UNIT II
THE HAPPY PRINCE
BY OSCAR WILDE
The Happy Prince, by Oscar Wilde, is a wonderful allegory, typical of 19th century English fiction.
The story “The Happy Prince” has three themes. The first theme of the story is that outward beauty is nothing. It is just a show. The real beauties are love and sacrifices. The second theme is that there is great gap between the rich and the poor, the rulers and the masses.
When the happy prince was alive, he lived in a palace where sorrow is not allowed to enter. He lived a life of happiness. However, when he died his courtiers set up his statue on a tall column.
When he saw people in trouble, he wanted to help them. A swallow stays at the feet of the statue of the happy prince for the night. On happy prince request, he prolongs his stay and helps the poor with the ruby and the sapphires. When the happy prince cannot see any more, the swallow decided to stay with the gold covering of the happy prince. At the end, he dies frost. The heart of the happy prince also breaks.
The mayor and the town councilors passed by the statue of the happy prince. They were shocked to see the ugly looking happy prince. They pulled it down and decide to make another statue. The heart of the happy prince didn’t melt in the furnace and the workers throw it on the dust heap where the dead swallow was already lying. An angel came and takes both the heart and the dead swallow to God as two precious things.
The story “The Happy Prince” a fairy tale and the end of a fairy tale is always happy. The swallow and the Happy Prince has sacrificed their lives to help the poor and the needy. So God was happy with their sacrifices. Therefore, God rewards them and orders that the swallow will sing in the garden of paradise and the Happy Prince will praise him.
The theme of the story “The Happy Prince”
The story “The Happy Prince” has at least three themes. The first theme of the story is that outward beauty is nothing it is just a show. The real beauty is the love and sacrifice. The end of the story gives this idea.
The Happy Prince has a lead heart, but this heart is full of sympathies for the poor and the needy. He sacrifices his eyes and beauty just to help them. He gives away his gold covering bit by bit to the poor. Now without his eyes and gold covering, he looks so ugly that he is sent to furnace to melt. He has lost outward beauty, but with sacrifice and love, he has achieved spiritual beauty. God is pleased with him. After his death, he is taken to the city of gold where he will praise God forever.
The same happens with the Swallow. He sacrifices his life for the love of the Happy Prince. Nevertheless, he also achieves spiritual beauty. He will sing for evermore in God’s garden of Paradise.
The second theme is that love and sacrifice are two saving forces. This world is full of poverty, hypocrisy, and exploitation. If there were no love and sacrifice, the world could not go on its axis. It is because of love and sacrifice that this life is going on. Therefore, it is true that love and sacrifice are two saving forces.
The third theme of the story is that there is great gap between the rich and the poor, the rulers and the masses. The Happy Prince did not know about the poor and their problems when he was alive. Therefore, it means that the rulers at that time did not know about the problems and the difficulties of the masses.
English Study Material 