The Model Millionaire Oscar Wilde

Additional English Sem 1

Second Story

Oscar Wilde Introduction

The British author Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) was part of the "art for art's sake" movement in English literature at the end of the 19th century. He is best known for his brilliant, witty comedies.

Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, on Oct. 16, 1854. His father, Sir William Wilde, was a well-known surgeon; his mother, Jane Francisca Elgee Wilde, wrote popular poetry and prose under the pseudonym Speranza. For three years Wilde was educated in the classics at Trinity College, Dublin, where he began to attract public attention through the eccentricity of his writing and his style of life.

Theme

The main themes of the short story “The Model Millionaire” by Oscar Wilde are: Wealth. Morality and Beauty. Class consciousness.

The story's focus on the ideas of the perception of class, beauty, wealth, and generosity makes for a tale with a strong lesson for readers: that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that wealth and generosity are not always inextricably linked.

The Model Millionaire

Introduction

The short story ‘The Model Millionaire’ was written by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). He was a famous Irish writer. In this story Oscar Wilde describe about a boy Hughie Erskine who was a young man of good profile. His financial status was very low as he had no profession. He tried his hand in different profession to earn money but was not successful. So the author referred him as “a delightful, ineffectual young man with a perfect profile and no profession”

The Model Millionaire Summary 1

Hughie Erskine was a poor young man who was good looking with crisp brown hair and gray eyes. He was not only popular among men but also among women. He failed to build a career although he kept changing everything. He had gone on the Stock Exchange for six months, he had been a tea-merchant for a little longer, then he had tried selling a dry sherry. He was in love with a girl named Laura Merton, daughter of a retired Colonel. The Colonel was against the engagement and would only allow them to get married if Hughie had ten thousand pounds of his own.

One day, Hughie visited his friend named Alan Trevor who was a painter. When Hughie came in, he found Trevor painting the finishing touches to a wonderful life size picture of a beggar man. The beggar himself was standing on a platform in a corner of the studio. He was a wizened old man with a face like wrinkled parchment and a most piteous expression. And then, at that night, Hughie went to the Palette Club about eleven o’clock, and found Alan in the smocking room. They had a talk about the model of a beggar-man which was painted by Alan Trevor. On the conversation, Alan said that the model of his picture was not a beggar, but a millionaire. Hughie was surprised and he did not believe about what he heard from Alan. The name of the millionaire was Baron Hausberg. Hughie went home unhappily, whereas Alan laughed loudly. Hughie had mistaken the Baron for a beggar and offered him a sovereign. He felt very bad for treating a rich man in that manner and feared that the Baron would have taken his act as an insult.

The next morning, a messenger from Baron Hausberg came and brought a letter to Hughie. The letter contained a cheque for ten thousand pounds which was a wedding present to Hugh Erskine and Laura Merton from Baron Hausberg. On the day of the marriage, Alan Trevor was the best man and the Baron made a speech at the wedding breakfast. Alan said, “Millionaire models are rare enough, but model millionaires are rarer still!”

CONCLUSION:

In The Model Millionaire, Oscar Wilde portrayed beautifully the theme of appearance, generosity, friendship, gratitude, love, compassion, charity, commitment, connection, struggle and happiness. In this story Hughie was fooled into thinking that the Baron was a beggar solely based on how the Baron was dressed and on what Alan Trevor has told him. It was for this reason that Hughie hands the Baron a sovereign. Hughie’s act of generosity is the fact that Hughie gives the Baron more than he can really afford. The Kindness of Hughie repaid him with kindness of Baron in the way of ten thousand pounds as wedding present.

The Model Millionaire: Summary 2

There was a very good-looking young man, named Hughie Erskine. He was popular and kind. However, he was not very clever and had no money. He kept changing his job but always failed. Finally he stopped working and lived on money given to him by an old aunt. He loved a girl named Laura Merton, the daughter of a retired Colonel. The Colonel would only allow them to get married if Hughie had ten thousand pounds of his own.

One day, Hughie visited his friend, Alan Trevor, who was a painter. When Hughie came, Alan was painting a model. The model was a beggar-man. Hughie felt sorry for the model, so he gave him a sovereign. Later that night, Hughie met Alan at Palette Club. They had a talk. Hughie found out from Alan that the model was actually not a beggar-man, but a millionaire, named Baron Hausberg. Hughie went home unhappily, whereas Alan laughed loudly.

The next morning, a messenger from Baron Hausberg came and brought him a letter. The letter contained a cheque for ten thousand pounds which was a wedding present to Hugh Erskine and Laura Merton from Baron Hausberg. On the day of the marriage, Alan Trevor was the best man and the Baron made a speech at the wedding breakfast. Alan said, "Millionaire models are rare enough, but model millionaires are rarer still!"

Model Millionaires Summary 3

Poor Hughie Erskine! He was such a good-looking young man with his short brown hair, handsome face and grey eyes, but he never realized the great truths of modern life: Romance is for the rich, not the poor. If you’re unemployed, there’s no point being charming, you should be practical instead. It’s far better to have a regular income than to be an interesting person.

Hughie was popular with both men and women and he had many abilities, but he couldn’t make money. When his father died, in his will he left Hughie an army sword and a book on military history and nothing else. Hughie hung the sword over his mirror and put the book on his shelf between a fox hunting magazine and a guide to horse racing. He lived on two hundred pounds a year that an old aunt paid him.

He’d tried every way of making money. He’d gone on the Stock Market for six months, but where the other traders were bulls and bears, Hughie was only a butterfly. He’d tried the tea business for a little longer but he was soon bored. Then he tried selling dry sherry but it was no good: his sherry was too dry. In the end he became nothing, a charming but useless young man with perfect looks and no profession.

He was also in love with a girl called Laura Merton. She was the daughter of a retired army officer who had lost his temper and his digestion in India and had never found either of them again. Notes

Laura loved Hughie and he was ready to kiss her shoes. They were the best-looking couple in London, but they didn’t have a penny between them. Laura’s father liked Hughie very much but he absolutely refused to allow them to get engaged.

‘Come and ask me again when you’ve got ten thousand pounds of your own, and we’ll see,’ he used to say. When he said this, Hughie was very sad and Laura had to comfort him.

Model Millionaires Summary 4

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