Subject                        Novel and Short stories

Topic                           Nightingale and the Rose

Nightingale and the rose

Nightingale and the rose is a short story and is written in 1888 in a collection named “ the happy prince” as it is like a children’s story but it deals with philosophical and emotional matters that are far from the understanding of children’s capacity. Because it deals with something that is all about the deep and strong love of two individuals. Therefore, it cannot be said that it is a simple entertaining story for the children.

Further, the writer deals with two common things in the entire story shows two different people that favor one from both. Those two things are idealism and materialism. The writer presents the girl character who rejects the student because he is incapable of wealth, and wants to marry the other who is rich. So it shows that the girl character is a materialistic character who does not know the deep emotions and feelings of the boy who thought a lot about how to fulfill her demand to provide her a rose to dance with her. Even the nightingale sacrificed her life for the love of these two young fellows. It shows that the nightingale is very unmaterialistic others must be called materialistic. Thus it shows the writer is trying to show the society which is consisted of two types of characters who are to be called materialistic and idealistic.

 

Critical analysis of nightingale and the rose

In the story, the main thing is the nightingale which does several things for true love. The nightingale becomes very sympathetic and compassionate for the boy who is in great disappointment for a red rose that is not available in his entire garden. Then the nightingale set out for the search of rose to give him for his love. The nightingale even in this process sings the whole long night and sacrificed the life for a red rose by pressing the chest to the thorn of a white rose tree for a flower. It dies for their love, nightingale says, ‘death is a great price to pay for a red rose and then she says yet love is better than life” (p.3). Such love is found in pride and prejudice. Jane Austin (1813) states that in vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you (Austin, 1813). It is to prove how truly the nightingale is who does not care for her life for love.  On the other hand, the boy is simply not a true lover, as shown in the story by the writer that symbolizes the red rose as the love that does not exist in an entire garden. So it shows his feelings are not strong enough .further the girl is also not a true lover in the story.  She pursues wealth and jewelry regarding them most essential for which she rejects the boy who just keeps red rose nothing else and accepts chamberlain’s nephew who offers her a piece of gold jewelry. Such weak lovers and selfish characters found in several books who had not had such courage to prove the love. Like great writer Oscar (1890) says that wealth and money earning in trade is more honorable than to have one love. Girls can be gotten by money (Wild 1890). The same thing can be seen by a girl in the short story who is not a true lover like the boy who just loves materialistic things. But the saddening thing is that the nightingale surrenders its life for love but its submission to death is not appreciated by any characters in the entire story except the rose tree who truly believes it’s suffering for the love. Certainly, such ungrateful characters are available in the enormous novels who are ungrateful of the work you had done for them. in the king Lear play where king Lear daughter shows ungratefulness to father, Shakespeare (1603)  dear sister father left my palace to come to your place but not let him as he had treated my servant badly(Shakespeare, 1603). So saddening that father provided his wealth in return he was taken out from the home

The other character also plays some negative role in the story. For example, the lizard laughs at the student that student is very silly crying for a red rose which he is not going to get in return from the girl. He makes fun of him that crying for a red rose is very useless and meaningless. It shows lizard is very pessimistic and believes that for crying other is not motivated rather thinks for himself is better. Such pessimistic characters are found in plenty of books that say people will be not grateful as you are. For example in the novel of Wells  (1897) in the invisible man same thing happens when the doctor serves the invisible for several days but lastly, an invisible man tried his best to kill him considering him a deceiver (Wells, 1897). In the same manner, this thought becomes true at the end of the story when nightingale sacrificed her life and return he got nothing. Has also personified is also personified the characters like the red rose and the oak tree both are two minor characters who have roles in the story. The red rose is guidance when the nightingale comes to it for a red rose, then not having red rose, she guides the bird to go to a tree which bears red rose. It shows kind guidance to the nightingale and as well as the oak tree has understanding and the feelings of seriousness for strong emotions of the nightingale and requests her to sing the last song for the love.

In the nutshell, in this story, the main character is a nightingale who is extremely true in respect of true love. He does not think afraid of any trouble for the love. Even it kills herself for it. Therefore, in my point of view, the main hero in the story is a nightingale, who is selfless and unmaterialistic. Her feelings for love are extremely high. So it is very important to appreciate this character.

Discussion of the nightingale and the rose                         

In the entire story if one sees carefully finds out that sacrifice, morality, and true love exist in nightingale. Becaof uses the feelings for love and selflessness for anything in return while helping someone; it shows that surely the true lover in the story is the nightingale itself. Who loves those love although their love is not so firm? As a result, one cannot deny the fact that nightingale was serious regarding love. The eyewitness in the story is the oak tree and rose, who see with their naked eyes the struggle and pain of the nightingale for the love. Surely every reader appreciates its noble and kind work. Furthermore, the rest of the characters are very weak in respect of love. We find selfishness, pride, the materialistic smell in the characters in the story. For the example the student who shows he loves the girl but he is very weak to find a single rose for the girl but later he even so soon change his mind to love her when once she rejects his love; and he adds about love like this, ‘what a silly thing is a love’’, and throw the rose in the gutter. If he were a true lover he must have worked hard to achieve her. Sadly he threw away the rose by the rejection of her. Resultantly, it is shown he is very weak in love. In the same manner, the girl is also the same as the student who does not possess strong feelings for love but rather she is interested in things and materials, gold things, like jewelry and other materialistic. Her character was proved in the place when the boy brought a rose for her and she rejected it that she loves not him and rose but loves chamberlain’s nephew who keeps lots of wealth and property. She loves not to love but she loves property. The writer is here showing that people here appreciate wealth. True love does not exist in the society of the majority. People love you if you have money and wealth they show affection otherwise they reject you if you only believe in love and reject money and wealth. In the same manner, other characters also have the same feelings whose love is very weak and are materialistic too. But one can’t ignore the nightingale who is so strong concerning love. His love is true and appreciative.

Summary of the story

The main is thing in the story that a student of philosophy falls in love with a professor’s daughter. He wants to dance with her but she said that if he will bring a red rose for her then she will dance with him. It is a hard target for boys because it is winter season and there is no rose available in this season. The boy got to the garden and started crying about a red rose.  He sobbed, ‘I lose my love if I don’t get a rose’’. A nightingale heard these words from her mouth and saw the boy crying in the garden. He goes from tree to tree to bring a red rose for the boy but it was winter season so not at all a tree produces a red rose. Because the nightingale singing the songs of all life and could understand nature, she understands the boy's feelings of love. The other characters drawn by the writer like the lizard butterfly make fun of the nightingale. Finally, a tree of white roses gives her a solution that if she pinches her heart and sings her love song in moon night then the red rose will produce. The nightingale did the same and died but she produced the red rose for the boy to sacrifice her life. On the next day, the boy found the red rose in the garden he goes to the girl and show her the red rose but she rejected his love and said that chamberlain’s nephew send me the jewelry which is better than this red rose. The boy threw the red rose in the gutter and said, ‘what a silly thing a love’.

 

By: Sheela Nabi Bakhsh

The writer is a student of Linguistic, English Department University of Turbat

Turbat Kech Balochistan