Marxist Interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s Short Stories: “The Happy Prince” and “The Star Child”

Abstract

This paper examines Oscar Wilde’s two stories – “The Happy Prince” and “The Star Child” – from the Marxist point of view. Oscar Wilde was a Victorian writer primarily known for his witty plays, stories and aesthetic philosophy. In all, he wrote fourteen short stories. Though on the surface, his stories look like children’s fiction at the deeper level they reflect the socio-economic conditions of his time. On the one hand, he propounded the “arts for art’s sake” movement and on the other, he adhered to the Marxist vision in terms of his concern for the poor and the downtrodden. In the first story, the statue and the bird donate everything for human welfare while in the latter the arrogant child humiliates people around him until he suffers and discovers a true attitude to life.