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Oscar Wilde
<em>[Editor's Note: For those of you unfamiliar with the original story of </em>The Selfish Giant<em>
by Oscar Wilde
[Editor's Note: For those of you unfamiliar with the original story of The Selfish Giant, please enjoy the following tale before coming to see the show!]
Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant's garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. 'How happy we are here!' they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own castle. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.
'What are you doing here?' he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away.
'My own garden is my own garden,' said the Giant; 'any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.' So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board.
TRESPASSERS
WILL BE
PROSECUTED
He was a very selfish Giant.
The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high wall when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden inside.
'How happy we were there,' they said to each other.
Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still Winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. 'Spring has forgotten this garden,' they cried, 'so we will live here all the year round.' The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. 'This is a delightful spot,' he said, 'we must ask the Hail on a visit.' So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.
'I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,' said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; 'I hope there will be a change in the weather.'
But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none. 'He is too selfish,' she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.
One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. 'I believe the Spring has come at last,' said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and looked out.
What did he see?
He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children's heads. The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene, only in one corner it was still Winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree was still quite covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it. 'Climb up! little boy,' said the Tree, and it bent its branches down as low as it could; but the little boy was too tiny.
And the Giant's heart melted as he looked out. 'How selfish I have been!' he said; 'now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children's playground for ever and ever.' He was really very sorry for what he had done.
So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became Winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full of tears that he died not see the Giant coming. And the Giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them round the Giant's neck, and kissed him. And the other children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. 'It is your garden now, little children,' said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were gong to market at twelve o'clock they found the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen.
All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye.
'But where is your little companion?' he said: 'the boy I put into the tree.' The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him.
'We don't know,' answered the children; 'he has gone away.'
'You must tell him to be sure and come here to-morrow,' said the Giant. But the children said that they did not know where he lived, and had never seen him before; and the Giant felt very sad.
Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played with the Giant. But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never seen again. The Giant was very kind to all the children, yet he longed for his first little friend, and often spoke of him. 'How I would like to see him!' he used to say.
Years went over, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play about any more, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the children at their games, and admired his garden. 'I have many beautiful flowers,' he said; 'but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.'
One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate the Winter now, for he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting.
Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder, and looked and looked. It certainly was a marvellous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree quite covered with lovely white blossoms. Its branches were all golden, and silver fruit hung down from them, and underneath it stood the little boy he had loved.
Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened across the grass, and came near to the child. And when he came quite close his face grew red with anger, and he said, 'Who hath dared to wound thee?' For on the palms of the child's hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet.
'Who hath dared to wound thee?' cried the Giant; 'tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him.'
'Nay!' answered the child; 'but these are the wounds of Love.'
'Who art thou?' said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child.
And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, 'You let me play once in your garden, to-day you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.'
And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.
Ninety years of history, summed up, proved too much to fit into just one post. This is part two of our historical journey, picking up at the 1890’s. Enjoy!
With The Long Christmas Dinner spanning a full 90 years—starting at the 1850s— and both Pullman Car Hiawatha and The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden generally occurring in the 1920’s and the 1930’s, extensive research went into each decade that couldn’t possibly all fit into the Study Guide for A Wilder Night. Hence a 4th Wall Post (or two) was born! 1850’s The 1850s saw a lot of technological advancements and connections. The railroad network and the telegraph network helped the nation economically. Immigrants from Europe were spilling into the US. Mills that popped up throughout the North East, and with the railway expansion, food from Midwest farms were able to get to the South and East. The California Gold Rush beckoned prospectors from all over the US and China. The North was becoming incredibly urban and industrialized, while the South remained very rural. The Irish came in droves, trying to escape the Great Famine in Ireland. Due to their poverty and Roman Catholic views, they were ostracized and pushed to underdeveloped neighborhoods in Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City (predominantly). They also were forced— due to their unpopularity— to do the low-paying yet physically demanding jobs. The Germans also came to America to avoid the rising disasters in finances in Germany. In contrast, they usually sold their possessions and came to America with money. They tended to be educated and middle-classed and were generally more trusted. Manufacturing made up about two-thirds of the nation’s economy, with cotton material being the chiefest amongst the factories and mills. Cotton was in high demand throughout the world and the South met that need. However, because cotton can destroy farmland, these cotton