Perspectives

The novella The Little Prince was written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in 1942 and published in 1943. Its origins will be presented in detail in the following pages.

When the novella appeared, many of Exupéry’s readers had been expecting more of a reflection on the events of the war and were initially disappointed when the book turned out to be a fairy tale for children. The Little Prince did not initially seem to be the successful work it is now. The reception of the work is presented in the following pages and we will also discuss the genre of the work. We will discuss whether the novella is a literary fairy tale, a fable, or a parable.
The historical background is important for the understanding of the novella, as are the political and religious allusions that readers today might not be familiar with.