The Happy Prince Themes

Oscar Wilde was notably committed to aestheticism and the aesthetic movement—associated with the mantra “Art for Art’s sake”—and this theme recurs throughout his literary works. The titular protagonist of “The Happy Prince” is himself a statue meant to decorate the city, and through him, the story explores the relationship between art and usefulness. However, “The Happy Prince” also demonstrates the darker sides of society’s obsession with beauty—that is, the extreme poverty and social inequality required…

Many of Oscar Wilde’s works contain allusions to homosexuality, in large part due to his own sexual preferences—he was famously put on trial and imprisoned in 1895 for his homosexuality, as Victorian society at the time was still notoriously conservative. In “The Happy Prince,” love—arguably including homosexual love—forms the central motivations for the protagonists. In contrast, narcissism drives the story’s main antagonists and leads people to make judgements about others—judgements that benefit their own worldview…

Wilde was a dedicated Christian throughout his life, and religious themes run through “The Happy Prince.” The titular Happy Prince represents a Christlike figure who supports analogous teachings to those of Christian parables. Much like Christ in the Bible, the Happy Prince chooses to sacrifice himself to alleviate the sufferings of the poor and downtrodden. Ultimately, God rewards the Prince in paradise, confirming both the narrative’s religious subtext and the Christian roots of the Happy…