Double Identity And Moral Dilemma

Oscar Wilde’s fairy tales have mostly been interpreted from the perspective of aestheticism,and almost no critics have studied his fairy tales with a post-colonial approach. As a member of theAnglo-Irish class, Wilde suffered from identity crisis which can be reflected in most of his works.By studying two fairy tales “The Young King” and “The Fisherman and his Soul” in his fairy talecollection A House of Pomegranates from a post-colonial perspective, this thesis intends toexpound the protagonists’ double identity and moral dilemma and reveal the influence of Wilde’sdouble consciousness in this literary creation so as to demonstrate Wilde’s ambiguous attitudetowards colonialism.This thesis consists of three chapters in addition to the introduction and the conclusion. Theintroduction of this thesis traces back Oscar Wilde’s Irish roots and analyzes his double identity.Born into an Irish family, Wilde was influenced by his parents’ Irish nationalism. As one of theAnglo-Irish class, Wilde had a double identity of an Irishman and an Englishman and sufferedfrom identity crisis caused by his parents’ influence and the complex relationship between Irelandand England.Chapter1studies the fairy tale “The Young King” from a post-colonial perspective and triesto demonstrate the young king’s double identity and his moral dilemma. This thesis holds that theyoung king’s double identity can be reflected in his inheritance from his parents--his mother,representing English aristocracy and his father, representing Irish imagination. His double identity,however, gives rise to his identity crisis, i.e., he is repelled by both the colonizer and the colonized.The young king’s moral dilemma can be seen from his passion for the beautiful things whichinvolves blood and death during the colonizing process and his sympathy for the predicament ofthe poor.Chapter2explores the fairy tale “The Fisherman and his Soul” from a post-colonialperspective. Like the young king, the Fisherman is also a character with double identity. On theone hand, his Soul, which pursues wealth and power, belongs to the land; and on the other hand,his Heart, which loves the Mermaid, belongs to the sea. The thesis points out that the Fisherman isalso a liminal figure, who can not make certain of his identity among the land, symbolizing thecolonizer, and the sea, symbolizing the colonized. He is excluded by both sides. The Fisherman’s oscillating attitude towards the temptation of his Soul represents his moral dilemma.Chapter3examines Wilde’s ambiguous attitude towards colonialism. The final coronation ofthe young king with the help of supernatural forces reflects Wilde’s compromised view towardscolonization. In “The Fisherman and His Soul”, the antagonism of the colonizer and the colonizedis also mitigated through some supernatural forces, which implies Wilde’s wish to seek a peacefulreconciliation rather than a violent rebellion to resolve the conflict of colonization.The thesis concludes that both in “The Young King” and “The Fisherman and his Soul”, theprotagonists are characters with double identity and have moral dilemma. They try to seek theirsense of belonging between the colonizer and the colonized. Through analyzing these characters,the colonizer and the colonized, we can perceive Wilde’s ambiguous attitude towards colonization.By interpreting double identity and moral dilemma in Wilde’s fairy tales from a post-colonialperspective, this thesis sheds more light on the studies of Wilde’s identity.