Analysison“TheNightingaleandTheRose”fromtheViewofBeautyinLanguage

王希峰

【Abstract】In the period of the Victoria Age，Oscar Wilde is one of the most famous writers.As his classical work，“The Nightingale and The Rose” has been worshiped for its profound theme and poetic language.Now，the tale will be analyzed from the view of beauty in language，expecting sharing my reviews with all of you.

【Key Words】 aestheticism； imagery； color； language

1.The role in molding imagery of nightingale

The spirited language makes the effective effect of the imagery of nightingale more graphic.In nightingale's mind，“love” is a wonderful thing，which is more precious than emeralds and dearer than fine opals.It is generally thought that reader feels a lifelike，even an extraordinary character，but not a stiff imagery of nightingale，owing to the nightingales insistent faith and steady language for her understanding of love.Besides this，there is an interesting question that needs to be considered，as how to make nightingale interact with that young man，put another way，how to let reader know the nightingale is willing to sacrifice her own life for that young man？ It is naturally that the primary credit goes to the excellent language technique that Wilde possesses.For example，for young man's depiction，Wilde writes as “The musicians will sit in their gallery and play upon their stringed instruments，and my love will dance to the sound of the harp and the violin，and the courtiers in their gay dresses will throng round her.But with me she will not dance，for I have no red rose to give her”.Such a description showing a character，for reader，who is a man of blue，sentimental，and infatuated by love for addicted to love.It makes reader insist that nightingale is willing to sacrifice for this love，for this belongs to others love，on account of this “true love” that nightingale surely she has witnessed.Likewise，it makes reader surely such a nightingales devoted behavior is great，gracious and rational.Wilde achieves an ideal transition for shaping the nightingales characteristic of aestheticism——the noble-minded spirituality to sacrifice for love.

2.The description in metaphor

The brilliant metaphor description is a vital factor for achieving a wonderfully expressive effect of language.Exerting the different imagery （vehicle） to describe one concrete figure （noumenon），this writing technique called as “analogy”.By using analogy，not only the image-destiny highly intensified but the image-feature of noumenon protruded，the readers understanding of imagery deepened，thereby reader could receive a sense of artistic beauty，more distinct and vivider.Like the description the above paragraphs referred，as the nightingale is busy in the process of seeking a red rose-tree，the first rose-tree says，“My roses are as white as the foam of the sea，and whiter than the snow upon the mountain” and the second rose-tree says，“My roses as yellow as the hair of the mermaid who sits upon an amber throne，and yellower than the daffodil that blooms in the meadow before the mower comes with his scythe”.Now，there is no need to care for what these two rose-trees are saying，but people can find the imagery that two trees represent is same when we analyze two trees with the technique of analogy.The same influence is to protrude the tear and sweat that nightingale pays during the fighting for dream.Furthermore，by the emphasis of repetitive metaphors，the nightingales expressive effect reaches a higher level.

References：

[1]Oscar Wilde.The Nightingale and The Rose[C].New World Press.2013.

[2]Selanders Louise C and Crane Patrick C.The voice of Florence Nightingale on advocacy[J].Online Journal of Issues in Nursing.2012.