A House of Pomegranates

by Oscar Wilde

"A House of Pomegranates" by Oscar Wilde is a collection of fairy tales published in 1891. This second fairy tale collection presents four stories exploring beauty, cruelty, love, and sacrifice. A young king confronts the suffering behind royal splendor, a dwarf discovers heartbreaking truth, a fisherman abandons his soul for a mermaid's love, and a cruel boy faces transformation. Influenced by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, Wilde crafted these tales for adults, not children, weaving decadent themes with moral complexity.