What do you think?
Rate this book
Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde #5
The Happy Prince
Playwright, poet, essayist, flamboyant man-about-town, Oscar Wilde pack an astonishing amount of work, genius, and controversy into two short decades, producing masterworks in every literary genre. This selection includes almost all of his short stories, including "The Canterville Ghost," "The Fisherman and his Soul," and "The Remarkable Rocket."
Alongside THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE, Harper Perennial will publish the short fiction of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Herman Melville, Willa Cather, Leo Tolstoy, and Stephen Crane to be packaged in a beautifully designed, boldly colorful boxset in the aim to attract contemporary fans of short fiction to these revered masters of the form. Also, in each of these selections will appear a story from one of the new collections being published in the "Summer of the Short Story." A story from Simon Van Booy's forthcoming collection, LOVE BEGINS IN WINTER, will be printed at the back of this volume.
Paperback
First published May 1, 1888
426 people are currently reading
19069 people want to read
About the author
Oscar Wilde
5,621 books39.1k followersOscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,991 reviews
January 22, 2023
I've always liked Oscar Wilde's prose, if not his drama, but I thought this was an exercise in hypocrisy, or perhaps it was just Oscar Wilde, locked out of the gates of the wealthy aristocracy, just venting his spleen on them. You would think a man who lost everything because of the prejudice against his homosexuality might just not drop casual anti-semitism into what purports to be a children's story, wouldn't you? But perhaps he was so angry and bitter against Society that he could only see things from that viewpoint. That, like all underdogs, he was always looking for an even lower cur to kick.
As it turns out, despite being able to recite that old chestnut, "some of my best friends are Jewish", Wilde was deeply anti-semitic, a couple of quotes:
'It's unnecessary to debate with Jews. When you overrun them today, they come tomorrow with the same arguments. When you overrun those arguments, they come the day after with the same arguments as the day before.' [De Profundis].
This is just one from the many in the (wonderful) Picture of Dorian Grey,
'A hideous Jew, in the most amazing waistcoat I ever beheld in my life, was smoking a vile cigar. He had greasy ringlets, and an enormous diamond blazed in the center of a soiled shirt. Have a box, my Lord?' he said, when he saw me, and he took off his hat with an air of gorgeous servility. There was something about him that amused me. He was such a monster.'
At the same time he was being persecuted for his homosexuality and writing his Ballad of Reading Gaol detailing the terrible conditions and cruelty he suffered by imprisonment, he betrayed his best friend's plan for a small group of people to free Dreyfuss from his wrongful imprisonment and clear his name, and went further, befriending Dreyfus's persecutor, Esterhazy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_...). Wilde lost his best friend, Blacker, over this and seemed never to truly understand why. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/articl...
The troll (is there another word for one who writes negative and rude personal comments about a reviewer?) seeks to justify his remarks by saying he is a Christian which really hasn't got anything to do with it, as apart from anything else, many anti-semites and their sympathisers have identified as Christians, but also by saying that it was part of the times.
There is some truth in that statement. Racism in all its forms seems to be part of every time. And it was part of that time especially in those who considered themselves wealthy aristocrats, but it wasn't a majority feeling. Disraeli, who was a Christian convert (his family had converted from Judaism to give their children a better chance in life, and he considered Christianity 'completed Judaism' and was not in any way in opposition to it) had been elected Prime Minister by a majority vote. Twice.
The Dreyfus Affair was a major topic in Britain and sympathisers with Esterhazy, Wilde included, were not on the winning side. Emile Zola's The Dreyfus Affair: "J`accuse" and Other Writings was massively popular both in France and, in translation, the UK. Wilde was out there in a minority, characterising Jews as 'hideous', 'horrid' 'greasy' and 'vile', seeing Jews as a race (as do all anti-semites) rather than a religion, so that conversion would make no difference to him. So the casual anti-semitism of The Happy Prince is maybe just a little jibe, a little way perhaps of influencing the childen to whom the book was addressed to his own way of thinking.
Originally this review, a short one-paragraph review, had just one sentence directed at the casual anti-semitic remark made by Wilde, but in the light of the derogatory comments left on the review, I decided to expand it. However, knowing all of Wilde's history, my appreciation, or otherwise, of Wilde's work hasn't changed, I still love his prose, don't like his plays all that much, think his witty epithets among the best of quotes and one of them has always been a favourite of mine, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
It is a matter of being able to separate art from the artist's character. And mostly, I can do that.
Rewritten 22 Jan 2023 because of yet another troll
As it turns out, despite being able to recite that old chestnut, "some of my best friends are Jewish", Wilde was deeply anti-semitic, a couple of quotes:
'It's unnecessary to debate with Jews. When you overrun them today, they come tomorrow with the same arguments. When you overrun those arguments, they come the day after with the same arguments as the day before.' [De Profundis].
This is just one from the many in the (wonderful) Picture of Dorian Grey,
'A hideous Jew, in the most amazing waistcoat I ever beheld in my life, was smoking a vile cigar. He had greasy ringlets, and an enormous diamond blazed in the center of a soiled shirt. Have a box, my Lord?' he said, when he saw me, and he took off his hat with an air of gorgeous servility. There was something about him that amused me. He was such a monster.'
