Define Books Concering The Happy Prince
| Original Title: | The Happy Prince |
| ISBN: | 0525453679 (ISBN13: 9780525453673) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Oscar Wilde
Hardcover | Pages: 32 pages Rating: 4.23 | 25236 Users | 839 Reviews
Declare About Books The Happy Prince
| Title | : | The Happy Prince |
| Author | : | Oscar Wilde |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 32 pages |
| Published | : | January 1st 1995 by Dutton Books (first published May 1888) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Short Stories. Fiction. Fantasy. Childrens. Fairy Tales. Literature |
Rendition In Favor Of Books The Happy Prince
I've always liked Oscar Wilde's prose, if not his drama, but I thought this was an exercise in hypocrisy, or perhaps it was just Oscar Wilde, locked out of the gates of the wealthy aristocracy, just venting his spleen on them. You would think a man who lost everything because of the prejudice against his homosexuality might just not drop casual anti-semitism into what purports to be a children's story, wouldn't you? But perhaps he was so angry and bitter against Society that he could only see things from that viewpoint. That, like all underdogs, he was always looking for an even lower cur to kick. As it turns out, despite being able to recite that old chestnut, "some of my best friends are Jewish", Wilde was deeply anti-semitic, a couple of quotes: 'It's unnecessary to debate with Jews. When you overrun them today, they come tomorrow with the same arguments. When you overrun those arguments, they come the day after with the same arguments as the day before.' [De Profundis]. This is just one from the many in the (wonderful) Picture of Dorian Grey, 'A hideous Jew, in the most amazing waistcoat I ever beheld in my life, was smoking a vile cigar. He had greasy ringlets, and an enormous diamond blazed in the center of a soiled shirt. Have a box, my Lord?' he said, when he saw me, and he took off his hat with an air of gorgeous servility. There was something about him that amused me. He was such a monster.' At the same time he was being persecuted for his homosexuality and writing his Ballad of Reading Gaol detailing the terrible conditions and cruelty he suffered by imprisonment, he betrayed his best friend's plan for a small group of people to free Dreyfuss from his wrongful imprisonment and clear his name, and went further, befriending Dreyfus's persecutor, Esterhazy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_...). Wilde lost his best friend, Blacker, over this and seemed never to truly understand why. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/articl... The troll (is there another word for one who writes negative and rude personal comments about a reviewer?) seeks to justify his remarks by saying he is a Christian which really hasn't got anything to do with it, as apart from anything else, many anti-semites and their sympathisers have identified as Christians, but also by saying that it was part of the times. There is some truth in that statement. Racism in all its forms seems to be part of every time. And it was part of that time especially in those who considered themselves wealthy aristocrats, but it wasn't a majority feeling. Disraeli, who was a Christian convert (he considered Christianity 'completed Judaism') had been elected Prime Minister by a majority vote. The Dreyfus Affair was a major topic in Britain and sympathisers with Esterhazy, Wilde included, were not on the winning side. Emile Zola's The Dreyfus Affair: "J`accuse" and Other Writings was massively popular both in France and, in translation, the UK. Wilde was out there in a minority, characterising Jews as 'hideous', 'horrid' 'greasy' and 'vile', seeing Jews as a race (as do all anti-semites) rather than a religion, so that conversion would make no difference to him. So the casual anti-semitism of The Happy Prince is maybe just a little jibe, a little way perhaps of influencing the childen to whom the book was addressed to his own way of thinking. Originally this review, a short one-paragraph review, had just one sentence directed at the casual anti-semitic remark made by Wilde, but in the light of the derogatory comments left on the review, I decided to expand it. However, knowing all of Wilde's history, my appreciation, or otherwise, of Wilde's work hasn't changed, I still love his prose, don't like his plays all that much, think his witty epithets among the best of quotes and one of them has always been a favourite of mine, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."Rating About Books The Happy Prince
Ratings: 4.23 From 25236 Users | 839 ReviewsArticle About Books The Happy Prince
I've always liked Oscar Wilde's prose, if not his drama, but I thought this was an exercise in hypocrisy, or perhaps it was just Oscar Wilde, locked out of the gates of the wealthy aristocracy, just venting his spleen on them. You would think a man who lost everything because of the prejudice against his homosexuality might just not drop casual anti-semitism into what purports to be a children's story, wouldn't you? But perhaps he was so angry and bitter against Society that he could only see(view spoiler)[It's about the extraordinary friendship of a Swallow (a bird) and a statue named Happy Prince. Happy Prince came from a place where there is nothing except happiness/comfort, a place where sorrow is not allowed to enter. He never experienced misery all his life. Because of his happily lived life, people immortalized him when he died. Since then, people in the town admired him not only for living his life without anything but happiness in it but also because of his beautiful
The most beautiful story I have ever read in my life. I cried reading it as a child and I still cry reading it as an adult. The Happy Prince, a short 'children's' story, tells the life of a prince who was made into a golden statue after he died. In life, he lived a sheltered happy/ignorant life, but in death he saw all the suffering throughout the city. The relationship between the prince and the sparrow is incredible - furthermore, the shallow greed and hypocrisy of the town officials and
This book is about the friendship between a swallow and a statue of a Happy Prince. The Happy Prince truly was just that- happy- in life because he lead a sheltered existence. "My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness." This distinction foreshadows the story's intent to outline for us a deeper meaning in happiness. In life, the Prince was shielded from all misery. He passed, and was immortalized in the statue, which looked down upon the city. We
A beautiful tale. Service & love conveyed in a few wonderful words.
My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. This wasnt a feel good story for me, but perhaps thats not the point.On the one hand, it has many familiar fairy tale elements. A statue and a swallow are given human feelings. There is silliness. (The part where the swallow falls in love with the reed was some gorgeous humor.) There is also heartbreaking sadnesspoverty and suffering and death. And in the end, we have a moral takeaway.There is something
Very beautiful stories. This collection was first published in 1888, so apparently represent his earliest writings. I liked mostly the first "The Happy Prince" and the last two, "The Devoted Friend" and "The Remarkable Rocket". The remaining two; "The nightingale and the Rose" and "The Selfish Giant" are also beautiful. An element of criticism of social injustice and of human folly is evident in all stories, and Wilde's characteristic sarcasm and witty epigrams - which characterize all his later
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