The 6 ‘3, flamboyant playwright that was Oscar Wilde will, regretfully and most likely only be remembered in academia and popular education for his wit and as an icon of eros. He is remembered for his farcical plays and decadent life. What he should be remembered for, though, are his fairy tales.
High school educators and college professors are perhaps not ready to encounter the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde and what they reveal about this man who truly struggled with his sins and his relationship with God. For now, they are content with the wit and whimsy of his plays, but hopefully one day they will be ready for his fairy stories.
We might say to them as C.S. Lewis wrote to his goddaughter, “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
A Beautiful Story of Redemption
Perhaps Oscar Wilde’s greatest children’s story is “The Selfish Giant.” This fairy tale recounts the tale of a great giant with a magnificent garden. When the Giant returns from a long journey, he is appalled to see children playing in his garden and hurriedly builds a tremendous wall to keep everyone out. “My own garden is my own garden,” is his selfish refrain as the Giant hides himself away in his castle.
When the Spring comes, the surrounding country begins to bloom with blossoms and birds as nature springs to life. Everything is beautiful except the Giant’s garden where it remains a bitter, cold winter. The seasons roll on and the Giant is confused as to why a perennial winter shrouds his garden.
One morning, the Giant hears a bird singing, and as he looks out his castle, he sees the garden in full bloom with children climbing and playing in the trees. As he looks out, the Giant notices a corner in the garden where it is still winter. In it, a tiny boy stands crying because he is too small to climb the tree.
The Giant’s heart melts at the sight and he exclaims, “How selfish I have been!” He heads into the garden to help the poor little boy, but as soon as the children see him, they flee for fear and the garden becomes winter again.
The little boy, however, does not notice the Giant approaching because his eyes are so full of tears. The Giant picks the boy up and places him into the tree which immediately blooms. The boy is overjoyed, hugging and kissing the Giant. The other children see how the Giant has changed and return to play again.
Every day the children come to play with the Giant in the garden, and every day the Giant looks for the boy, but he is never seen again. Years pass by with the Giant growing old, watching the children playing in his garden — his heart is happy though he misses the boy.
Finally, one winter morning, the Giant looks out his castle and sees a tree covered in beautiful white blossoms, and beneath it stands the little boy. The Giant rushes into the garden to meet the boy whom he loved.
As he approaches, the Giant’s face becomes red with anger and he asks, “Who hath dared to wound thee?” For on the palms of the boy’s hands were the marks of two nails, and the marks of two nails were on his little feet. The Giant cries out again, “Who hath dared to wound thee?” The child answers, “Nay! But these are the wounds of Love.”
The Giant falls to his knees in wonder, and he asks the boy, “Who are you?”
The child smiles and replies, “You let me play once in your garden; today you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.”
The Selfish Giant’s heart is melted and converted at the sight of the Christ-child, his act of service unites the two in love, and transforms the way the Giant views and interacts with the world. Ultimately, his love for the boy leads him to Paradise – but only after his encounter with the boy’s “wounds of Love.”
The End of All Fairy Stories
The fairy tales of Oscar Wilde do not simply insist on the necessity of virtue, (as all good fairy stories do) they often soar to the heights of grace and mystically depict the love of Christ, his redemptive work, and how participation in his sacrificial death brings about our eternal life.
Although Oscar Wilde is often heralded for his flamboyance and remembered for his imprisonment, a closer look at his life and fairy stories reveals that, though lying in the gutter of sin, Wilde was indeed looking at the stars. His writing revealed his heart’s desire, and that yearning was granted when he was received into the Church on his deathbed.
Despite the sins and scandals of his life, Wilde recognized the truth of Christ and his sacrificial love. Despite all his wounds, he found his rest in Christ’s wounds of Love.
There is perhaps no better truth that sums up the life of Oscar Wilde than a line from one of his final literary pieces, his poem written in exile, wherein Wilde wrote, “How else but through a broken heart / May Lord Christ enter in?”
Hunter Leonard
Hunter Leonard is a passionate Catholic with an intense love for learning about and sharing the Faith. He holds an M.A. in Theology from the Augustine Institute and a B.A. in English from California State University at Northridge. Hunter works as a Happiness Engineer with Flocknote and publishes monthly articles with Catholic Stand.