At the same time he was being persecuted for his homosexuality and writing his Ballad of Reading Gaol detailing the terrible conditions and cruelty he suffered by imprisonment, he betrayed his best friend's plan for a small group of people to free Dreyfuss from his wrongful imprisonment and clear his name, and went further, befriending Dreyfus's persecutor, Esterhazy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_...). Wilde lost his best friend, Blacker, over this and seemed never to truly understand why. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/articl...
The troll (is there another word for one who writes negative and rude personal comments about a reviewer?) seeks to justify his remarks by saying he is a Christian which really hasn't got anything to do with it, as apart from anything else, many anti-semites and their sympathisers have identified as Christians, but also by saying that it was part of the times.
There is some truth in that statement. Racism in all its forms seems to be part of every time. And it was part of that time especially in those who considered themselves wealthy aristocrats, but it wasn't a majority feeling. Disraeli, who was a Christian convert (his family had converted from Judaism to give their children a better chance in life, and he considered Christianity 'completed Judaism' and was not in any way in opposition to it) had been elected Prime Minister by a majority vote. Twice.
The Dreyfus Affair was a major topic in Britain and sympathisers with Esterhazy, Wilde included, were not on the winning side. Emile Zola's The Dreyfus Affair: "J`accuse" and Other Writings was massively popular both in France and, in translation, the UK. Wilde was out there in a minority, characterising Jews as 'hideous', 'horrid' 'greasy' and 'vile', seeing Jews as a race (as do all anti-semites) rather than a religion, so that conversion would make no difference to him. So the casual anti-semitism of The Happy Prince is maybe just a little jibe, a little way perhaps of influencing the childen to whom the book was addressed to his own way of thinking.
Originally this review, a short one-paragraph review, had just one sentence directed at the casual anti-semitic remark made by Wilde, but in the light of the derogatory comments left on the review, I decided to expand it. However, knowing all of Wilde's history, my appreciation, or otherwise, of Wilde's work hasn't changed, I still love his prose, don't like his plays all that much, think his witty epithets among the best of quotes and one of them has always been a favourite of mine, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
It is a matter of being able to separate art from the artist's character. And mostly, I can do that.
Rewritten 22 Jan 2023 because of yet another troll
September 24, 2017
There is no Mystery so great as MiseryStories like this are the reason I still love Classic short stories. I loved the concept. But again, this story has a bitter-sweet ending. Like it's the rule of classic literature to not give happy endings. I understand, I really do, that they just show reality. But don't know why they just make me over-sad.
The living always think that gold can make them happy.
OVERVIEW
There is a statue of a prince called 'Happy Prince' at the place where everyone can see it. It is decorated with precious things like gold, ruby and sapphires.
One day a Swallow, while going to Egypt because it's cold here, comes across the statue of Happy Prince and came to know it can talk. The statue tells him the story of its being Happy Prince that how he was a prince and how much pleasures he had and how he didn't know his people were in miserable state while he was enjoying behind the walls of palace and finally died.
The Prince commands the Swallow to help the people of his town by giving them precious decorations of his body. He do has he says because he is good by nature.
When the Prince gives away his sapphire rock eyes, the Swallow decides to live with him forever. And Swallow dies of cold even though he could go to Egypt. He didn't left his blind friend. :(
●●●●●●
This is a great short story. I would recommend this. No matter how old you are, I think you can get something from this.
Sad Quotes
"I am going to the House of Death. Death is the brother of Sleep, is he not?"
"As he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful" (said the mayor when he the dull statue of Prince). (-__-)
Link to the story:
https://americanliterature.com/author...
September 24, 2017
January 1, 2021
Fábula que trata temas como el uso de la riqueza, el amor, la corrupción política, entre muchos otros. En pocas palabras, Wilde dice mucho. Me ha sobrado el abordaje final tan religioso, pero entiendo las circunstancias del momento.
Fable that deals with topics such as the use of wealth, love, political corruption, among many others. In short, Wilde says a lot. I have been overwhelmed by the final religious approach, but I understand the circumstances of the moment.
Fable that deals with topics such as the use of wealth, love, political corruption, among many others. In short, Wilde says a lot. I have been overwhelmed by the final religious approach, but I understand the circumstances of the moment.
August 17, 2019
Such a heartwarming story. Simple yet so powerful.
A tale of friendship and love.
It is a bit about dying but much more about being alive.
A tale of friendship and love.
It is a bit about dying but much more about being alive.
![Profile Image for Imme [trying to crawl out of hiatus] van Gorp.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1700013408i%2F101358081._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
March 5, 2025
|| 3.5 stars ||
This story is about a statue and a bird, who try to save the poor and hungry beggars in their city by providing them with money for food and to live out their dreams.
Unfortunately, the statue and bird don’t receive that same kindness back from others, as they they both meet an unhappy end while being treated with nothing but disgust by the rich people around them.
This story somehow manages to be hopeful and depressing all at once by portraying genuine and kind souls in a world that is cruel and dark.
