Oscar Wilde Told Fairy Tales At Dinner Parties

One of the interesting facts about Oscar Wilde is that he told fairy tales at dinner parties. The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) and A House of Pomegranates were two collections of original fairy tales written by Wilde (1891). The stories—which dealt with themes of martyrdom and homosexual love—were presented as being appropriate for children, but Wilde delivered them at dinner parties where he was always the star raconteur, indicating that they were really meant for an adult audience. Wilde said, "I had about as much aim of satisfying the British child as I had of pleasing the British audience," when asked if he had intended for kids to appreciate them.

The same humor, magic, and foolishness that characterized Wilde's other works were present in each of the stories. The children's books, however, also offer societal criticism by exploring issues like class and poverty. Before the stories were published, Wilde initially told them to adults at dinner parties, where their first audience was. According to Wilde, the stories were "not for children, but for childish people from eighteen to eighty."