Symbolism:
* The Nightingale: Represents selfless love, sacrifice, and the power of art. Its song is a metaphor for beauty and the ability to inspire deep emotions.
* The Rose: Represents beauty, love, and the fragility of life. The red rose, specifically, symbolizes passion and sacrifice.
* The Student: Represents the shallowness and superficiality of human desire, particularly when it comes to love. He is focused on material possessions and desires beauty without understanding its true value.
* The Professor: Represents the power of knowledge and its potential for both good and bad. He is a scholar, but he is also unable to understand the true meaning of love and sacrifice.
Irony:
* Situational Irony: The student's pursuit of a red rose to win the girl's love is ironic because the rose symbolizes sacrifice, while the student is unwilling to make any sacrifice himself. The nightingale's sacrifice ultimately leads to her death, while the student ultimately fails to win the girl's affection.
* Dramatic Irony: The reader knows that the nightingale's sacrifice will be in vain, while the student remains oblivious to the true meaning of love.
Allegory:
* The story can be interpreted as an allegory for the difference between true love and superficial love. The nightingale represents the selfless love of an artist, who sacrifices everything for their art, while the student represents the shallow desire for material beauty.
Other Techniques:
* Personification: The nightingale is given human qualities, such as the ability to sing, cry, and love.
* Imagery: Wilde uses vivid language to create a picture of the nightingale's song and the beauty of the rose.
* Metaphor: The nightingale's song is a metaphor for art and its ability to inspire deep emotions.
* Foreshadowing: The story hints at the nightingale's sacrifice early on, creating a sense of suspense.
Overall, "The Nightingale and the Rose" uses a combination of literary techniques to create a powerful and moving story about the nature of love, beauty, and sacrifice. It is a timeless tale that continues to resonate with readers today.