It’s also a clear critique on the aristocracy by showing how ignorant they are of the suffering in the world, either willfully or just because they are sheltered. Either way, this story urges everyone to try to help where they can and not just live in blissful ignorance.
Oscar Wilde books:
The Happy Prince - 3.5 stars
The Picture of Dorian Gray - 4.0 stars
This story is about a statue and a bird, who try to save the poor and hungry beggars in their city by providing them with money for food and to live out their dreams.
Unfortunately, the statue and bird don’t receive that same kindness back from others, as they they both meet an unhappy end while being treated with nothing but disgust by the rich people around them.
This story somehow manages to be hopeful and depressing all at once by portraying genuine and kind souls in a world that is cruel and dark.
It’s also a clear critique on the aristocracy by showing how ignorant they are of the suffering in the world, either willfully or just because they are sheltered. Either way, this story urges everyone to try to help where they can and not just live in blissful ignorance.
Oscar Wilde books:
The Happy Prince - 3.5 stars
The Picture of Dorian Gray - 4.0 stars
July 12, 2017
“Surely Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine opals. Pearls and pomegranates cannot buy it, nor is it set forth in the marketplace. It may not be purchased of the merchants, for can it be weighed out in the balance for gold.”
February 27, 2017
There is a sadness that permeates all of Oscar Wilde's work...but it is a sadness that helps us find joy with who we are. This story is one of my favorites; a beautiful tale for children.
November 9, 2019
To Be or Not to Be Kind
A swallow embarks in a good deeds kind of mission, instead of proceeding with its own life, and... sooner then later ... it enters the House of Death!
If I didn’t know Oscar Wilde from his witty sarcastic plays, I would have thought that this beautiful sad tale was written to bring out the best in children.
However, since I know how ironic he can be, I have a strong feeling that he wrote what he wrote to show the little ones how short is the life of pure, kind beings on planet earth
Or... maybe just this once ... OW left his mordacious bias aside, to show the youngsters that when it comes to human life, quality is supposed to beat quantity:
It’s always better living a life you can be proud of, even if it means to be short 😉
A great story is the best tutor a kid can have! 😉👍
A swallow embarks in a good deeds kind of mission, instead of proceeding with its own life, and... sooner then later ... it enters the House of Death!
If I didn’t know Oscar Wilde from his witty sarcastic plays, I would have thought that this beautiful sad tale was written to bring out the best in children.
However, since I know how ironic he can be, I have a strong feeling that he wrote what he wrote to show the little ones how short is the life of pure, kind beings on planet earth
Or... maybe just this once ... OW left his mordacious bias aside, to show the youngsters that when it comes to human life, quality is supposed to beat quantity:
It’s always better living a life you can be proud of, even if it means to be short 😉
A great story is the best tutor a kid can have! 😉👍
May 25, 2017
El precioso espejo de lo que representa la amistad, el altruismo y la verdadera felicidad.
La prosa de Wilde, es, sin duda alguna, una bocanada de aire fresco.
"My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. So I lived, and so I died. And now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead yet I cannot chose but weep."
La prosa de Wilde, es, sin duda alguna, una bocanada de aire fresco.
"My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. So I lived, and so I died. And now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead yet I cannot chose but weep."
September 9, 2016
This book is about the friendship between a swallow and a statue of a Happy Prince. The Happy Prince truly was just that- happy- in life because he lead a sheltered existence. "My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness." This distinction foreshadows the story's intent to outline for us a deeper meaning in happiness. In life, the Prince was shielded from all misery. He passed, and was immortalized in the statue, which looked down upon the city.
We meet the swallow in springtime, when he falls in love with Reed. They share a summer courtship, a "ridiculous attachment," according to his fellow swallows. The flock leaves in autumn, and swallow's life is silent and lonely. He determines to change his life, and he decides to meet the flock in Egypt. He is enamoured by the fantasy of guilded tombs, jewels, and lotus flowers blooming on the Nile.
At this point our swallow meets the Happy Prince.
The Happy Prince teaches the swallow by his own example the distinction between pleasure and happiness. They come to understand life and love at God's right hand.
This story was beautiful, and I cried buckets. I find the seasons to represent the seasons of human life, and we are the swallow. The Happy Prince came to me as God's voice within each of us. We can chose the birds' eye view of our cities, acknowledging suffering and doing what we can to help, or we can be like the many unenlightened examples of the city - lacking in compassion.
We meet the swallow in springtime, when he falls in love with Reed. They share a summer courtship, a "ridiculous attachment," according to his fellow swallows. The flock leaves in autumn, and swallow's life is silent and lonely. He determines to change his life, and he decides to meet the flock in Egypt. He is enamoured by the fantasy of guilded tombs, jewels, and lotus flowers blooming on the Nile.
At this point our swallow meets the Happy Prince.
The Happy Prince teaches the swallow by his own example the distinction between pleasure and happiness. They come to understand life and love at God's right hand.
