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The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde – English Short Story

The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde Available in the public domain at: https://www.gutenberg.org/ High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded 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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t33NWgOzjK8 He was very much admired indeed. "He is as beautiful as a weathercock," remarked one of the Town Councillors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes; "only not quite so useful," he added, fearing lest ...

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Dr. Mohammad Hossein Hariri Asl

Dr. Mohammad Hossein Hariri Asl is an English and Persian instructor, educator, researcher, inventor, published author, blogger, SEO expert, website developer, entrepreneur, and the creator of LELB Society. He's got a PhD in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).

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8 thoughts on “The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde – English Short Story”

  1. The little prince has a very good moral because if Zhou help other you became a good feeling and are good did

    • Thank you for your comment. First of all, it’s Happy Prince, not to be mistaken for ‘The Little Prince’.
      Feedback
      1. Zhou = you
      2. help other = help others
      3. you became a good feeling and are good did = you’ll develop / generate / create nice or good feelings

  2. Sacrificing yourself for a distinguished and noble aim is admirable. I think all those happy prince and swallow could do was done. But if the prince had the chance to know from those happened beyond the wall of his palace when he was alive he surely could do more. A question that challenged me is that iwhether anybody in the town had noticed such ultimate sacrifices or not.

    • About your question, I guess nobody noticed the sacrifices or even cared about them.

      Feedback
      * All that the Happy Prince and swallow could do was done or carried out
      * if the prince had had the chance, he could surely have done more (Conditional Sentence Type III)

  3. Hello d.c what does admired mean?

    • Hi Soroosh,
      He was admired = everybody respected and loved the Happy Prince.

  4. It was a sad and touching story. I wonder if the match girl was a reference to H.C. Andersen’s short story ( the little match girl). It is also a question to me, why did little swallow stay with happy prince till the end of his life and didn’t fly to Egypt? Because he felt pity for happy prince or he just had a kind heart and got a friend in him?

    • I don’t believe the swallow had any pity for the happy prince as the bird was really admiring him and his altruistic deeds. The bird could play the role of a means or tool for the prince to make all the great and unconditional sacrifice. In the end, they both perished in agony, but I bet they died peacefully as they could leave the town a better place for the poor to live in.

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