Innocence and Friendship
In Oscar Wilde’s “The Devoted Friend,” a bird called a Linnet tells a story to an unagreeable, self-righteous Water-rat. The story the Linnet spins is a satirical fairytale in which the rich and self-important Hugh the Miller convinces the poor, innocent little Hans to perform various chores for him in the name of devoted friendship. Oscar Wilde wrote during the Victorian era, a time when innocence was generally portrayed as a redemptive, desirable trait…
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Storytelling, Language, and Morality
When the Linnet concludes its story about Hans and the Miller, the Water-rat is outraged at the idea that the story contained a moral—even though the Water-rat doesn’t know what, exactly, that moral was, he is still furious at the mere thought of it. After the Water-rat storms away, the Linnet declares, “I am rather afraid that I have annoyed him […] The face is that I told him a story with a moral.”…
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Class and Exploitation
There is a clear socioeconomic gap between little Hans and the Miller: little Hans is a poor villager, while the Miller is a rich tradesman. Despite his wealth, the Miller remains greedy and continues to take from Hans and extract the poor man’s labor, even though Hans has close to nothing. Furthermore, the Miller demonstrates no qualms about his exploitation of Hans, nor is he punished for it. Through this narrative of exploitation, Wilde…
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