University of Kirkuk

Basic Education College

English Department

Short story (the happy prince )

A.T. Ahmed R.kakawayes

2021-2022
Who Was Oscar Wilde?
Author, playwright and poet Oscar Wilde was a popular literary figure
in late Victorian England. After graduating from Oxford University, he
lectured as a poet, art critic and a leading proponent of the principles of
aestheticism. In 1891, he published The Picture of Dorian Gray, his only
novel which was panned as immoral by Victorian critics, but is now
considered one of his most notable works. As a dramatist, many of
Wilde’s plays were well received including his satirical comedies Lady
Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal
Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), his most
famous play. Unconventional in his writing and life, Wilde’s affair with a
young man led to his arrest on charges of "gross indecency" in 1895. He
was imprisoned for two years and died in poverty three years after his
release at the age of 46.

THE HAPPY PRINCE

Q/ The Happy Prince Summary
A/ A Swallow delays his trip to Egypt for the winter because he falls in
love with a Reed—upon giving up that romance, he flies past a town
where he happens to settle on a pedestal underneath a gilded statue.
This statue, the Happy Prince, speaks to the Swallow about all of the
poverty and suffering—especially the suffering of children—that he
sees in the town from his high perch. He begs the Swallow to assist him
in relieving some of that suffering by delivering the valuables from his
person to those in need.

First, the Swallow delivers the ruby from the Happy Prince’s sword-hilt
to a seamstress struggling to feed her sick son. One of the statue’s
sapphire eyes goes to a playwright freezing in his garret, and the other
to a young match-girl whose father would beat her if she came home
empty-handed. As the Sparrow has come to love the Happy Prince, he
opts to remain by his side after the loss of his eyes makes him blind,
and tells him stories of Egypt to keep his world vibrant as the winter
gets colder

Q/Themes:
A/The story carries various themes such as:

1-. Love: The compassion of the statue for other people and the bird’s
swallow depicts great sensitive feelings. The prince gives away
everything to help people and the swallow and prince share a fantastic
love bond.

2-. Sacrifice: While the prince gives away his ruby, eyes and gold leaves,
the little swallow sacrifices his life to serve humanity. The bird did not
reach Egypt to meet its companions, instead stayed with the prince in
harsh cold weather and at last died at the feet of the statue.
3-. Appearances can be deceptive : This story has a great lesson to teach
as it portrays a statue coated in gold but basically it is made up of lead.
The appearance was grand but when all gold coating came off, the
statue looked ugly. Another thing associated with it is that the prince
was happy when he was alive and enjoyed his wealth but the time he
saw human beings suffering, he was saddened by the poverty and pain
around him.

4-. Exploitation and hypocrisy of the ruling class of society : This theme
is vibrant in the story as the Mayor and his members of office judged
the statue and chose to pull it down as they thought it looked ugly.
Also, the happy prince lived in his palace not knowing the misery of
human beings as he never bothered to look beyond the huge walls of
his palace. The rich live lavishly and the poor are not treated well.

5-.True Friendship: The prince in the story shares a great bond of

friendship and respect with the little swallow. Whatever the prince
commands, the swallow follows the orders religiously. The friendship
they had was so true and loyal that they were put in heaven together.

Q/ Moral Value Of The Happy Prince

A/‘The Happy Prince’ – the story has a fine moral. Good rewards those
who feel for the poor and make sacrifices to remove miseries and
sufferings of other people. The Prince and the Little Swallow who helps
him are rewarded in Heaven for their kind deed on earth.
Q/The Analysis Of Conflict In The Short Story 'The Happy Prince' By
Oscar Wilde
The study found that the internal conflicts were about conflicts
between the happy prince and him self, and happy prince and littel
swallow. The internal causes of the conflicts were happy prince felt
wrong because he was always happy while he did not know the ugliness
and the misery of his society. After his death, he knew everything about
his society. He asked littel Swallow to take everything in his body and
gave to the people who needed. Litte swallow did always what happy
prince commanded to his heart.

Q/The Happy Prince Symbols

The Lead Heart

The Happy Prince has a heart made of lead, which breaks when his
beloved Swallow dies of the cold. At first, this lead heart appears to
emphasize the superficiality of the Prince’s beauty,
Egypt
Although this story is set in an unknown city in the northwest of Europe
(likely London), the Swallow’s desire to migrate to Egypt and his many
stories about the country turn it into

Children
Wilde frequently uses children and youth as a symbol of innocence and
goodness in “The Happy Prince.” The Prince only intercedes on behalf
of children or young people—he chooses the seamstress due to her
need…

Q/Narrator and point of view

The short story “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde is told by a third-
person narrator, who appears to be omniscient.

Q/Setting
The setting of the short story “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde is an
unnamed city in the north of Europe, where the statue of a prince
stands on a tall column. The statue is an important landmark in the city,
as the Swallow notices it right on arrival.

Q/Style of language
The language of the short story “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde is
formal. The style in the narrative is similar to the style used in the
dialogue. Both use no contractions and are serious and solemn. This
shows that the purpose of the story is not to build up characters with
unique voices, but rather to get a message across. The serious tone also
denotes that the author is serious about the topic. The language is also
typical of fairy-tales, which sometimes choose a more solemn style to
express their message.

GOOD LUCK...
KAKAWAYES .A