The Happy Prince Summary

The Happy Prince is a beautiful story written by Oscar Wilde. It is the tale
of a sculpture of the Happy Prince that was covered with gold leaves
and precious gems. The statue was placed at a height such that it
overlooked the city from the top. One fine day, a swallow bird took
shelter under the sculpture as he was flying to Egypt. He found out that
the Happy Prince was not happy indeed, but was rather miserable. So,
the bird asked the Prince the reason for his unhappiness. The Prince told
him that when he was alive, he used to stay happy in his palace. He
stayed uninformed of his people during his lifetime. When he died, his
statue was erected high on a tall column over the city. He became sad
when he started noticing the misery and sufferings of the needy people
of the city.
The Prince’s sculpture was covered with gold and many precious jewels.
His body was covered with gold leaves, his eyes had two splendid
sapphires and there was an enormous red ruby that was shining on his
sword handle. The sculpture of the Happy Prince looked marvellous and
everyone praised the beauty of the statue. When the bird saw the
Prince’s eyes filled with tears upon seeing the misery of the people, he
decided to become the messenger of the Prince to make him happy
again. This made the Prince glad that he could help the poor people with
the help of the bird. At first, the Prince asked the swallow to take the
ruby from his sword and give it to the needy seamstress who had no
money to take care of her ailing son. The bird did as commanded. The
Prince asked the little bird to stay and help him as he could not move
from that place. On another occasion, the Prince asked the bird to take
out one sapphire from his eye and offer it to the poor dramatist who
could not afford to make fire during winter to proceed with his
composition. The playwright was feeling very weak and hungry such that
he could not finish his play to deliver it to the producer on time. The bird
followed the Prince’s instructions.
One day, the Prince noticed a match girl who was ruthlessly beaten by
her father for allowing her matches to fall in the canal. The Prince’s heart
was filled with pain and he promptly asked the swallow to pluck out his
other eye and help the young lady. However, the swallow was unwilling
to do so as this would make the Prince totally visually impaired. But the
Prince insisted and the swallow plucked it and dipped past the match
girl and slipped the gem into the palm of her hand. Thereafter, the
compassionate bird chose not to leave the Prince who was completely
blind at this point.
Despite the fact that the Prince couldn’t see the distress or sufferings of
the people anymore, the bird stayed with the Prince. Upon the
instructions of the Prince, the swallow removed the fine gold leaves
from his body and offered it to the poor people. The bird obediently
followed the Prince’s words and took out leaf after leaf of the gold, till
the Happy Prince looked very dull and sombre. Soon, winter came and
there was snow everywhere and the bird became colder and colder.
Despite being weary and cold, he didn’t leave the Prince. Eventually, he
became frail and died from exhaustion. Just then, there was a sudden
curious crack that came from inside the sculpture, as though something
had broken.
It was, indeed, the leaden heart of the Prince that had snapped directly in
two pieces at the sudden demise of the sweet and kind swallow. The
sculpture was therefore, no more valuable and beautiful like before. It
stood abandoned. When the Mayor and the Town Councillors saw the
dull statue of the Prince, they pulled it down. Soon after, they melted the
sculpture in a furnace, yet the broken heart didn’t melt. Thus, it was
rendered useless for them so they discarded it where the dead swallow
was lying.
Soon, God requested one of His Angels to bring the two most valuable
things in the city. The Angel brought the leaden heart of the Prince and
the dead swallow. God warmly welcomed the two beings in His garden
of Paradise and regarded them as His charming creations.

The Happy Prince teaches us that we should show compassion towards

the needy and help them however we can.
 The Happy Prince
By Oscar Wilde
Summary
The Happy Prince Summary Introduction
The Happy Prince is a story by Oscar Wilde. It is about the story of a
statue, the Happy Prince, covered with gold and many fine jewels. It sits
overlooking the city. One day a swallow bird seeks shelter under the statue
and discovers the prince not happy, but sad.
The bird becomes friendly with the prince and tries to make him happy by
assisting him in his desire to ease the suffering of others. It plucks out the
ruby, the sapphire and other fine jewels from the statue and delivers them
to those who are poor and needy.

