The Happy Prince is a captivating short story work that explores themes of greed, judgment, and sacrifice. The plot revolves around the encounter of a bird with the gold-plated statue of a prince. The prince looked sad for the city residents.
I will provide the following information in this article:
- Author
- Summary
- Analysis
- Themes
- Positive Takeaways
- Conclusion
Author
This literary work was published by Oscar Wilde back in the 19th century. He was born in Ireland. He is famous because of works like The Picture of Dorian Gray and De Profundis. He had faced trials in his life and died in exile.
The Happy Prince Summary
The story starts with the statue of a prince. The author created an image of the statue by explaining his beauty. He was made of Lead with gold platting over it. Further, his eyes had Sapphires. While the edge or hilt of the sword contained Red Ruby.
Residents of the city adored the appearance of statues. They compared it to the angel. One day a bird named Swallow flew over the city. He was going to Egypt for winter. He rests in the city before continuing his journey. He slept underneath the statue. A drop fell on the swallow. He searched for rain but discovered it was the tear of the statue.
Swallow asked Statue the reason. He told him the story. The prince enjoyed a lavished life in his youth. Later, he died. The people of the city created his statue. Now, he was crying over the suffering of the city people. He wanted to help the poor. He asked Swallow for help. He ordered Swallow to take Ruby from the sword and gave it to a woman whose son was ill. Swallow obeyed his order.
The next day, Swallow was ready to depart for Egypt but the happy prince asked for another help. He tells Swallow to take Sapphire from one of his eyes and handle it to a poor writer in town. The third time, he took sapphire from another eye and gave it to a poor girl who was beaten by her father for selling fewer products.
The statue even sacrificed his gold-plated covering. Swallow distributed it to poor kids. This gesture made both happy. When Swallow returns, he falls on the feet of the prince’s statue. He died of cold. This thing shattered Prince’s lead heart.
Now the prince statue lost its charm. The counselors decided to install their statue. The old statue vanished while the heart was thrown to waste. The story ends when two angels take these two gems from Earth to God.
Analysis
The author criticized the Victorian period. In the story, rich people enjoyed parties while poor children were selling products for bread. No one cared for them. This shattered the Prince’s heart and he donated all his items to poor people.
This gesture promotes virtue. it’s a strong lesson for readers to help the needy ones. One should look for the people below him.
Further, this book highlights the dual nature of society. They adored statues until he lost its jewelry or attractive charisma.
Themes
The story has the following major themes:
Greed
The author described how the rich enjoyed life while poor people were struggling. This showed the greedy nature of humans.
Hypocrisy
Everyone loved the statue of the prince but no one adored it when it lost its precious jewels.
Humanity
The gestures of Prince and Swallow promote a healthy message. We should try to help poor friends.
Reward
The ending scene explains the reward of nice actions. The souls of Prince and Swallow were taken to heaven. This emphasized the better outcomes of virtues.
Beauty And Superficiality
This reading promotes a lesson that true beauty lies in acts of kindness.
Sacrifice
Both the characters Prince and Swallow sacrificed their lives for humanity.
Moral Lessons For Readers
This literary work promotes the following lessons for readers.
- Selfless acts bring internal joy
- One should live for humanity
- Remove the social differences
- Good actions bring great results
- If you donate to others, you’ll get more
Conclusion: The Happy Prince Summary And Analysis
The Happy Prince is a short literary work involving the encounter of a bird with the statue of a prince. The reading promotes themes of sacrifice, kindness, and compassion. It has received huge applause from readers.
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