the selfish giant the happy prince and other tales

The stone wall, the symbol of isolation between the two world, his and the happy outside world, was knocked down. He realized that the Spring didn’t come to his garden because he was so selfish and cruel. Suddenly, there was warmth and joy in the garden there was jovial music and laughter, which “melted” the giant’s heart. As we read on, we clearly see that the giant’s mood and his “selfishness” started to change when the poor little children snuck in the garden to play. These physical features obviously indicate that for such a selfish giant, the world he resides was not at all comfortable or he deserved to live in that lonely, depressing castle. It was covered with snow, frost, hail, and wind.

On the outset, the garden was quite desolate because the giant had hung on the gate a big sign saying “Trespassers will be prosecuted”, shoving away everyone. “The Selfish giant” revolves around a big garden owned by a giant, the natural changes, and the human interactions within it. In return, the physical surrounding environment affects the characters physically and emotionally. No characters can function alone without their interaction with the physical place. But, is the setting of the story also significant for us to understand the protagonist, the Giant, at all?įirstly, the “ setting of a story” is the physical place, the scenes, time and space of the story. After emerging in in the dazzling nature in the story, readers are left surprised at the story’s revelation. “The Selfish Giant”, a short story from “The Happy Prince and other Tales” (1888), is an excellent example. His novel, plays, and short stories usually embrace philosophical and/or theological questions. His exuberant personality, his eccentric and flamboyant fashion style, and perhaps his infamous arrest and imprisonment for being homosexual – all left his indelible marks on earth as a passionate artist who adored beauty. Before you proceed reading, I recommend reading Oscar Wilde’s original story here.įor people studying or interested in English literature, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) is not a strange name. In this essay, I only analyze the setting of the story.

An example of story-telling mastery, its style is a detour from that in The Picture of Dorian Gray more tender and magically sweet, more similar to that of Flaubert’s Three Short Tales. I wrote this essay in a 60-minute test for the English Literature class (Spring 2015), studying the short story The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde.

The selfish giant the happy prince and other tales