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The Happy Prince
When he was alive, the Happy Prince lived in the Palace of Sans Souci, where sorrow was not allowed to enter, and where he knew only pleasure.Now, a gilded statute set atop a high column, he can see all the wretchedness of the poor, the sick and the lonely who inhabit the great city where he stands.A swallow, hurrying to reach the warmth of Egypt before winter sets in, stops to rest between the feet of the Happy Prince. He is moved by the prince's description of the helplessness and hopelessness he sees all around him, and agrees to stay with the prince and to assist him in bringing comfort to those in need.This story of sacrifice and redemption is a parable for our time, as it was for that time more than a hundred years ago when Oscar Wilde first published this moving tale.(1854–1900) was an Irish writer of great wit and talent who was born Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde in 1854. He wrote a number of tales for children, but is perhaps best known for his , , and . Wilde died in Paris in 1900.
250 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
4 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Oscar Wilde
5,531 books39k 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.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 5, 2019
Ο Wilde δείχνει την πιο ήπια πλευρά του,διατηρώντας παράλληλα το ειρωνικό του χιούμορ,εξερευνώντας θέματα όπως η συμπόνια,η φιλία,ο αλτρουισμός,ο εγωισμός, η αγάπη,η αυτογνωσία και η καλοσύνη.Τα παραμύθια είναι απλά αλλά ελκυστικά,με κάποιους πολύ συναρπαστικούς χαρακτήρες,αλλά και με κάποιους πολύ απεχθούς χαρακτήρες που μπορούμε όλοι να συσχετίσουμε.Ποια ιστορία ξεχώρισα ; Μου είναι δύσκολο να διαλέξω,αλλά μάλλον είναι ο εγωιστής γίγαντας.
October 13, 2023
“Cualquier lugar que se ame es el mundo para uno”.
Estoy sin palabras ante tales exquisitos cuentos. El segundo libro de este año que me leo de Wilde y me ha dejado completamente hipnotizada con su escritura, con su manera tan dulce de narrar las cosas. Todos los cuentos reunidos en la edición de "Libros del zorro rojo" con completamente obras maestras.
Las moralejas que adquieres al final cada cuento son muy profundas y muy simbólicas.
—El príncipe feliz. 10/10
—El ruiseñor y la rosa. 8/10
—El gigante egoísta. 9/10
—El amigo fiel. 10/10
—El cohete extraordinario. 8/10
Estoy sin palabras ante tales exquisitos cuentos. El segundo libro de este año que me leo de Wilde y me ha dejado completamente hipnotizada con su escritura, con su manera tan dulce de narrar las cosas. Todos los cuentos reunidos en la edición de "Libros del zorro rojo" con completamente obras maestras.
Las moralejas que adquieres al final cada cuento son muy profundas y muy simbólicas.
—El príncipe feliz. 10/10
—El ruiseñor y la rosa. 8/10
—El gigante egoísta. 9/10
—El amigo fiel. 10/10
—El cohete extraordinario. 8/10
August 9, 2018
dnf-d with about 25 pages left. The fisherman story was killing me and I couldn’t go on. The rest I liked.
UPDATE**** I finished it.
UPDATE**** I finished it.
July 13, 2021
Ein wunderbar gedichtetes Märchen davon, mit dem, was man hat – vor allen Dingen trotz des eigenen Leids – anderen zu helfen.
Der glückliche Prinz, welchem durch eine edle Statue gehuldigt wird, hatte seine Zeit, um Gutes zu vollbringen. Trotzdem ist seine Hinterlassenschaft nicht beendet: Als Statue fest verwurzelt, sieht er seine Stadt für den Reichtum und das Leid, was sie ist. Es spricht für einen Menschen, dem die eigenen Grenzen immer bewusst waren; sowohl in seinem Leben als Prinzen, das abgeschieden war. Sowie nun als Statue mit einem Bleiherz, was für mich für das Leid steht, welches der glückliche Prinz durch die offensichtlichen Missstände seiner Stadt empfindet.
Die Schwalbe, mit der er sich verbündet, um den Armen zu helfen, gleicht einem idealen Glauben, der tief ist – wie der des Altruisten, der seiner Natur gemäß handelt. Der glückliche Prinz gibt schließlich seine Augen aus Saphir auf; dort hat sein Tatendrang begonnen und nun sein Ende genommen. Seine Sehkraft war es, die ihm Nähe zum Leid seines Volks verschaffen hat. Seine edle Rüstung hat ihm das Ansehen geschenkt – so bewirkt er nichts mehr.
Er hat seine Möglichkeiten – nicht ohne seinen inbrünstigen Glauben – ausgeschöpft; am Ende erhält der glückliche Prinz durch Gott Zutritt in die Goldene Stadt. Sein Bleiherz ist wertvoller als sein früherer Glanz, denn es ist das Mitgefühl des Prinzen gewesen, welches am meisten bewirken konnte.
Der glückliche Prinz, welchem durch eine edle Statue gehuldigt wird, hatte seine Zeit, um Gutes zu vollbringen. Trotzdem ist seine Hinterlassenschaft nicht beendet: Als Statue fest verwurzelt, sieht er seine Stadt für den Reichtum und das Leid, was sie ist. Es spricht für einen Menschen, dem die eigenen Grenzen immer bewusst waren; sowohl in seinem Leben als Prinzen, das abgeschieden war. Sowie nun als Statue mit einem Bleiherz, was für mich für das Leid steht, welches der glückliche Prinz durch die offensichtlichen Missstände seiner Stadt empfindet.