farms were moving west. In the Northern part of the Southern states, tobacco plantations were slowing down, and slavery dying out. Sadly slavery continued to survive due to the slave trade which sent many of them to the cotton plantations. Slavery was a contentious topic at the time. America was gaining new states, particularly in the Southwest/Midwest. Much of this decade was spent in political dispute. Texas was annexed as a slave state and would lead to a war with Mexico as well as the American Civil War. The Mexican-American war ended in 1848, and the US got California, Utah, Nevada, parts of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Arizona. However, this war stirred up contentious feelings about slavery. Democrat David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso in Congress, which states that slavery would not be allowed to spread into any territory from Mexico. It was extremely unpopular to the southern states who felt it would infringe on state rights. Another compromise, known as the Compromise of 1850, was prepared by Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun… It wasn’t actually a compromise. It was just a series of arguments in Congress that continued to polarize each party. It was eventually passed as five bills. California was a free state, and New Mexico and Utah were given popular sovereignty. It abolished the slave trade in Washington DC and passed the Fugitive Slave Law (which approved the return of slaves that had run to the north, back to the south). This sparked controversy and the novel/play Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published and gained popularity. The Kansas-Nebraska Act reversed the compromises by allowing the new states of the Union to decide their stance on slavery. It also led to the formation of the republican party who opposed expansion of slavery states but weren’t absolute abolitionists. 1860’s When Lincoln was elected president, the Southern states seceded and established themselves as the Confederate States of America. The Civil War began when Confederate General Pierre Beauregard opened fire on Union (northern) troops at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. In response, Lincoln sent Union troops to reclaim it, which meant invading the South. The Union had the upper hand in terms of population, industrialization, and transportation. The war was a defensive one on the South side, which meant if they could hold the North at the border line until they gave up, they had a chance at winning. They only ever invaded the North as a shock-tactic to scare Yankees. Everyone believed it would be a short war, but it turned into four years’ worth of bloodshed. The war ended with Ulysses Grant trashing Georgia and South Carolina, trapping General Robert E. Lee and forcing his surrender. The war left the Union strong and hearty; the South was financially crippled and devastated. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, four days after the news of Lee’s surrender reached Washington DC. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1866, the first law to protect African Americans. It was vetoed by President Johnson, but the veto was overridden by Congress. However, the KKK formed in secrecy to discourage African Americans from voting. They spread terror and crime, stunting racial equality progress despite the Civil Rights Act. The West continued to be settled. Alaska was added to the Union and with the final golden spike driven into the ground at Promontory, Utah, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads were joined, thus creating the transcontinental railroad. 1869 ended with Black Friday in New York City and one of the first successes for women’s suffrage— a law passed in Wyoming Territory unconditionally guaranteeing women the right to vote. 1870’s Everything continued to keep progressing and rising— literally, everything. Technology, conflicts, imperialism, literature, and drama, etc. The telephone, light bulb, phonograph, steam drill, and headphone jack all made their debuts into society. Yellowstone became a national park. Racial/Civil rights continued to make some headway with the first African-American to be sworn into Congress and the 15th Amendment being ratified, giving black Americans the right to vote. The Great Fire of Chicago roared (thanks to Mrs. O’Leary’s cow) and caused 196 million in damages, leaving 90,000 homeless. A fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin spread across six counties and was the deadliest fire in US history. The Women’s Crusade of 1873-74 is started when women in New York marched against liquor stores and created the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. This would later culminate in prohibition. Another win for women: Rutherford B Hayes signed a bill allowing female attorneys to argue in Supreme Court cases. Conflict with Native Americans came to a head in 1876 when a government issue ordered them into reservations throughout the West.. The famous Colonel Custer and the 7th Cavalry engaged the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes and were completely razed— none of them made it out of this battle alive. A year later, Crazy Horse (leader of the Sioux tribe) surrendered in Nebraska due to cold and hunger. However, another war (the Nez Perce) started in Idaho Territory, due to the constrictions of the reservation system. 1880’s As easier access to communication and travel became more available, American life began changing radically. Clothes, food, equipment, appliances could all be mail-ordered via catalogues (Sears and Roebuck) and were brought in from all over the country. With that, jarring and canning became more and more popular, as did the ever-popular (and personal favorite) carbonated soda, Coca-Cola. Public schools and universities grew stronger from demand. Immigrant parents in particular were keen to get their children as integrated and adjusted as possible. New classes and courses were offered in history, sciences, and arts. Universities also burgeoned, not just in course development, but in quantity. In particular, Booker T. Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Leisure became a new feature to life, giving way to sports (an Amateur Athletic Union) and vaudeville. Zoos, museums, and amusement parks were created. Literature began targeting the middle class— Mark Twain entered the scene with Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The Wall Street Journal published its first post. Politics, as ever, were a strange place. James A Garfield was elected President, but only barely. He was shot in a railroad station and died two months later from infection, and his Vice President, Chester Arthur, took over. Congress repealed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, so people could discriminate based on race. Work conditions took center stage as the Haymarket riot blew up in Chicago after a three-day strike over eight-hour work days. It was followed by other labor battles for worker rights and unions. The Federation of Labor was later formed by 25 craft unions. Architecture and art were combined in the Brooklyn Bridge, followed by the Statue of Liberty. Groundhog Day was established. President Cleveland protected prehistoric features in Arizona, making them lands that can’t be settled or sold. Text by Hannah Gunson-McComb; Image research by Christina Porter
