Everyone knows the name of Oscar Wilde - a wonderful writer. But, unfortunately, only one literary work “Portrait of Dorian Gray” draws the increased attention of the public, leaving other works of the master unfairly in the shadow. One such "shadow masterpiece" will be devoted to this article.
"Star Boy" - a fairy tale with an unhappy ending
Even if you look only at a brief summary, O. Wilde's “Star Boy” will seem like a very sad tale. It all starts with the fact that lumberjacks go through the forest. It is a fierce winter. They no longer smell hands or feet. And suddenly they see a star falling from the sky . They run to the place where, it seems to them, she fell, and find there a child wrapped in a cloak (it is embroidered with gold), even with the child there is an amber necklace. One of the lumberjacks took pity on the baby and took him to his home.
At first, the woodcutter’s wife didn’t want to take the baby, she said that they had so many mouths and not enough food, but then the “good Samaritan” put the crumbs on her knees and the woman’s heart melted. She adopted a child. The lumberjack and his wife raised the boy as his own, never letting him know by his attitude that he was adopted. This is the plot of the tale. Ahead - a summary. "Star Boy" is a difficult story, and you will see this.
The main moral conflict of the tale:
Surprisingly, despite the excellent attitude from kind people, the boy grew up evil and cruel, because he considered himself the son of a star. In addition, the boy was handsome, strong. This allowed him to be the leader not only of his named brothers and sisters, but also of the entire surrounding children. Once a beggar approached the house. Outwardly, she was terrible: her face was sharpening leprosy, her hands were in sores, and she was dressed in rags. The cruel boy began to scoff at her in every way. The lumberjack was enraged by the behavior of his adopted son and made a stern suggestion to him. However, the boy did not heed his father and with his usual ambition said: “You are a commoner, you have no right to point me. I’m the son of a star. ” His father reasonably reminded him that it was he, a simple lumberjack, who saved him from death a long time ago. A beggar, having heard this, rushed to him and admitted that it was she who was the mother of the "boy from the star." The lumberjack was delighted and told his son, who was playing on the street, so that he would go into the house, for the boy was waiting for his mother. A heartless youth entered the house. Before him was just a beggar, over whom he had recently mocked. He said that it was not his mother and that he would rather kiss a toad or viper than her. Having said that, he left the house. But before he had time to appear on the street, his ex-friends now called the handsome young man a "freak," a "toad." He could not understand what was the matter, but then he found a pond and saw in it that he was terribly vile in appearance (here you can see some myth about the daffodil on the contrary). He understood that he had suffered the punishment for sins. Ashamed of his behavior, he said goodbye to the lumberjack and his family and went in search of the beggar mother, whom he had treated so unjustly. This is a summary. “Star Boy” is a fairy tale whose main moral conflict is the battle between good and evil in a person’s heart.
Increasing tension and climax
Further, the action develops very rapidly, and the fairy tale is read in one breath. No matter how much the boy wandered, he could not find his mother. One way or another, the road led a terrible young man to the gates of the city, and he asked the guards if they had seen the beggar. She is his mother. He told them that finding her was a matter of life and death for him. The guards just laugh at the "freak" and eventually sell him into slavery by a passing sorcerer. The wizard locks it in his castle and only releases it so that the former "star boy" can get three coins for him in the forest - from white, red, and yellow gold.
The boy went to the forest. Accidentally saved a bunny there, and for good reason. Because it was the bunny that helped him get coins for the old sorcerer, but they never got to the villain. Each time the boy returned from the forest, he met a beggar on the road and asked for coins. And each time the boy, who at this moment was completely transformed, yielded to the request of the tramp. When the boy gave the last coin to the beggar and was already waiting for death at the hands of the sorcerer, the world suddenly changed: the guards knelt, and next to the beggar stood that very beggar - the boy’s mother. The young man washed her tears with her tears, her wounds and her ulcers. She said: “Get up. You helped the beggar, you rescued your father. ” Needless to say, both his beauty and his strength returned to the boy. He was the prince of that kingdom, in the main city of which he could not enter some time ago. Such is the climax of the tale, its summary. "Star Boy" does not end there.
The final "hairpin" from Oscar Wilde
The author of "Portrait of Dorian Gray" would not have been himself if he had finished the tale on a major note. He said something else. Of course, in order to feel all the charm of Wilde’s joke, you need to read the whole story, and not look at the summary of the story “Star Boy”. But the duty still tells the reader of this article that O. Wilde finished the essay like this: our dear prince, although he was fair, kind and merciful to everyone, did not rule for too long. His poor heart could not endure the suffering he had suffered, and after three years he died, and the heirs of the throne were tyrants, so his subjects were not too lucky. This end of the tale replaces Wilde's signature. Unmistakably recognizable stylistics of the master.
“Star Boy” is “Dorian Gray” on the contrary
So what did O. Wilde want to say? "Star Boy", the summary of which you read, is an unusual tale. But yielding to the temptation, it’s worth saying: even a cursory glance is enough to understand: “The Star Boy” is a work about a person’s moral revival, about a spiritual revolution, about the unconditional victory of good over evil. The “Portrait of Dorian Gray”, on the contrary, is about the moral and spiritual degradation of man. And by the denouement, or rather, the final "hairpin" it is clear that Wilde, as an artist, hates happy ends. He likes the boundless deployment of evil in man. O. Wald's aesthetic position can be expressed in one quote from “Portrait ...”: “When tragedy combines with beauty, the beautiful is born.” And what could be more tragic and more beautiful than the gradual death of beauty?