This story was beautiful, and I cried buckets. I find the seasons to represent the seasons of human life, and we are the swallow. The Happy Prince came to me as God's voice within each of us. We can chose the birds' eye view of our cities, acknowledging suffering and doing what we can to help, or we can be like the many unenlightened examples of the city - lacking in compassion.
October 4, 2023
Here, let me sum up “The Happy Prince” for you: “Little sparrow do this, little sparrow do that, little sparrow do this, little sparrow do that … SURPRISE! BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW THIS WAS A CHRISTIAN PARABLE, DID YOU, BITCHES?!” Or something like that.
March 26, 2021
"As he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful."
I need an alternative ending.
I need an alternative ending.
September 8, 2021
Oh, it’s heartbreaking, and so very valid. The town where the statue of the Happy Prince is standing is full of inequality, poverty and misery. The Happy Prince and his new little friend, a swallow help some people but it leads to their own demise. Serious issues, sadness, tragedy, and also love are presented in this little sad tale.
November 20, 2016
Metaphors abound in this Oscar Wilde fairytale. A swallow delays his migration to help the statue of the Happy Prince correct some wrongs that were overlooked when he was alive.
April 19, 2020
I thought this was Oscar Wilde’s story, but this is retold by Elissa Grodin. I assume this is still his story. Oscar wrote this fairy tale for his students and kids. They loved it. He thought this would be a good story for all ages. I agree.
A sparrow finds a beautiful park with a statue of the Happy Prince. The mayor is proud of this beautiful statute. The prince never left the palace when he was alive and he never knew the sadness in the world around him. He is high in the air so he can see his city. He has a good heart so he has the sparrow give his jewels and gold plating away to people who need it.
It’s a story of giving to and seeing the poor and downtrodden. The prince gives away all his worth to help those around him. He is just a statue and he does talk with a bird.
The Mayor is like the greedy world. The prince looks like a messy metal statute, no longer beautiful and when the mayor finds him, he has him taken down, no longer proud of him and replaced. The ending was touching to me. I won’t give that away.
This was a touching story and it gave me all the feels.
Nephew was intrigued by this little bird and statute duo. It’s not really his kind of story, but he was captivated by the Prince. He gave this 3 stars. I think it encouraged him to think a little.
A sparrow finds a beautiful park with a statue of the Happy Prince. The mayor is proud of this beautiful statute. The prince never left the palace when he was alive and he never knew the sadness in the world around him. He is high in the air so he can see his city. He has a good heart so he has the sparrow give his jewels and gold plating away to people who need it.
It’s a story of giving to and seeing the poor and downtrodden. The prince gives away all his worth to help those around him. He is just a statue and he does talk with a bird.
The Mayor is like the greedy world. The prince looks like a messy metal statute, no longer beautiful and when the mayor finds him, he has him taken down, no longer proud of him and replaced. The ending was touching to me. I won’t give that away.
This was a touching story and it gave me all the feels.
Nephew was intrigued by this little bird and statute duo. It’s not really his kind of story, but he was captivated by the Prince. He gave this 3 stars. I think it encouraged him to think a little.
July 2, 2025
من قصة (العندليبة والوردة)، " ما أسخف الحب… عليّ أن أعود إلى الفلسفة وأدرس عِلم ما وراء الطبيعة… وهكذا، فقد عاد إلى غرفته، وتناول كتاباً ضخماً أغبر، وابتدأ يقرأ "
March 30, 2018
5 No estoy llorando, solo es una basurita en mi ojo ESTRELLAS
No logre encontrar aquí en goodreads la edición de este cuento que leí. Lo cual es una pena porque tiene una portada hermosa.
Pero bueno, no hay nada que les pueda decir de este cuento que no hayan escuchada ya. Lindo lindo.
No logre encontrar aquí en goodreads la edición de este cuento que leí. Lo cual es una pena porque tiene una portada hermosa.
Pero bueno, no hay nada que les pueda decir de este cuento que no hayan escuchada ya. Lindo lindo.
Golondrina, Golondrinita
February 21, 2018
I read this short story after a long time. The story is as beautiful as I found it on my first reading. However, this time I noticed something important that I missed before– the theme of 'same-sex love' – quite a fete in England of the times, even if it is subtly dealt with. This story has been written before Wilde's other significant and longer works such as 'The Picture of Dorian Grey', his brilliant plays and 'De Profundis.' Clearly, he is struggling to put across in his ingenious style what is so close to his heart so that the Victorian sensibilities could be altered for the better. Of course, later on in his work, Wilde has taken bigger risks that eventually cost him his life. In this story, however, he is subtle. He camouflaged his theme from the city officials and revealed something of 'love that cannot be named' to those it matters.
The Happy Prince is a statue of the King with human attributes. It stands in the centre of the city. The Prince helps, by giving away his limbs– one by one– the destitute in his Kingdom. He wants everyone to be happy in his kingdom. A migratory birds helps the Prince.