Die Schwalbe, mit der er sich verbündet, um den Armen zu helfen, gleicht einem idealen Glauben, der tief ist – wie der des Altruisten, der seiner Natur gemäß handelt. Der glückliche Prinz gibt schließlich seine Augen aus Saphir auf; dort hat sein Tatendrang begonnen und nun sein Ende genommen. Seine Sehkraft war es, die ihm Nähe zum Leid seines Volks verschaffen hat. Seine edle Rüstung hat ihm das Ansehen geschenkt – so bewirkt er nichts mehr.
Er hat seine Möglichkeiten – nicht ohne seinen inbrünstigen Glauben – ausgeschöpft; am Ende erhält der glückliche Prinz durch Gott Zutritt in die Goldene Stadt. Sein Bleiherz ist wertvoller als sein früherer Glanz, denn es ist das Mitgefühl des Prinzen gewesen, welches am meisten bewirken konnte.
January 23, 2022
[Ψηλά στην πόλη, σε μια ψηλή στήλη, βρισκόταν το άγαλμα του Ευτυχισμένου Πρίγκιπα.
Ήταν στολισμένο με λεπτά φύλλα καθαρού χρυσού, για μάτια είχε δύο φωτεινά ζαφείρια, και ένα μεγάλο κόκκινο ρουμπίνι έλαμπε στη λαβή του ξίφους του. Ήταν αξιοθαύμαστος. «Είναι όμορφος σαν ανεμοδείκτης», παρατήρησε ένας από τους δημοτικούς συμβούλους, που ήθελε να αποκτήσει τη φήμη για το γούστο του στην Τέχνη, «μόνο δεν είναι και τόσο χρήσιμος», πρόσθεσε, φοβούμενος μήπως οι άνθρωποι σκέφτονταν ότι δεν ήταν πρακτικό πνεύμα, πράγμα που στ’ αλήθεια δεν ίσχυε.
«Μοιάζει σαν άγγελος», αναφώνησαν κάποια παιδιά βγαίνοντας από την εκκλησία. «Πώς το ξέρετε;» Ρώτησε η καθηγήτρια των μαθηματικών, «έχετε δει ποτέ έναν άγγελο;» «Αχ, έχουμε, στα όνειρά μας!» απάντησαν τα παιδιά. Και η καθηγήτρια των μαθηματικών κατσούφιασε γιατί δεν ενέκρινε να ονειρεύονται τα παιδιά. ]
Εσείς όμως σίγουρα μπορείτε να ονειρευτείτε με αυτό το παραμύθι. Ακόμη και άγγελους...
Τρυφερό, ρομαντικό, σκληρό, κοφτερό, αληθινό...
Πραγματικά εξαίσιο!
Ήταν στολισμένο με λεπτά φύλλα καθαρού χρυσού, για μάτια είχε δύο φωτεινά ζαφείρια, και ένα μεγάλο κόκκινο ρουμπίνι έλαμπε στη λαβή του ξίφους του. Ήταν αξιοθαύμαστος. «Είναι όμορφος σαν ανεμοδείκτης», παρατήρησε ένας από τους δημοτικούς συμβούλους, που ήθελε να αποκτήσει τη φήμη για το γούστο του στην Τέχνη, «μόνο δεν είναι και τόσο χρήσιμος», πρόσθεσε, φοβούμενος μήπως οι άνθρωποι σκέφτονταν ότι δεν ήταν πρακτικό πνεύμα, πράγμα που στ’ αλήθεια δεν ίσχυε.
«Μοιάζει σαν άγγελος», αναφώνησαν κάποια παιδιά βγαίνοντας από την εκκλησία. «Πώς το ξέρετε;» Ρώτησε η καθηγήτρια των μαθηματικών, «έχετε δει ποτέ έναν άγγελο;» «Αχ, έχουμε, στα όνειρά μας!» απάντησαν τα παιδιά. Και η καθηγήτρια των μαθηματικών κατσούφιασε γιατί δεν ενέκρινε να ονειρεύονται τα παιδιά. ]
Εσείς όμως σίγουρα μπορείτε να ονειρευτείτε με αυτό το παραμύθι. Ακόμη και άγγελους...
Τρυφερό, ρομαντικό, σκληρό, κοφτερό, αληθινό...
Πραγματικά εξαίσιο!
November 16, 2017
Wonderful stories from Oscar Wilde but wish there were less of all those elaborate and fond descriptions of jewellery, like in the only chapter in The Picture of Dorain Gray that I felt like rushing through. Good fun otherwise.
May 7, 2019
A Delightful collection of fairytales, with themes of human love and divine grace running all through. I’ve never read any other story that reminded me so thoroughly of Hans Christian Andersen. Oscar Wilde proves once again that he is as diverse a writer as has ever walked the earth!
February 9, 2015
Οπως πάντα, αισθαντικος και υπέροχος! Οι λέξεις του ειναι κομμάτια σοκολάτας που δεν βαριέσαι ποτε να απολαμβάνεις!
February 6, 2016
Every single one of the stories was amazing.Oscar Wilde was truely a very good writer.Need to read more of his work!!!
October 6, 2019
Beautiful , though a little sad. I learned a lot of german from this book
May 27, 2024
Precioso
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews