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Brief Introduction about the Author |
Synopsis |
Warm-up Activity |
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Warm-up Activity
1.
Why do you think Hughie is poor?
Hughie was poor because he was not good at making money . He was too kind-hearted to take advantage of anybody. He had no training and little interest in working. He was quite generous and was apt to give away what money he did have.
2.
Is Hughie a lucky man in the end? What had made him so lucky?
Hughie was lucky because the beggar was really a millionaire who appreciated Hughie for his generosity and kindness by presenting him a check for thousand pounds.
3.
Could you explain the following expressions? Try to understand the underlying meaning.
(1) (The first four sentences in first paragraph) Unless one is wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow. The poor should be practical and ordinary. It is better to have plenty of money than to be attractive. These are the great truths of modern life which Hughie Erskine never realized.
These opening sentences are a commentary on the whole story. At the beginning of the story, Oscar Wilde develops his main character, Hughie Erskine, around what he calls ¡°the great truths of modern life¡±. Hughie¡¯s being barred from marrying Laura Merton proves that in modern society money is more important than beauty. But Oscar Wilde does not let the ¡°truths¡± work in his story. He changes the fate of this charming and poor fellow by having him get ten thousand pounds as a reward for his generosity. The fairy-tale ending suggests that Oscar Wilde is dissatisfied with money-centered society. He prefers beauty to money.
(2)(the first sentence in the second paragraph) To make matters worse, he was in love.
Love is expensive in modern society. For some people, love is connected with wealth. A man who is poor has no right to love or to be loved.
(3) (The second sentence in the third paragraph) Trevor was a painter. Indeed, few people are not nowadays. But he was also an artist, and artists are rather rare.
Many people consider themselves painters, but only a few of them can lay claim to being artists. Painters know how to draw pictures, but artists have a profound understanding of art and beauty. Therefore, artists are much noble than painters. Oscar Wilde uses present tense in his aphorisms to show his own opinions about painters and artists.
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