The Analysis of an Extract of “the Fisherman and His Soul” by Oscar Wilde

The Analysis of an Extract of “The Fisherman and His Soul” by Oscar Wilde

“The Fisherman and His Soul” is a fairytale written by Oscar Wilde and published in 1888. Written in Biblical dictation it tells a story of a Fisherman who falls in love in a Mermaid, but he is given a choice: soul or his love. The Fisherman chooses the latter. As a proper fairytale, it joins two worlds together: real and fantasy world and conveys the massage of overpowering and ever-sacrificing love. Oscar Wilde shows the reader that everyone makes mistakes and, learning from them, will help to redeem oneself and be better. The story also reveals the attitude of Christianity towards the phenomena that is considered to be controversial- sacrificing one’s soul for love.
The story is written in the third- person omniscient narrative, because the narrator knows many details, feelings and also senses of the characters, for instance, Priest’s: “he was desiring to speak to them of the wrath of God”; “odour was sweet in his nostrils”. The narrator also knows that Priest trembled and prayed when he found out from where the flowers were taken. As it is a third-person narrative, such pronouns as he, him are used.
There are many religious words that belong to the semantic field of religion, for instance, altar, Priest, deacon, tabernacle, wafer that emphasizes the role of God in this fairytale. The presence of God and His forgiving nature reminds the reader of the most important thing in life –love. The return of Fisherman’s and Mermaid’s love teaches that one has to understand such a phenomenon, before judging it. Almighty God forgives all who truly repent. “Field of Fullers” is a Biblical allusion- a spot near Jerusalem where the fullers pursued their occupation, highlighting the role and importance of religion in the story.
Numerous stylistic devices are used in this extract. Epithets sweet herbs and curious beauty emphasizes the admiration of these things and that they are somehow divine and overwhelming. “[...] the Priest went forth to bless the sea, for it had been troubled.” is a personification depicting human emotions and their inner conflicts. The Soul of the Fisherman is a personification. The Soul is described being able to be separated from its bearer and live a life on its own and that the bearer too does not need a soul to survive. Simile “And he stood as one in a dream” describes the feelings and mood of the Priest, as he does not truly comprehend the situation around him as if he is lost in this dream.
Furthermore, archaic words, wrath, leman and grammatical forms, spoke-spake, and conjunction whence are used. Also archaic negative forms are used, for instance, he knew not, he spake not, he understood not. The usage of the words gives the reader the insight into the English language of that time and gives the feeling of being back in the past.
The text is made cohesive using conjunction and, in the majority of the sentences begins with the conjunction and, that serves as anaphora, “And in the morning […]”; “And after that they had unrobed him […]”; “And after that they had unrobed him […]”. With the help of the conjunction and Wilde echoes the same idea throughout the text. The sentence “and their odour was sweet in his nostrils” is repeated in two successive paragraphs, thus emphasizing the impact of the flowers on the Priest. Also parallel structures are apparent in the text, mostly, they start with phrases and when: “and when the Priest reached”; “and when the third year was over”; “and when he had finished”. The usage of parallel structures makes the text cohesive and makes the course of actions rhythmical, one after another.
Unusual grammatical construction- inversion- is used, for instance, he knew not, and accursed shall they be, that never had seen before. Using inversion, the action and Priest’s feeling are emphasized. The reader instantly sees Priest’s strong opinions and that he will stand his ground no matter what, as the Bible has forbidden this unholy union between Fisherman and Mermaid.
The extract of the fairytale includes also many cases of polysyndetons, “and with him went the monks and the musicians, and the candle bearers, and the swingers of censers, and a great company”; “ But the beauty of the white flowers troubled him, and their odour was sweet in his nostrils, and there came another word into his lips, and he spake not of the wrath of God, but of the God whose name is Love.” The use of this stylistic device slows downs the tempo of the text and prepares reader to what may happen next, slowly coming to the end of the story.
The story comes a full circle, at the beginning the Priest goes to the shore to bless it, but chooses not to do it, thus starting Priest’s emotional journey of understanding the phenomena of love. Thus in the end, he has come a full circle, being back at the shore. Now he has understood “love” and blesses the sea, showing the forgiving and understanding nature of God.
To sum up, the usage of unusual grammatical constructions and archaic words and forms made the text harder to perceive. Words of the semantic field of religion or church are present to create the atmosphere of spiritual affairs. The story is instructive; it teaches that love is to be seen as a blessing and should be treasured and respected. It also shows that everyone can make mistakes, but one is truly redeemed when he admits them and tries to learn from them and tries to fix them.