Children’s Stories · Chapter
The Happy Prince explained
A swallow delays his migration to Egypt and takes shelter at the feet of a gilded statue of the Happy Prince.
What happens
A swallow delays his migration to Egypt and takes shelter at the feet of a gilded statue of the Happy Prince. The Prince, though once happy in life, now weeps seeing the misery of his city. He persuades the swallow to stay and act as his messenger, giving away his ruby, sapphires, and gold leaf to help a seamstress, a playwright, a match-girl, and the poor. As winter sets in, the swallow dies of cold, and the Prince's lead heart breaks.
Themes in this chapter
Sacrifice and Redemption
The Happy Prince gives away his precious jewels and gold to alleviate suffering, and the swallow sacrifices his life to serve the Prince, leading to a form of redemption.
Social Inequality and Injustice
The Prince sees the seamstress's poverty, the match-girl's desperation, and the starving children, contrasting with the rich making merry.
Love and Selfishness
The swallow's initial love for the Reed is self-centered, but his later devotion to the Prince becomes selfless and sacrificial.
Characters to notice
- the Swallow
A swallow who delays his journey to Egypt, initially in love with a Reed, then becomes the Happy Prince's messenger.
- Dear Prince
The statue of the Happy Prince, once a pleasure-seeking prince, now weeps for the suffering he sees from his high pedestal.
- the Reed
The swallow's former love, a reed who is domestic and flirts with the wind.
Key passages
“When I was alive and had a human heart, I did not know what tears were, for I lived in the Palace of Sans-Souci, where sorrow is not allowed to enter.”
During my life, I never wept because I lived in a carefree palace where sadness was forbidden.
The Prince explains his former ignorance of suffering.
“I am covered with fine gold, you must take it off, leaf by leaf, and give it to my poor; the living always think that gold can make them happy.”
Strip away my gold leaf and distribute it to the needy, because people mistakenly believe wealth brings happiness.
The Prince instructs the swallow to give away his gold to the poor.