The Happy Prince Summary and Analysis

Introduction

The "Happy Prince" is a beautiful statue covered with gold, and in this summary session, we will discuss the whole story.

The statue of the happy prince is the starting point of this story; he is seen standing in the central part of the city, all covered in gold and looking too bright. The story has a prince as its central point of attraction; till his lifetime, he was called a happy prince as he always remained happy and made his citizens happy. One night, a bird, Swallow, was flying across the countryside and saw the great status of a happy prince with sapphire's stoned eyes which attracted him to stay back and rest for the day near the statue's feet.

Quite after, a few drops of water fell on the bird's feather. The bird was amazed and wondered why the statue could not stop the drop; he decided to fly away from there, but at the same time, a third drop fell, and then he saw the drops were of the statue's tears. He enquired from the statue. "Who are you? the statue said and answered in pity, "I am a happy prince." The bird did not stop her and again asked why you are weeping. And here, the central part of the story starts. The prince was always happy and never made anyone sad during his lifetime. He always greeted his citizens with food, water, and other required facilities to sustain a good life. When he was a dead person, and his soul was kept in the statue, he saw his people crying in famine, very poor, hungry, and deprived of basic amenities, which made him sad.

The less convenient conversation between the two went on for hours, which is how the Swallow got to know the king better. The king went on to say about his life back when he was alive. The prince lived lavishly in his palace and was always happy, thinking everyone else was as good as he was. But the condition changed just after he went to heaven; god foresaw him and sent his soul back to the statue made by his courtiers in his memory which changed his entire perspective of life as he was then able to look at the pitiful condition of the ordinary people in his kingdom.

He gave an example of a poor seamstress living in the city in a worm-like condition in a tiny room down a little street. The saddest part of her story was that her ill son was lying in bed in a sick condition, and she was forced to do embroidery work on the queen's honor Satin Gown. She was so poor and deprived of money that she could not even feed her poor son, and only she could give her river water.

The prince asked the bird to stay back that night and act like a messenger. At the start, he insisted on returning to Egypt and meeting his friends, but later, looking at the prince's pity condition, he stayed.

Upon working as a messenger to the prince, he flew across the river, through the palace, got to see the view of princess life, and thought about the difference in living conditions of both. Then, as told by the prince, he returned to the home of that pitied woman and dropped the precious ruby given to him by the prince in the hope that it might address the problems of the wicked older woman. The stay, which would be for one night only, went on for a more extended period.

Let's begin the next part of the story; the prince again requests the Swallow to wait for some more time and explore the city. But the bird was very determined to go to Egypt. The next day, as the prince is convinced to wait for him for one more night, he orders him to visit the house of the poor man who is currently trying to complete his theatre writing but cannot do so due to the cold. As he gets more nervous, he asks the Swallow to pluck his eyes and sell them to buy wood for the poor man. The bird did so but was very sad for plucking his sapphire's eyes.

Once again, after this incident, the prince asked the Swallow to stay back, visit another poor person, and bless him with the ruby in his other eyes. In the story, the prince is seen helping the poor while the palace's people sit quietly and settle down in their happiness.

The end of the story is even sad as the statue is seen displaced by the king's soldiers in the city as it is no longer a great attraction of the town.