Paragraph 1: (100 words) change grammar later One of the best written works by Oscar Wilde, an Irish playwright, poet and author of many short stories as well as novels, is The Happy Prince published in 1988 as a series of children story. Although aimed for kids, the story addressed issue concerned in adult society which deems it to be worthy for discussion. This essay shall provide the background summary of the story, literary analysis regarding the symbol of statue of the happy prince, and thematic analysis relating to the contribution the price offered his people and a reflection of lesson learnt from the story.
Paragraph 2: Summary (100 words) change grammar later In the story, when the happy prince was alive, he lived in a palace where sorrow was not allowed to enter. However, when he died, he saw all the misery of the city on a tall column as a statue. A swallow who came from afar stays with the statue of the happy prince and helped the poor with the ruby, the sapphires and the gold covering of the happy prince upon the happy prince’s request. At the end, the swallow died frost. The heart that was made of leaden of the happy prince also broke.
Paragraph 3: 150 words. Change grammar later The statue of the Happy Prince in the story symbolized that outward beauty was nothing; it was just a show. The real beauty was the love and sacrifice. The Happy Prince had a lead heart, but this heart was full of sympathies for the poor and the needy. He sacrificed his eyes and beauty just to help them. Now without his eyes and gold covering, he looked so ugly that he was sent to furnace to melt. He lost outward beauty, but with sacrifice and love, he achieved spiritual beauty. God was pleased with him. After his death, he was taken to the city of gold where he would praise God forever. Moreover, personified as a human, the statue illustrated the devotion he had for his people. He oversaw them and personal asked the swallow to give away his valuable possessions to those in suffer.
Paragraph 4: 150 words. Change grammar later One of the main themes of the story is sacrifice. The Happy Prince offered many contributions to his people. Some contributions were justified; for instance, in the case of the hungry boys under the bridge and the play writer, it was a thing that should be done as they were starving. However, in some other cases the contributions should not be made. The match-girl case, for example, it was actually she who spoiled the match by herself, so she did not deserve to be helped. The same applied to the thirsty boy who was sick yet asked for oranges that could make his illness worse. Although giving means caring, I would not recommend the Happy Prince’s way of contribution. It was only a temporary solution that would just shift the direction of the problem rather than getting to the root cause of it.
Paragraph 5: 50-100 words. Change grammar later From my perspective, I have learnt two main lessons from this story. The first one is to give. In any society, some are born rich while some have to suffer; therefore, the rich should be willing to donate some of their wealth to the helpless poor. The second thing is that aiding to the simple giving, we should also show them way. An old Chinese proverb suggests that if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.