Moral Analysis of the Happy Prince Summary
The 5th Chapter in the Class 9 English Supplementary Reader includes particular prose, The Happy Prince. The Happy Prince Summary provided here is going to be helpful for students who want to know more about the chapter and the prose.
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The Happy Prince Summary
The basic summary of the prose describes the story of a Prince’s statue that is loaded with golden leaves and gems. The story also describes a swallow bird who agrees to help all the people who are needy in the kingdom on the instructions of the prince’s statue. Read the entire prose as well as the happy prince summary and analysis to know more. This summary is a guide for the students who want to understand what the chapter means in a moral sense.
The Story of the Happy Prince Summary
The Happy Prince is one of the compositions of Oscar Wilde. The story is about a sculpture of the Happy Prince which was covered with precious gems and golden leaves. This statue, placed at the very top was overlooked the entire city. A swallow flying on top of the statue notices one day that the statue of the Happy Prince is actually not happy and was miserable. Upon asking, the statue revealed that he was once a happy person and he overlooked the miseries of the townspeople. He wasn’t informed about the problems that his people went through during his lifetime. It was only after his death when the statue was made could he look at the people and see how poor and miserable they were. Students can read the full summary from the happy prince summary PDF.
The swallow upon seeing how miserable the prince was, agreed to be his messenger and tried to help people on his instructions. This pleased the Prince as he knew he would be able to help people. First of all, the prince ordered the bird to pluck the red ruby from his sword and take it to the seamstress who was in need of money for her diseased son. The bird followed his command and took the jewel to the seamstress.
After that, the prince told the bird to take a sapphire from one of his eyes so that he could give it to the dramatist who wasn’t able to create a fire in order to complete his work during the winter season. Then the bird again did as it was told. Then the prince ordered the bird to take another sapphire from his eyes and give it to the match girl who lost all her matches when they fell into the canal. Despite knowing that he would be visually impaired, the bird decided to do as the price willed. All of the details are mentioned in Oscar Wilde the happy prince summary.
Even after losing his sight, the prince still wanted to help more and more people. The bird decided to not leave his side since he couldn’t see. After some time, he ordered the bird, again and again, to take the leaves from his statue and give it to those who were in need. During the winter season, as the bird did the prince’s bidding, he became weaker and weaker. Eventually, the bird fell completely ill and died.
When that happened, the prince’s statue cracked symbolizing something breaking. It was the leaden heart that the prince had. By that point, the prince’s statue had actually lost all its glamour. When the Town Counsellors and the Mayor saw the state of the prince’s sculpture, they took it down and decided to melt it. They threw the statue into a furnace. However, the leaden heart of the prince which was broken did not melt. The people decided to throw the heart in the same place that the bird had died. The happy prince summary tells the students about the acts of the bird and the prince who wanted to help the people of the town.
As the story progresses, God made a request to his angels so that they could bring him the most valuable things from the city. Then the angels brought the body of the bird and the leaden heart of the prince to God who cherished the charming creations he had created.
The moral of the story discussed in the happy prince summary and analysis is that showing compassion towards those who are needful will bring you happiness in life.
Conclusion
The following article provides the happy prince summary in short. Students will learn the moral aspects of the chapter and get to know more about how helping others can be one of the kindest acts of all time. This article will also aid them in creating essays about the prose and preparing well for their upcoming examinations.
FAQs on Happy Prince Summary
1. Why was the statue of the happy prince unhappy?
From studying the happy prince summary PDF, it can be seen that the statue of the prince is actually not happy and is quite miserable. When the bird is flying over the statue of the prince, it notices that the prince’s eyes are filled with tears and he is unhappy. When the statue is asked the reason for his unhappiness, he tells the people his tale of woe. It is revealed that the prince was once a very happy person when he was alive. This is because he wasn’t informed about the problems of the people in his town. It was after his death that his statue was created and he could see how his people had to suffer. This in turn made him very unhappy.
2. Why did the bird decide to help the prince?
From the happy prince summary, it is discovered that the swallow saw that the prince was very unhappy. After hearing his story and how he wanted to help the people of his town, the bird decided to show its kindness by becoming the messenger of the prince and delivering his actions. The swallow did this just out of the kindness of its own heart. He wanted to do good as much as the prince wanted to help the people. That is why it decided to follow the prince’s command and help the people in whatever way it could. The story tells us that good actions and compassion for those who are in need is certainly a kind act and it doesn’t go unanswered.