In the melancholy story The Nightingale and the Rose, Oscar Wilde turns to the superficiality of society and man, a theme that also reappears in the novel for which he is perhaps best known today, The Picture of Dorian Gray. The shory story is considered a response to the H.C. Andersen's saga The Nightingale. Common to the stories is the critique of the authors' contemporaries, but Wilde objects to Andersen's view of sacrifice and his preference for the natural over the artificial and allows his story to take a completely different turn. Another sample of Oscar Wilde's short prose can be found in The Spinx Without a Secret, the story of a woman who seemingly harbours a dark secret.
Author
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories, and one novel. Known for his biting wit, and a plentitude of aphorisms, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest. As the result of a widely covered series of trials, Wilde suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years hard labour after being convicted of "gross indecency" with other men. After Wilde was released from prison he set sail for Dieppe by the night ferry. He never returned to Ireland or Britain, and died in poverty.
