Oscar Wilde’s Short Story, ‘A Remarkable Rocket’

This self-centered rocket finds himself missing the royal celebration.

“Firework Display at the Castel Sant' Angelo in Rome,” 1779, by Joseph Wright. Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Art Renewal Center

When a city wants to display fireworks on a special occasion, all kinds are needed for a great display. Fireworks have different traits and writer Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) personified the rockets and sparklers that light up the sky to tell a cautionary tale.

In  “A Remarkable Rocket,” Wilde presents a rocket that doesn’t listen to others around him, and thinks only of himself. This remarkable rocket believes that everyone has come to see him alone.

A Self-Centered Rocket

The prince is about to marry a Russian princess and the whole kingdom prepares to celebrate. And, because the princess has never seen fireworks before, the king orders fireworks for midnight after the wedding.