The Happy Prince

Outer characterization

The Happy Prince is the main character in the short story “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde. He is a statue located “above the city, on a tall column”. His physical appearance is described as majestic: “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”. When he speaks, he has a “low musical voice”. The people in town all seem to value the statue for his beauty, which he gradually loses as he gives away the two sapphires, the red ruby and the gold he is covered in. This leads to a change in the town officials’ attitude towards him, who now deem him worthless and melt him in a furnace. 

During his human life, the Happy Prince lived in the Palace of Sans-Souci, where he led a sheltered, carefree life, unaware of the human suffering which happened in the city: “In the daytime I played with my companion...