Symbolism In Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince

Considered to be one of the most inspiring works by an Irish playwriter Oscar Wilde. He was an author of many short stories, poets as well as novels. In 1988 he published a children story called The Happy Prince. Although the story was meant to target a younger audience, some the issues he adressess within his work could not be ignored by the adults, who deemed it worthy for further discussion and analysis. In this essay I will talk about the literary analysis regarding the symbols, thematic analysis, a reflection of the moral lessons learnt from the story, and give a short summary of the story.

We are presented with a statue of a prince who, at one time, was a real person. He lived a happy life when he was still alive, because he was kept

The statue of the Happy Prince is presented as a symbol of a happy and joyful life of the prince when he was still alive. Everyone in the town as well as the councilors admired and stared at the statue dreaming to one day have as fulfilling life as the prince. This is seen when a woman tells a boy not to weep because the Happy prince would never cry. However the statue, could also represent the principles of beauty placed on the outer appearance. As told in the story, even tough the statue was gilded in gold, it had a leaden heart, but nobody had ever paied too much attention to notice it, because they were all stunned and amazed by its outer

It can be seen in many of the errands carried out by the Happy prince and the swallow. For the first errand, a mother weeps because her son wanted oranges to overcome his sickness. The statue then instructed the swallow to pluck the ruby out of the statue's sword and fly to the impoverished woman's house so she can buy food for her son. Moreover, portrayed as a human, the statue shows the devotion the prince had for his people. He personally oversaw and asked the swallow to give away his valuable possessions to those in need. Through this allegory, the author teaches us the importance of charity, and inspires us to do the same. We are shown that the world is full of poverty, exploitation and hypocrisy. Hypocrisy in the story illustrated when upon seeing the statue in a bad condition after carrying out the errands, the powerful people of the city decide he is no longer useful and beautiful as it once was. Like the poor, who were used and thrown away by the rich, the statue is then taken down. Arguments then begin to arise to determine who or what will replace the shell they once called the Happy Prince. , Because of all the bad things in the world, life without love and sacrifice could not go on. We learn that love and sacrifice can bring us closer to God. This is illustrated in the end of the story, when the swallow dies, as he was unable to fly south for the winter. However, beacuse the swallow chose to