A swallow seeking shelter on his way to a warm climate is surprised to find the statue of the Happy Prince weeping because of the poverty and injustice he sees in the city. The Happy Prince bids the swallow pluck out first the ruby from his sword, then the sapphires from his eyes and finally the thin leaves of fine gold with which he is glided, and give them to the poor. But the swallow stays too long, and when winter comes his death causes the prince leaden heart to break. When God asks his angel to choose “the two most precious things in the city ” the angel brings him the leaden heart and the dead bird the sacrifices each has made are redeemed.
The conception, design and sheer beauty of the pictures extend the meaning of the text and like the arched wings of the swallow, lend grace to a classic. This is Wilde’s tale about an enchanted statue The Happy Prince who had lived a happy life and died a happy man, is now immortalized high above the city as a golden and bejeweled statue. For the first time the royal sees the suffering, poverty and misery of the common people. Sharing his sympathetic view with a swallow, the prince persuades the bird to postpone its migration and instead to deliver his gold leafing his sapphire eyes and ruby belt to those who need them. Soon the swallow dies of cold and the prince, now shabby is removed from its pedestal and melted down.
Though young readers may appreciate the lessons of selfishness and sacrifice here, the telling may seem to them stilted and even occasionally disjointed. Through this story we can learn the real meaning of sacrifice. The Happy Prince sacrifice his life because of the love he has on them and the swallow sacrifice his life because of the love he has on The Happy Prince. At last when god asks for the two precious things to angel it gave him the dead swallow and the melted heart of the happy prince. They both sacrifice their life’s for others. Through this story we can learn how to sacrifice our life and make others happy.
The character in this story which liked by everyone is the little swallow and the happy prince. Everyone likes them because of the sacrifice and the love they made for others. Oscar Wilde wrote this story as the clear example of sacrifice. In the end of the story he made everyone cry for the sacrifices made by the swallow and the happy prince.
