And They Died Happily Ever After: The Subversion of the Eros and Thanatos Symbols in Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tale "The Fisherman and his Soul"

Abstract

Among the late Victorian celebrities who have contributed to the fairy tale genre, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), the non –conformist dandy, stands eminently. He published two books of fairy tales The Happy Prince (1888) and A House of Pomegranates (1891), which he dedicated to both children and adults. In addition to their highly artistic style, these tales are quite memorable for their untypical ending. While the traditional fairy lore usually ends with the marriage of the hero and heroine who "live happily ever after," almost all of Wilde's tales end with the death of the leading characters.

Keywords

Oscar Wilde's