For no logical reason, I think of birds as only having a female gender. The story clearly states that the Bird is male. (This is the point when the idea of same-sex love strikes, since one still remembers the terrible court trial of Oscar Wilde.) Wilde could easily have omitted this detail, but it is central to the story's theme. First, it is the bird's need that brings him to the statue. Later, a series of events makes him see how noble and kind the Prince is. Both the bird and the statue are not a part of the life around them in any significant way– however, both contribute silently to society. For instance, the bird is somehow left behind or is ignored by other birds; while he throughout shows the urgency to join the birds, but they are nowhere to be seen. Likewise, the prince is half alive, half dead; he can live, feel and see, but he can hardly move. He lives on the margins though he is placed in the middle of the city. One can go eternally to look into these two entities and draw parallels to what life must be like for homosexuals in a society that resolutely polices and tames 'certain kinds of love.'
Toward the end, we see the indifferent officials roaming around in the city. Since the golden limbs of the Happy Prince are gone and it no longer looks beautiful, the city officials casually give order to remove it from the city-square. Towards the end, Wilde makes sure that these two loving souls should, at least, unite in death. The bird, for instance, kisses the prince just before dying and soon after their bodies become on in death.
The Happy Prince is a statue of the King with human attributes. It stands in the centre of the city. The Prince helps, by giving away his limbs– one by one– the destitute in his Kingdom. He wants everyone to be happy in his kingdom. A migratory birds helps the Prince.
For no logical reason, I think of birds as only having a female gender. The story clearly states that the Bird is male. (This is the point when the idea of same-sex love strikes, since one still remembers the terrible court trial of Oscar Wilde.) Wilde could easily have omitted this detail, but it is central to the story's theme. First, it is the bird's need that brings him to the statue. Later, a series of events makes him see how noble and kind the Prince is. Both the bird and the statue are not a part of the life around them in any significant way– however, both contribute silently to society. For instance, the bird is somehow left behind or is ignored by other birds; while he throughout shows the urgency to join the birds, but they are nowhere to be seen. Likewise, the prince is half alive, half dead; he can live, feel and see, but he can hardly move. He lives on the margins though he is placed in the middle of the city. One can go eternally to look into these two entities and draw parallels to what life must be like for homosexuals in a society that resolutely polices and tames 'certain kinds of love.'
Toward the end, we see the indifferent officials roaming around in the city. Since the golden limbs of the Happy Prince are gone and it no longer looks beautiful, the city officials casually give order to remove it from the city-square. Towards the end, Wilde makes sure that these two loving souls should, at least, unite in death. The bird, for instance, kisses the prince just before dying and soon after their bodies become on in death.
October 21, 2014
The most beautiful story I have ever read in my life. I cried reading it as a child and I still cry reading it as an adult. The Happy Prince, a short 'children's' story, tells the life of a prince who was made into a golden statue after he died. In life, he lived a sheltered happy/ignorant life, but in death he saw all the suffering throughout the city. The relationship between the prince and the sparrow is incredible - furthermore, the shallow greed and hypocrisy of the town officials and authorities at the end has an important message for the reader. The ending is breathtaking when the heart of the prince and the sparrow are considered to be more precious than anything else in the city.
Oscar Wilde knew exactly what he was talking about when it came to suffering and death. This is a story that has stayed with me throughout my life and it is the reason why Wilde will always be one of my favourite authors. Profound, moving, heart-breaking, yet undeniably beautiful, I cannot see how anyone could read this story and not come away deeply affected.
Oscar Wilde knew exactly what he was talking about when it came to suffering and death. This is a story that has stayed with me throughout my life and it is the reason why Wilde will always be one of my favourite authors. Profound, moving, heart-breaking, yet undeniably beautiful, I cannot see how anyone could read this story and not come away deeply affected.
August 28, 2019
A heart-warming tale about little Swallow who has been separated from his flock, which has flown down to Egypt, befriends a magnificent golden statue in an unnamed Northern European city, and bejewelled statue, and the statue asks the Swallow to take his jewels and use them to help the poor of the city.
Beautifully written some magnificent passages which describe Egypt through the eyes of the Swallow:
" All the next day he sat on the Prince's shoulder, and told him the stories of what he had seen in strange lands. He told him of the red ibises, who stand in long rows on the banks of the Nile, and catch goldfish in their beaks; of the Sphinx, who is as old as the world itself, and lives in the desert, and knows everything. ; Of the merchants who walk slowly by the side of their camels and carry amber beads in their hands; of the King of the Mountains of the Moon, who is as black as ebony, and worships a large crystal; of the great green snake that sleeps in the palm-tree and has twenty priests to feed it with honey-cakes ; and of the pygmies who sail over the a big lake on large flat leaves and are always at war with the butterflies."
The tale has a particularly poignant and beautiful ending.
Beautifully written some magnificent passages which describe Egypt through the eyes of the Swallow:
" All the next day he sat on the Prince's shoulder, and told him the stories of what he had seen in strange lands. He told him of the red ibises, who stand in long rows on the banks of the Nile, and catch goldfish in their beaks; of the Sphinx, who is as old as the world itself, and lives in the desert, and knows everything. ; Of the merchants who walk slowly by the side of their camels and carry amber beads in their hands; of the King of the Mountains of the Moon, who is as black as ebony, and worships a large crystal; of the great green snake that sleeps in the palm-tree and has twenty priests to feed it with honey-cakes ; and of the pygmies who sail over the a big lake on large flat leaves and are always at war with the butterflies."