The Happy Prince Short Story Summary of the Lesson

The story of the Happy Prince dwells upon the themes like social injustice,
redemptive power of love and the loss of innocence. In this story, we come
across a statue, who, at one time, a real Prince. When the Prince was
alive, he was a happy person. He lived in the palace and did not know
about human suffering. His life was full of joys. Upon his death, his statue
was built at the top of a tall column in the city.

The statue was covered all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he
had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt.
The statue of the Happy Prince looked beautiful and everyone in the city
loved to see their Prince. Since he was placed high above the city, on a tall
column, the Prince was able to witness all the sorrows and sufferings which
the common people faced in their daily life.

But the Prince remained ignorant of them during his lifetime. This made the
Prince, once happy, very sad. His eyes got watered and large drops of
tears began to run down his golden cheeks. A little swallow, who had
alighted between the feet of the Happy Prince to spend the night there,
became curious to know where did the drops of water fall from. He looked
up and saw the eyes of the Happy Prince full of tears.
The bird took pity on the Prince and became ready to assist him in his
desire to ease the sufferings of the common people. He became the
messenger of the Prince and agreed to remove the fine gold and jewels
from his statue to distribute them among the poor and the needy.

He started with plucking the ruby from the Prince’s sword and giving it to
the seamstress who had no money to feed her ailing child. Then he
plucked a sapphire from one of the eyes of the statue and gave it to the
playwright who was too poor to make fire in the winter to continue his
writing. He was also very hungry and feeling weak.

One day, the Prince saw a match girl who was being beaten by her father
for letting her matches fall in the gutter. The Prince’s heart filled with pity for
the girl. He immediately commanded the swallow to pluck out his other eye
and help the girl.

But the swallow was not ready to do so because this would make the
Prince completely blind. On being insisted, he plucked out the Prince’s
other eye, swooped past the match girl, and slipped the jewel ‘ into the
palm of her hand. The little bird decided not to leave the company of the
Happy Prince who had gone blind now. Although the Prince was not able to
see the sorrows or sufferings any more, he knew it was there. So he
instructed the bird to take off the fine gold he was covered with and give it
to the poor.

The bird followed his words and picked off leaf after leaf of the gold, till the
Happy Prince looked quite dull and grey. Then the snow came and the poor
little swallow grew older and colder. But he did not leave the Prince.
Eventually, he grew weak and died from exposure and exhaustion. Just at
that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something
had broken.

It was, in fact, the leaden heart that had snapped right in two at the loss of
the sweet and kind swallow. The statue was no more beautiful and useful.
It stood deserted. So, the Town Councillors and the Mayor pulled it down.
Then they melted the statue in a furnace but the broken heart did not melt.
So, they threw it on a dust-heap where the dead swallow was lying.

When God asked one of His Angels to bring the two most precious things
in the city, the Angel brought him the leaden heart and the dead bird. God
welcomed the two in His garden of Paradise and deemed them beautiful
creations.
What is the summary of the chapter The
Happy Prince?
The Happy Prince gave a ruby for a poor seamstress. He gave a sapphire
for a playwright and another sapphire for a match girl. The swallow carried
out the prince’s wishes. He also plucked out the gold leaves from the statue
and gave it to the poor.

What is the main theme of Happy Prince?

Love, compassion and sacrifice are all a part of the themes of Oscar
Wilde’s ‘The Happy Prince.

What is the conclusion of the Happy Prince?

The conclusion of “The Happy Prince” shows the Sparrow and the prince
transported to heaven. God calls them the “most precious” objects in the
city because of their good deeds. They will spend eternity in paradise.

What was done after Prince death?

So the courtiers called him the Happy Prince. But after his death, his statue
was put on a high pedestal. Now he could see the misery of the people all
around.

What made the Happy Prince cry?

Answer: The statue of the Happy Prince was weeping because when he
had been alive, he had not known any sorrow. But after his statue had
been erected, he was able to see all the ugliness and misery of the city,
and even though he now had a heart of lead, he could still feel the pain,
which made him cry.

What kind of story is The Happy Prince?

fantasy short story
“The Happy Prince” is a fantasy short story for children by the Irish author
Oscar Wilde. It was first published in the 1888 anthology The Happy Prince
and Other Tales, which also contains “The Nightingale and the Rose”, “The
Selfish Giant”, “The Devoted Friend” and “The Remarkable Rocket”.