Oscar Wilde: Life, Aestheticism, and The Happy Prince Literary Analysis

Posted on Nov 14, 2025 in Religion

Oscar Wilde: Life, Theatre, and Literary Themes

Life and Career Highlights

Oscar Wilde (Dublin, 1854 – Paris, 1900)

  • Dublin: Received a scholarship to study at Magdalen College, Oxford.
  • Developed relations with Walter Pater, often considered the father of Aestheticism (advocating “Art for Art’s Sake”).
  • Won the Newdigate Prize for his poem Ravenna.
  • London: Published Vera. Became known as the “Apostle of Aestheticism,” gaining fame for his eccentricity.
  • Toured the USA, then lived in Paris (writing The Duchess of Padua).
  • 1884: Married Constance Mary (writing poetry and prose).
  • Upon returning to London, his fame as an eccentric, conversationalist, and homosexual figure grew.
  • He wrote poetry, short stories, a novel, and criticism, but the stage he was destined for was theatre.

Wilde’s Theatre and Dramatic Works

  • Salomé (written in French): Banned in the UK because no play containing biblical characters could enter the English stage. The deeper impediment was the argument, which transforms a biblical story into a tale of love, offense, eros-thanatos, and homosexual notes.
  • Other successful plays: Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband, etc.
  • Theatrical Masterpiece: The Importance of Being Earnest (a masterpiece of paradox), arguably the second most quoted play in the English language.

Later Life and Imprisonment

Wilde had a difficult relationship with the aristocrat Alfred Douglas, son of the Marquess of Queensberry. The Marquess launched a campaign of fury against Wilde, and in 1895, Wilde was imprisoned for “gross indecency” and condemned to two years of hard labour.

While imprisoned, he wrote De Profundis, a long letter addressed to Douglas.

Death and Conversion

In 1897, the two lovers briefly reunited in Naples, but they separated definitively shortly thereafter.

In 1900, at the age of 46, while dying of cerebral meningitis in self-imposed French exile, Wilde was received into the Roman Catholic Church.

Analysis of “The Happy Prince”

Mercy vs. Sacrifice

This theme explores the difference between genuine benevolence and self-serving actions.

  • Mercy: Piety, forgiveness, selflessness, inner benevolence.
  • Sacrifice: Can be selfless or selfish. Often involves two parts:
    1. Repression (of impulsive desires).
    2. Compensation (the reward promised for this kind of behaviour). Selfishness.
  • Mercy is inner benevolence, while Sacrifice often leans toward utilitarianism when consciously bringing personal benefit.
  • Christ’s comment to the Pharisees highlights this contrast: “Go learn the meaning of the words — What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.”

The Townspeople’s Reaction

1st Part: Statue – Symbol of Repression

  • Councilor: Shows immoderate delight, yet is unpractical.
  • Mother: Protests to her child’s tears.
  • Passerby: Represents falseness, misery, and envy.
  • Contrast: Charity Children (visionary innocence, no repression) VS. Mathematical Master (dreams’ repression: “How do you know? You have never seen one”).

2nd Part: No Compensation, No Sacrifice

  • Townspeople: View the Prince as “little more than a beggar.”
  • Art Professor: States, “as he is no longer beautiful, he is no longer useful.”
  • Town Corporation: Focuses only on the utilitarian use of the metal.
  • Swallow & Prince: Do not look for future reward; there is no pragmatic sacrifice. Their compensation is gratuitous.

The Swallow’s Transformation

The Swallow moves from selfish practicality to complete mercy.

  1. Selfish Practicality:
    • Love for the Reed: He never thinks to sacrifice his desire of travelling.
    • Criticism: “I hope (it) has made preparations for my stay,” and “What is the use of a statue if it cannot keep the rain off?”
  2. Sacrifice:
    • Series of trials: Each time the Prince asks him to stay one day longer (for the seamstress, the playwright, the match-girl), he must choose between compensation (Egypt) or sacrifice (Europe).
    • Europe Vs. Egypt: Puritanical sacrifices Vs. A fairy tale realm.
  3. Metamorphosis – Mercy:
    • After the Prince is blind, he voluntarily chooses to stay.
    • He accepts the conscience of his future death.

The Happy Prince’s Journey

  1. Blindness – Repression:
    • Sans Souci Palace: Sorrow was not allowed to enter—a form of repression.
    • Contrast: City Vs. Palace (Puritanical sacrifices Vs. A fairy tale realm).
  2. Life as a Statue – Retribution:
    • Ironically, the retribution that aimed to praise him was what revealed the pain.
    • Misery realization: Gives away his jewels (not practical sacrifice but pity for the poor).
  3. Complete Sacrifice:
    • He gives his body and beauty as bread.
    • He gives away his aesthetic glory, and the broken leaden heart is the culmination of aesthetic beauty.

Religious Parallels

The Happy Prince & Christ

  • He is twice born.
  • His death is a merciful gift to others.
  • He shows/provides the way to be happy; he is “the prince of peace.”
  • He is “the bread of life” literally—his gift is total (gift as food and fire).

The Swallow acts as his disciple (his gift is partial in comparison). The Prince asks: “Will you not stay with me for one night?”

Social Commentary

Selfishness of the Rich and Bourgeoisie

  • Wilde satirizes the utilitarian vision of the bourgeoisie (Town Councillor: “He is as beautiful as a weathercock…only not quite so useful”) and questions common Victorian beliefs, such as the link between beauty and moral integrity.
  • Plenty of contrasts between the bourgeois and the oppressed:
    • Palace girl – Seamstress
    • Professor of Ornithology – Playwright
    • Old Jew – Match-girl
  • Conflict of egos: Who will be the model for the next statue?

Miscellaneous Vocabulary Lists

Insects

  • bee
  • butterfly
  • fly
  • mosquito
  • spider
  • wasp

Farm Animals

  • bull
  • chicken
  • cow
  • goat
  • horse
  • pig
  • sheep

Wild Animals

  • bat
  • bear
  • bird
  • camel
  • crocodile
  • deer
  • elephant
  • giraffe
  • kangaroo
  • lion
  • monkey
  • mouse
  • rabbit
  • rat
  • snake
  • tiger

Sea Animals

  • dolphin
  • jellyfish
  • shark
  • whale

Possessive Pronouns

  • MY – MINE
  • YOUR – YOURS
  • HIS – HIS
  • HER – HERS
  • ITS –
  • OUR – OURS
  • YOUR – YOURS
  • THEIR – THEIRS

Modal Verbs

  • ought to / ought not to
  • should / shouldn’t