The tale has a particularly poignant and beautiful ending.
October 29, 2017
Ben bunları bugüne kadar nasıl okumamışım, diye diye ah ettirdi bana. Masal anlatımında beş tane öykü var içerisinde. Hepsi de kıssadan hisse mantığı taşıyan ancak yazıldığı zaman dilimine ve toplum yapısına göre olağanüstü güçlü; şuan için de güncelliğini koruyan, yalnız küçükler için değil büyükler için de uygun, son derece özgün hikayeler bunlar. Hepsi üzerinde uzun uzun konuşabiliriz. Metaforları çözebilir, bulunduğumuz yerden karşılıklarını gösterebilir, çözümleyebiliriz. Bu tarz alegorik öyküler, gençken daha güçlü tesir ediyor. Gençken okumuşlara ne mutlu ama okumadıysanız da bir saatinizi ayırın, kütüphanenize ekleyin derim. İyi okumalar!
7.5/10
7.5/10
July 16, 2025
The poor little Swallow grew colder and colder, but he would not leave the Prince, he loved him too well. He picked up crumbs outside the baker’s door when the baker was not looking and tried to keep himself warm by flapping his wings.
But at last he knew that he was going to die. He had just strength to fly up to the Prince’s shoulder once more. “Good-bye, dear Prince!” he murmured, “will you let me kiss your hand?”
“I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “you have stayed too long here; but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you.”
“It is not to Egypt that I am going,” said the Swallow. “I am going to the House of Death. Death is the brother of Sleep, is he not?”
And he kissed the Happy Prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet.
At that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something had broken. The fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right in two. It certainly was a dreadfully hard frost.
For a while I would not stir, thinking it might be my imagination. Yes, I need to shake myself off. The ending, although was sealed with a kiss, was not really what a Sleeping Beauty tale would result into. But if you do not mind this, The Happy Prince is a lovely story. Worth reading with a strong remedy for those cast down ;)
But at last he knew that he was going to die. He had just strength to fly up to the Prince’s shoulder once more. “Good-bye, dear Prince!” he murmured, “will you let me kiss your hand?”
“I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “you have stayed too long here; but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you.”
“It is not to Egypt that I am going,” said the Swallow. “I am going to the House of Death. Death is the brother of Sleep, is he not?”
And he kissed the Happy Prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet.
At that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something had broken. The fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right in two. It certainly was a dreadfully hard frost.
For a while I would not stir, thinking it might be my imagination. Yes, I need to shake myself off. The ending, although was sealed with a kiss, was not really what a Sleeping Beauty tale would result into. But if you do not mind this, The Happy Prince is a lovely story. Worth reading with a strong remedy for those cast down ;)
October 30, 2017
The Happy Prince led a privileged and sheltered life and knew only pleasure. In the city, his image as the Happy Prince was immortalized in the form of a bejeweled statue covered in fine gold leaves, set aloft on a tall column. But a transformation came over the Happy Prince when his new vantage point opened his sapphire eyes and leaden heart to the suffering of the poor in the city. The Happy Prince began to weep.
Oscar Wilde wove an uplifting story of friendship, loyalty, compassion and sacrifice. The Happy Prince met a lovelorn Swallow that sought a resting place in the golden bedroom at the prince’s feet. Winter was fast approaching and he was on his way to Egypt. But he heeded the Prince's plea, "Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow... will you not stay with me one night longer?" What unfolded was a poignantly moving story about their tender friendship and mutual sacrifice. Their magnanimity was juxtaposed against the vanity of the town councillors and the frivolity of the rich.
This is the third story by Oscar Wilde I have read in just over a week. Whether it was the Canterville Ghost or the Selfish Giant or the Happy Prince, each had a second chance at making amends and finding love and acceptance. Thank you, Oscar Wilde, for these memorable characters. They hold a special place in my heart.
Oscar Wilde wove an uplifting story of friendship, loyalty, compassion and sacrifice. The Happy Prince met a lovelorn Swallow that sought a resting place in the golden bedroom at the prince’s feet. Winter was fast approaching and he was on his way to Egypt. But he heeded the Prince's plea, "Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow... will you not stay with me one night longer?" What unfolded was a poignantly moving story about their tender friendship and mutual sacrifice. Their magnanimity was juxtaposed against the vanity of the town councillors and the frivolity of the rich.
This is the third story by Oscar Wilde I have read in just over a week. Whether it was the Canterville Ghost or the Selfish Giant or the Happy Prince, each had a second chance at making amends and finding love and acceptance. Thank you, Oscar Wilde, for these memorable characters. They hold a special place in my heart.
January 4, 2024
why am i crying?? profoundly truthful and moving, this story is so precious to me <3
“you tell me of marvellous things, but more marvellous than anything is the suffering of men and women. there is no mystery as great as misery.”
“you tell me of marvellous things, but more marvellous than anything is the suffering of men and women. there is no mystery as great as misery.”
