The rose symbolizes love in many cultures, and the red rose in particular symbolizes passionate love. “The Nightingale and the Rose” conforms to this long-time symbolism. However, the story’s red rose also symbolizes undying love and sacrifice, as the rose is created by the Nightingale’s music and “heart’s-blood.” The fact that the Nightingale must sing as she sacrifices herself to create the rose signifies that beauty and love are intertwined, each inspiring the other.

The tragedy of the rose is that neither the Student nor the Professor’s daughter understands its significance or meaning any more than they understand The Nature of Love and Sacrificing Oneself for Love. The Student proclaims that finding the red rose is simply “a wonderful piece of luck” and (65), on noting its beauty, muses that it must have “a long Latin name” (65). The Professor’s daughter demeans the rose further when she chooses the Vice-Chancellor’s nephew over the Student because the jewels he offered her are more costly. When the Student retorts that the girl is “ungrateful” and throws the rose into a gutter, it becomes clear that the Student never truly appreciated love.