Oscar Wilde’s Short Stories: Analysis and Recommendations
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime: A Semi-Comic Mystery
This story is one of three contained in Oscar Wilde’s book. Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime is a semi-comic mystery.
Lady Windermere’s reception was full of upper-class people. Everybody wanted to have their palms read by Mr. Podgers, who was known for his accurate readings. When Lord Arthur’s turn came, the astonishing palm reader’s face became a mask of horror, so he refused to reveal the truth to the lord. In the end, the young man convinced Mr. Podgers with money, and he discovered his destiny: he would commit a murder.
He was going to marry the woman he loved, named Sybil, but he thought she didn’t deserve a husband whose destiny was to be a murderer. For this reason, Lord Arthur decided to postpone the wedding until he had committed the murder. Unwilling to delay his marriage, he tried to kill his maternal second cousin with poison, but she died before taking the poisoned pills. Then, he obtained an explosive clock and sent it to his uncle. However, the explosion was so minor that the clock ended up being used as an alarm. After those disappointing murder attempts, he found his opportunity near a river, where Mr. Podgers was standing, and threw him into the Thames. The palm reader drowned, and everyone thought he had committed suicide. Subsequently, he married Sybil.
After a few years, Lady Windermere visited the happy couple and revealed that the palm reader was an impostor. Lord Arthur, however, answered that he believed in palm-reading because he owed to it all the happiness in his life: Sybil.
I recommend this story because I believe it teaches us to value each day, as you never know what may happen in life.
The Model Millionaire: A Tale of Generosity
The Model Millionaire is a short story by Irish author Oscar Wilde. It was the second story in his collection, and it tells of a poor man who needed a certain amount of money to get married.
Hughie was a very good-looking man with a generous and bright personality, but he lacked the ability to make money. He was in love with Laura, but his girlfriend’s father wouldn’t approve the marriage unless he had £10,000, and he had no profession. One morning, he stopped to see his friend, who was a painter. His artistic friend was painting a beggar, and when the painter left the room, Hughie gave the old beggar a sovereign, which was everything he had. That night, he found the painter at a club and discovered that the beggar was actually one of the richest people in the country, which made him feel embarrassed. A few days later, he received a letter with £10,000 from the ‘fake’ beggar for his wedding. At their wedding, his friend remarked that millionaire models are rare, but model millionaires are even rarer.
I recommend this story because it is entertaining and also teaches valuable lessons such as generosity.
The Canterville Ghost: A Humorous Haunting
The Canterville Ghost is a short story by Oscar Wilde, an Irish novelist and poet who became one of London’s most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. It was the first of Wilde’s stories to be published, appearing in two parts in The Court and Society Review on February 23 and March 2, 1887. Although he is remembered for his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, as a high school student, I had to read an adaptation of this story.
The story begins when Mr. Otis and his family move into Canterville Chase, despite warnings from Lord Canterville that the house is haunted. At first, none of the Otis family believe in ghosts, but shortly after, they cannot deny the presence of one. Despite the ghost’s efforts to scare them, the family refuses to be frightened. In fact, he becomes a victim of the family’s pranks and laughter. For this reason, he feels depressed and useless until Virginia, the daughter, feels pity for him and helps him achieve peace and death.
At first, it seems like a children’s story, but a deeper look reveals the metaphor represented by the American family and the ghost: the Otis family embodies the materialism of modern society, while the ghost symbolizes art that is sometimes forgotten or ignored. I would like to conclude by saying that I found Wilde’s blend of the macabre with comedy particularly interesting, and I highly recommend this story.