Book: Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde

It seems that Oscar Wilde was such a great writer that when you talk about his works, you need to know about his life as well for it heavily influenced his writings. I am in absolute awe of his writings. He used simple words and sentences, nothing fancy. Yet his stories have an incredible power of penetrating deep into your heart. Most would have known a few of his famous works namely The Happy Prince and The Nightingale and The Rose. I knew the endings to both stories but i could not help to shed a tear or two while reading them. In fact, i cried silently on the train while reading most of his tales hahaha. Maybe its because his main characters are almost always influenced by Christ that when The Happy Prince stood and oversees the town and could not help but want to help the people at the cost of himself or when the Nightingale sacrificed herself while singing of a Love that is perfected by death, a Love that dies not in the tomb because she knew that Love is the greatest gift on earth, i cant help but to have my heartstrings tugged.

Children fairytales are fascinating to me. Very seldom are such fairytales written for kids although they are enjoyed by audience of that age. Did you know that Cinderella's step-sisters actually cut off their toes in an attempt to fit into the glass slipper in the original story? You can check out the other less glorified but original stories from Grimm Brothers here. Oscar Wilde's stories have that effect on me as well. I never thought much about The Happy Prince or The Nightingale and The Rose as a child but now as i read through them, i discovered a whole new meaning i was not aware of before.

One of my favourites from Oscar Wilde is definitely The Selfish Giant. I did not think of it as interesting when i was reading it. But the ending took me by surprise and i was touched by the story. The Young King saw me sniffing my mucus away. It was about a shepherd boy who became a king. He ordered the finest rubies and silk and pearls for his coronation outfit but had a dream and realised that his covertness caused commoners their lives just to make him his desired crown, robe and staff. And so, he refused to wear any of those and chose his sheepskin cloak and shepherd's staff instead. As he walk towards the Hall, the people started booing him and rejecting him as their king for he did not dress nor act like one. This is a story based on Christ. Though the king had the best intentions for his people, nobody acknowledged him for he was not what they had in mind. The truth may just right be in front of them but people dont want the truth. They just want to see what they wish to see.

Nevertheless, i shall end with one of my favourite parts from the story:

"Are not the rich and the poor brothers?" asked the young King.
"Aye," answered the man, "and the name of the rich brother is Cain."