July 10, 2023
-Querida golondrinita- dijo el Príncipe- me cuentas cosas maravillosas, pero más maravilloso que todo eso, es el sufrimiento de hombres y mujeres. No existe misterio más grande que el de la miseria.
Oscar Wilde nunca decepciona. Este pequeño relato fue hecho para su hijo, por lo que es considerado un libro para niñxs, lo que me recuerda mucho a El principito y a El niño, el topo, el zorro y el caballo, libros aparentemente infantiles, pero que en realidad son aptos para todas las edades, porque los mensajes que nos dejan son patentes y extraordinariamente acoplados a nuestro contexto. (Si quieres ver mi review de El niño, el topo, el zorro y el caballo les dejo el link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).
En este caso Wilde nos señala lo marcado de los estratos sociales, mostrando con crudeza la marginación y la injusticia social en que está sumido el pueblo trabajador. De igual forma la deliberante minoría privilegiada que omitía los suplicios de los más necesitados.
Realmente es un cuento triste, a pesar de tener un final melancólicamente feliz. Lo importante es reflexionar lo que Oscar Wilde nos quiso plasmar y actuar acorde a lo que el Príncipe Feliz hubiese querido.
Oscar Wilde nunca decepciona. Este pequeño relato fue hecho para su hijo, por lo que es considerado un libro para niñxs, lo que me recuerda mucho a El principito y a El niño, el topo, el zorro y el caballo, libros aparentemente infantiles, pero que en realidad son aptos para todas las edades, porque los mensajes que nos dejan son patentes y extraordinariamente acoplados a nuestro contexto. (Si quieres ver mi review de El niño, el topo, el zorro y el caballo les dejo el link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).
En este caso Wilde nos señala lo marcado de los estratos sociales, mostrando con crudeza la marginación y la injusticia social en que está sumido el pueblo trabajador. De igual forma la deliberante minoría privilegiada que omitía los suplicios de los más necesitados.
Realmente es un cuento triste, a pesar de tener un final melancólicamente feliz. Lo importante es reflexionar lo que Oscar Wilde nos quiso plasmar y actuar acorde a lo que el Príncipe Feliz hubiese querido.
Read
January 8, 2025Dontcha just hate it when, having nothing better to do, you pack your princely bags, and go on a crusade to uncover the formula of happiness, only to find yourself in a never-ending series of experiments, more fruitless than even Pink Panther's , and as you tirelessly chase after this ever-distant goal , and to top it all off, you can't shake off the nagging feeling that you're actually the frog trying to become a prince, hopping you'II magically transform, but you realize that the very act of searching has consumed all your precious time and energy, leaving you no room to actually experience the happiness you so desperately seek, until one day - in a moment of sheer exhaustion and surrender - you decide to abandon the quest altogether , and in that very instant - as you let go of the need to find happiness - you suddenly feel a profound sense of peace and contentment, as if true happiness had been waiting for you all along, right there , in the fuckin' simplicity of just being , and then , to your utter surprise - you discover that true happiness comes from making others happy , even though their constant demands drive you to the brink of madness, annoying you to death, and making you wonder " what the royal fuck ?? "
January 3, 2020
.
.
مجموعة قصصية مكونة من خمس قصص كتبها أوسكار وايلد
الأديب الإنجليزي وهي :
١- قصة الأمير السعيد ( التي عرض بها وايلد فكرة التضحية
ومساعدة الآخرين .)
٢- قصة المارد الأناني :( الذي يُبقي حديقته الغناء مقفلة أمام
الأطفال فينتهي بها الحال ذاوية مقفرة ) .
٣-قصة العندليبة والوردة : ( هذه أذكر أني شاهدتها في عمل
للأطفال ... وهنا يعرض أوسكار فكرة المبالغة في التضحية
خاصة إن كان الطرف المقابل لا يستحقها . )
٤- قصة الصديق المخلص ( وأظن أن وصف الصديق بالإخلاص
هنا إن كان ينطبق فعلاً على هانس الصغير إلا أنها حتماً لا
تنطبق على دناءة الطحان .)
٥- الملك الشاب ( الذي رغم امتلاكه لكل الملذات إلا أنه لم
يجد للوحدة شبيه ) .
ماذا بعد القراءة ؟
الإحساس بالخيبة بعد اكتشاف زيف الأصدقاء على الرغم من كونه إحساس مقيت إلا أنه لا يمتلك القدرة على كبح عطاء
الروح المعطاءة أبداً .
.
.
#تمت
#أبجدية_فرح 4/5 🌸📚
#مجموعة_قصصية
#الأمير_السعيد_وقصص_أخرى للكاتب #أوسكار_وايلد
صادر عن #دار_الرافدين ~ 🌸📚
#candleflame23bookreviews 🌸
#غرد_بإقتباس
#حي_على_القراءة
#ماذا_تقرأ #ماذا_تقتبس #القراءة_حياة
#القراءة #القراءة_حياة_أخرى_نعيشها
.
مجموعة قصصية مكونة من خمس قصص كتبها أوسكار وايلد
الأديب الإنجليزي وهي :
١- قصة الأمير السعيد ( التي عرض بها وايلد فكرة التضحية
ومساعدة الآخرين .)
