The Princess and All the Kingdom

“The Princess and All the Kingdom” shows how responsibility causes people to grow up and mature very
quickly. The prince in the story starts out very selfish and impulsive. He goes out and fights his way across
the kingdom in order to marry the princess. The princess is the love of his life but she does not know who he
is. The prince achieves his goal and the princess agrees to marry him. They get married that day and
everyone celebrates. It wasn’t until that night that the prince is told that he is now king of the kingdom and
must rule the land.

The theme of “The Princess and All the Kingdom” by Pat Lagerkvist is that in order for someone to get what
they want they must accept the responsibility of it and mature during the process of achieving it. In the
beginning of the story the prince fights and ravages his way across the kingdom, not caring what the princess
wanted or what the consequences of his actions would be. The prince acts impulsively and doesn’t know
consequences of his rash actions. All the prince cares about in marrying his one and only love, the princess.
Once upon a time there was a prince, who went out to fight in order to win the princess, whose beauty was
greater than all the others’ and whom he loved above everything. He dared his life, he battled his way step
by step through the country, ravaging it; nothing could stop him. ” This quote shows the prince’s bravery
and love for the princess. All the prince wants though is the princess’s hand in marriage and nothing else. He
only thinks of himself when he is fighting and not of the princess or the people he will be ruling when he
marries the princess.

All of his impulsive fighting and selfish reasons for fighting blind him from the fact that he will have many
responsibilities when he marries the princess. The prince successfully wins the princess’s hand in marriage
and is rejoicing until he is told that he now must rule the entire kingdom. The prince had ordered the
wedding to be later that day and never thought about his decision He was so caught up in what he had won
and how he was finally going to marry the princess that he never thought it through. “‘You have conquered,
and therefore everything now belongs to you.

It is a big land, fertile and impoverished, mighty and laid waste, full of riches and need, full of joys and
sorrows, and all is now yours. For he who has won the princess and happiness, to him also belongs this land
where she was born; he shall govern and cherish it. ’” The prince is just now realizing, after the wedding,
how much responsibility he now has. He must rule and watch over everyone in the kingdom. He does not
want this responsibility but the aged chancellor tells him that he cannot get rid of it or avoid it in any way.
The Prince tries and tries to avoid this he responsibility but he can’t.

Throughout this story the prince grows up and matures when he accepts that he must take on the
responsibility of the whole kingdom. In the beginning of the story the prince is the most impulsive and
selfish person he can be. He just wants to marry the princess, whom he loves, and he works really hard for
that and nothing else. He fights his way across the kingdom just so he can marry her. The prince did not
think at all before he did this. If he had thought about it he would have realized that along with getting the
happiness of marrying the princess he was also getting the responsibility of governing the entire kingdom.

He tries to get out of having this responsibility but in the end he realizes he can’t. “But the old man put out
his hand soothingly and the young man’s arm sank. He looked at him searchingly, with a wise man’s calm.
‘Lord you are no longer a prince,’ he said gently. ‘You are a king. ’” This shows how the young prince
eventually came to terms with his responsibility and accepted it as a result of his impulsive and selfish
actions. The prince gravely accepts the power and responsibility and returns to the princess with a little more
knowledge and maturity. The prince learns to grow up in a few hours because of his immaturity.

He acted immaturely when he impulsively went out and fought everyone in order to marry the princess. He
did not stop and ask what will happen if he did this but merely kept fighting for his love. The very fast push
of a huge responsibility really made him grow up and come to terms with his impulsive actions that got him
into this mess. He accepts the power which is a sign that he is more mature and grown up. “The Princess and
All the Kingdom” by Par Lagerkvist teaches many people to think about their actions before they act and
that in order to be happy they must also be responsible.