The Happy Prince Analysis

 By

Rida,9A

The happy prince is a classic allegory written by Oscar Wilde in the 19^th century. It is a widely known short story of Wilde’s that explores social injustice, love, poverty, and beauty in both senses. The Happy Prince is sad tale heavily influenced by the folktales of Hans Christian Anderson.

The happy prince is a tale of the golden statue of a happy prince placed high above the city. Every day he watched over the city and noticed all its injustices and misery that he had failed to notice while alive. One day a swallow had come to nest under the golden statue following which the prince requested him to save the poor with the expensive ornaments of the prince. And so, the swallow and the prince became an inseparable pair till the day they died.

The story focuses on the two characters the swallow and the happy prince who help many people stuck in poverty like the seamstress and her son, the playwriter, and the little matchgirl. It also includes a chef, a rich woman and her lover, the mayor, the town councilors, and God. It takes place in a faraway kingdom in northern Europe.

The tail emphasizes on the ugliness of the human heart. It beautifully describes the gap between the livelihoods of those who are wealthy and those who are poor. The rich are so wealthy and well off yet they fail to possess human values and virtues. They think of the poor as inferior and refuse to help them despite having more wealth than necessary. The happy prince who is a mere lifeless statue however possesses more humanity in him than the wealthy and cries with helplessness for the poor. With the help of the swallow who is just a bird, they help those in misery while the prosperous cover their eyes, ears, and hearts.

Wilde talks about inner and outer beauty in this writing. The statue once golden and beautiful with embedded jewels was now nothing but a piece of metal. He used up all of his gold for the people’s wealth and happiness. In this manner, he achieves inner beauty yet loses his outward pleasantness. Love is a minor and controversial theme in this tale. In spite of being separate creature the swallow experiences deep adoration and love towards the prince that he chooses to stay with him till death tears them apart.

Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson has a great impact on this short story. His tragic folktales are used by Wilde to create the tragic miseries of the poor. The happy price talks about the suffering of the little matchgirl. All of her matches have spoiled and there is no one to buy them from her. She has to return home following which her father would beat her and this thought makes her cry. After learning about this the swallow helps the poor girl by handing her one of the sapphires of the prince. This story of the little matchgirl is adopted from a folktale of the same name by Anderson.

This short story is an easy read made for children. However it explores modern societal problems that seemingly never grow old and is written beautifully enough to intrigue even an adult’s mind. Oscar Wilde magnificently discussed major problems of this “advanced world” in a simple yet captivating way.