٢- قصة المارد الأناني :( الذي يُبقي حديقته الغناء مقفلة أمام
الأطفال فينتهي بها الحال ذاوية مقفرة ) .
٣-قصة العندليبة والوردة : ( هذه أذكر أني شاهدتها في عمل
للأطفال ... وهنا يعرض أوسكار فكرة المبالغة في التضحية
خاصة إن كان الطرف المقابل لا يستحقها . )
٤- قصة الصديق المخلص ( وأظن أن وصف الصديق بالإخلاص
هنا إن كان ينطبق فعلاً على هانس الصغير إلا أنها حتماً لا
تنطبق على دناءة الطحان .)
٥- الملك الشاب ( الذي رغم امتلاكه لكل الملذات إلا أنه لم
يجد للوحدة شبيه ) .
ماذا بعد القراءة ؟
الإحساس بالخيبة بعد اكتشاف زيف الأصدقاء على الرغم من كونه إحساس مقيت إلا أنه لا يمتلك القدرة على كبح عطاء
الروح المعطاءة أبداً .
.
.
#تمت
#أبجدية_فرح 4/5 🌸📚
#مجموعة_قصصية
#الأمير_السعيد_وقصص_أخرى للكاتب #أوسكار_وايلد
صادر عن #دار_الرافدين ~ 🌸📚
#candleflame23bookreviews 🌸
#غرد_بإقتباس
#حي_على_القراءة
#ماذا_تقرأ #ماذا_تقتبس #القراءة_حياة
#القراءة #القراءة_حياة_أخرى_نعيشها
December 5, 2012
Written for children, between 1882-1891, these beautiful
stories of delicate charm are for literate adults who alone
can perceive the irony and awareness of life's cruelties.
A poetic wistfulness also mingles with the artless musical
imagery. One critic says they remind him of Fragonard and Rossetti. Another is impressed by the simplicity of Biblical language.
Reviewing the fables a rather hysterical GR slams OW for
anti-semitism because of a perfunctory aside 100 years before
Political Correctness. Scholar Anthony Julius dissects this serious subject in his mammoth, "Trials of the Diaspora." His detailed study discusses anti-semitism in Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, G Eliot, Js Joyce, GraGreene, Virginia Woolf - and countless others. I do not endorse wrongheaded emotionalism (as it oft prevails on GR). OW ? He doesnt get a mention.
stories of delicate charm are for literate adults who alone
can perceive the irony and awareness of life's cruelties.
A poetic wistfulness also mingles with the artless musical
imagery. One critic says they remind him of Fragonard and Rossetti. Another is impressed by the simplicity of Biblical language.
Reviewing the fables a rather hysterical GR slams OW for
anti-semitism because of a perfunctory aside 100 years before
Political Correctness. Scholar Anthony Julius dissects this serious subject in his mammoth, "Trials of the Diaspora." His detailed study discusses anti-semitism in Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, G Eliot, Js Joyce, GraGreene, Virginia Woolf - and countless others. I do not endorse wrongheaded emotionalism (as it oft prevails on GR). OW ? He doesnt get a mention.
May 18, 2020
Wow, what a fairytale.
I really liked it. It was longer than some of the other fairytales I have been reading and I think it gave it more time to pack more messages in there, to show more examples and really develop.
In the beginning I was confused about the point of the story. But it added to the Bird's character development - seeing what he used to be like and how the Happy Prince changed him. It went to show the power of friendship and the good influence that a good friend can have.
I also really liked that The Happy Prince had some of his own development too. It sounded like he was quite ignorant all through his life, and that by the end of the fairytale he learns there is a lot more to life than wealth, good looks and such.
I liked how kindness and kind deeds were the highlight. I know it mentioned some sense of sacrifice being committed for the kindness happen. I don't think it needed to so such *intense* suffering at the end for kindness to be done, but it did add to the religious tone of the tale and I guess fairytales are only as dramatic as... well... fairytales.
It said some important things about greed in a simple and straightforward way. Can't wait to read more his fairytales.
I really liked it. It was longer than some of the other fairytales I have been reading and I think it gave it more time to pack more messages in there, to show more examples and really develop.
In the beginning I was confused about the point of the story. But it added to the Bird's character development - seeing what he used to be like and how the Happy Prince changed him. It went to show the power of friendship and the good influence that a good friend can have.
I also really liked that The Happy Prince had some of his own development too. It sounded like he was quite ignorant all through his life, and that by the end of the fairytale he learns there is a lot more to life than wealth, good looks and such.
I liked how kindness and kind deeds were the highlight. I know it mentioned some sense of sacrifice being committed for the kindness happen. I don't think it needed to so such *intense* suffering at the end for kindness to be done, but it did add to the religious tone of the tale and I guess fairytales are only as dramatic as... well... fairytales.
It said some important things about greed in a simple and straightforward way. Can't wait to read more his fairytales.
February 15, 2022
Perfecto es todo lo que escribió este hombre!
Maravillosa historia!!
Maravillosa historia!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,991 reviews