The Nightingale and the Rose

“What I sing of, he suffers—what is joy to me, to him is pain. Surely Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine opals. Pearls and pomegranates cannot buy it, nor is it set forth in the marketplace. It may not be purchased of the merchants, nor can it be weighed out in the balance for gold.”

The Nightingale asserts the value of love beyond all else—especially above material goods. This line foreshadows the Professor’s daughter’s contrary assertion that “everybody knows jewels cost far more than flowers” (66), in which she justifies her rejection of the rose. Although the Nightingale implies that the Student’s “suffering” gives him insight into love that she lacks, it is in fact the Nightingale, with her artistic sensibility, who truly understands The Nature of Love and Sacrificing Oneself for Love.

“But the Nightingale understood the secret of the Student’s sorrow, and she sat silent in the oak-tree, and thought about the mystery of Love.”

The Nightingale proves herself to be different from the other creatures in the garden, as she understands the Student’s longing. Wilde calls Love a “mystery” here, which contrasts with the constant emphasis that the Student places on knowledge and intellectual understanding. This insistence on rationality ultimately prevents him from appreciating love.

“‘Death is a great price to pay for a red rose,’ cried the Nightingale, ‘and Life is very dear to all. It is pleasant to sit in the green wood, and to watch the Sun in his chariot of gold, and the Moon in her chariot of pearl. Sweet is the scent of the hawthorn, and sweet are the bluebells that hide in the valley, and the heather that blows on the hill. Yet Love is better than Life, and what is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of a man?’”

The Nightingale reflects that she does not wish to die, listing the joys of life. Notably, all of the joys involve experiences in the natural world. The Nightingale’s musing on life’s joys makes her sacrifice all the more potent and meaningful. Her closing question proves ironic, as the Nightingale has more emotional depth and love than either the Student or the Professor’s daughter.

“‘She has form,’ he said to himself, as he walked away through the grove—‘that cannot be denied to her; but has she got feeling? I am afraid not. In fact, she is like most artists; she is all style, without any sincerity. She would not sacrifice herself for others. She thinks merely of music, and everybody knows that the arts are selfish. Still, it must be admitted that she has some beautiful notes in her voice. What a pity it is that they do not mean anything, or do any practical good.’”

This passage acts as an indirect criticism of pragmaticism and anti-aesthetes who would claim that The Value of Beauty and Art lies in it having a deeper meaning of some kind; Wilde suggests that beautiful art has depth in itself just by being beautiful. This passage is also an instance of dramatic irony, as the reader knows that the Nightingale is about to sacrifice herself for the Student.

“Bitter, bitter was the pain, and wilder and wilder grew her song, for she sang of the Love that is perfected by Death, of the Love that dies not in the tomb.”

The Nightingale’s song of eternal, undying love emphasizes her own capacity for love, inherent in her sacrifice for the Student. Compared to the love between a boy and a girl and the passion between a man and a woman that she sang about before, this undying love is the most mysterious, escaping the bounds of earthly love.

“But the Nightingale’s voice grew fainter, and her little wings began to beat, and a film came over her eyes. Fainter and fainter grew her song, and she felt something choking her in her throat.”

Like the Nightingale’s visceral delight in life’s pleasures, her bodily suffering in her final moments contrasts with the detached intellectualism of the Student. The passage thus illustrates The Limits of Materialism and Pragmatism, which purport to deal with the world as it is but in fact overlook life’s deepest and truest experiences.

“Then she gave one last burst of music. The white Moon heard it, and she forgot the dawn, and lingered on in the sky. The red rose heard it, and it trembled all over with ecstasy, and opened its petals to the cold morning air. Echo bore it to her purple cavern in the hills, and woke the sleeping shepherds from their dreams. It floated through the reeds of the river, and they carried its message to the sea.”

This passage emphasizes the power of the Nightingale to touch everything around her with her beautiful singing, including huge, majestic natural features like the moon and the sea. Wilde stresses the power of the Nightingale’s loving sacrifice, challenging the Student’s assumption that the Nightingale’s songs do not mean anything.

“‘Why, what a wonderful piece of luck […] I have never seen any rose like it in all my life. It is so beautiful that I am sure it has a long Latin name’; and he leaned down and plucked it.”

This quote contains dramatic irony, as the Student has no idea that the rose is the product of the Nightingale’s sacrifice, assuming instead that it is just “a wonderful piece of luck.” The Student’s conclusion that the rose must have “a long Latin name” underlines the Student’s devotion to pragmatic and scientific thinking. This remark also highlights the hollowness of such philosophies, as the Student is completely oblivious to the rose’s origins or true value, instead thinking about the manmade name that it might possess.

“‘I am afraid it will not go with my dress,’ she answered; ‘and, besides, the Chamberlain’s nephew has sent me some real jewels, and everybody knows that jewels cost far more than flowers.’”

The Professor’s daughter’s claim that the rose “will not go with [her] dress” emphasizes her shallowness and cruelty, as she retracts her promise that she would dance with the Student despite his fulfillment of her request. Her rationale for preferring jewels highlights her materialism, as she values them more simply because they “cost” more.