Stepmothers, Dwarves, Giants, Fairy God Mothers, Witches, Wizards and maybe talking animals. Settings in a conventional fairytale can include a Castle, a pace that is old and traditional, and a tall tower. Many events can occur in a conventional fairytale. These may include a battle against evil, spells or curses, love, weddings and at the end, they nearly always “live happily ever after.”
Although Wilde’s fairytales are unconventional, they still have features that conventional fairytales also include. For example, in his stories, there is a battle against evil, Royalty such as the Prince, talking animals like the Swallow, Giants, people and creatures in love, magical creatures and an old traditional setting such as the Princes old Palace.
Wilde shows poverty and inequality through the different characters he has described living in the city. On one side there are the rich people such as the Mayor and the townspeople. On the other side there are the poorer, poverty stricken people such as the workers. This shows inequality because the rich people do not notice the poor people suffering. For example the rich woman that is waiting for her dress to be sewn thinks that the woman that is sewing it is lazy. But in fact, the woman has a son that is not well and finds it hard to do look after him and sew the dress at the same time. Because the rich woman has not seen this, she does not realise this.
When the Prince was alive, he was happy living in his beautiful Palace, unaware of all the suffering going on around him. He did not leave his Palace much and only met with the richer people in the city, and so did not see any of the suffering. He acted like the Mayor and the townspeople act now, by not being able to notice what was happening around him. But after he became a statue, looking over the whole city, he is able to see everyone suffering.
There are three main characters in
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