Language And Similes In Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince
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“The Happy Prince” is a short story written by Oscar Wilde for kids, kind of like a bedtime story; as part of his first series of juvenile literatures, titled “The Happy Prince and Other Tales”, in 1988. In these stories, Oscar Wilde uses a poetic language and rhythmic expressions, and stays away from the usual “Once upon a time…” in kid’s stories. “The Happy Prince” is filled with similes and metaphors; in fact, the whole text is a powerful metaphor for the meaning of love. Despite being written over 100 years ago, it has a clear writing style, including modern ideas and thoughts, for his time.
First time you read it, or someone reads it to you as a kid, you’ll feel all kinds of emotions overflowing you. Sadness, happiness, doubt, and something else you can’t define, stack together inside of you. You don’t know why, but you can feel it. As you grow older you must read the story again to completely comprehend why it can affect everyone in such a deep way. It is through this more mature approach that you can get to understand how perfectly written “The Happy Prince” is, and what a masterful use of the words Oscar Wilde does to bring up the deepest emotions in your heart. They don’t stack together anymore, but take turns instead.
The author touches the topic of poverty in the 19th England in a very beautiful manner. The son of the tailor is suffering from fever. He is thirsty and asking for oranges. However, his mom is poor and she cannot buy oranges for the kid. She is