March 2013: Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince and Other Stories

[Conscious Bob]

Read my first Oscar Wilde short story, The Devoted Friend.

With a friend like this who needs an enemy, this may be a children's story but I think all adults could relate to this, it's also, despite the cute language, bleak.

I'm looking forward to the rest in my book.

 

[kelstan]

Yes, it was rather sad. You just wanted poor little Hans to wake up and see what was going on. I guess there were two lessons to be learned from that story - don't take advantage of your 'friends', and don't let your 'friends' take advantage of you.

 

[kelstan]

We may be headed just that way in this discussion here, but I'm patient. Meanwhile I'm reading up a little on Oscar Wilde to try to understand any deeper intent behind the simple story we just read.

Peder, I'm wondering if you did follow up with any research on Wilde and what insights you might have discovered regarding these stories?

 

[Peder]

Peder, I'm wondering if you did follow up with any research on Wilde and what insights you might have discovered regarding these stories?

Kelstan, I have been looking at selections from The Collected Oscar Wilde after finishing The Happy Prince, and learning more about him and his literary stature for the first time.

Actually, I've been hoping that someone with greater literary background than my meager own might have conributed some context and insight for the discussion here.

In The Happy Prince, Wilde's cynicism regarding the townspeople and their politicians is clear to see. But since the story also includes a segment illustrating the virtue of unselfish sacrifice and charity to others, and then concludes with a distinctly religious scene in Heaven, I was left wondering whether his cynicism also extended to these moralising segments at well. So, to me the message of the story is still ambiguous and definitely open for discussion.

But I'll put together a few more thoughts as I read further.

 

[Polly Parrot]

After reading the Happy Prince I somewhat agree with you, Peder. Yes, Wilde's cynicism towards the rich town people is clear to see, the religious scene confuses me as well.

I find it interesting that the story starts with a description of the rich materials the Prince's statue has been adorned with, but then it shifts to the story of the unrequited love of a swallow for a reed. It isn't until much later that we get to know the Prince a little better.

Also, about the place the Prince lived in, Sans Souci. I was wondering whether it has anything to do with the summer palace (or rather, villa) of king Frederick the Great of Prussia (1712 - 1786), of mostly the same name: Sanssouci. Frederick purportedly had it built to serve as a place for him where he could escape politics, hence its name.
Sans Souci means "carefree". The Prince did live a carefree life but he never really did seem to enjoy it at all and now regrets never having gone beyond the property's limits., something he doesn't realise until he is in his statue form.

I have studied Wilde's The Importance of being Earnest as part of my university degree. Unfortunately, however, that was several years ago and I've been looking for my old notes but I can't find them anymore. I hope I saved them somewhere on a USB stick.

 

[Polly Parrot]

Rereading some paragraphs, it occurs to me that perhaps the morale of the story is to always be curious and find out what is beyond the walls. The Happy Prince himself chose not to go beyond the walls of his self-imposed confinement at Sans-Souci, and he regrets not having done so to the point of weeping. The swallow does selfless acts in the Prince's stead and flies to all the little corners of the town, places the Prince himself has never been to as he thought he was content playing in the walled gardens of Sans-Souci and being the centre of attention at its dances.

 

[Meadow337]

sans souci doesn't mean carefree in the sense of being happy, it means "without cares" ie without concern. It could be used in this context to mean that he chose not to care, or worry himself with things a compassionate, caring person should be concerned about

 

[Polly Parrot]

Hmm. Thanks for the correction.

I still wonder what, if anything at all, the reference to Frederick is supposed to mean? Assuming that the reference is intentional, that is.

 

[Meadow337]

I think that the reference to Frederick is a bit of a stretch of interpretation. Sans Souci is quite a common French phrase

http://www.wordnik.com/words/sans-souci

I don't think that the story of the Prince is so hard to understand. Here is the gilded and decorated statue, admired by all, and yet whose heart is of base lead. You could see a connection between the Philosopher's Stone of Alchemy and the search for the Aqua Vitae which would transmute base lead into gold. And are the statue's tears not his 'Aqua Vitae' which while, not transforming him into gold, as that is shown to be the true 'base' metal, but does crack his leaden heart in two.

The first stone he gives away is the ruby, which has a very interesting symbolic meaning in the context of this story:

Angelic

Archangel Raphael is the Archangel for those in need of healing, wholeness, and unity and he is affiliated with the colors green and deep pink.
Keywords:

Spiritual wisdom, health, knowledge, wealth, bliss, transition, change, choices,

Metaphysical Properties:

The energy of Ruby is intense and vivid.

It is the chosen stone of Leaders, Kings and Priests for its ability to guide and help make wise and noble decisions.

It is said that the power of Ruby is in its encouragement to follow your dreams and your bliss, helping you to change your world. Ruby will bring light to the dark places in ones life, bringing a spark of awareness to those places where you might still need work, and giving you the opportunity to clear that path. Ruby also heightens our love for life, giving us motivation and inspiration to choose wisely for ourselves and others.

Eliminates the "Martyr" syndrome, the underlying belief that you are somehow "less than" that sets you up to fail by thinking you need to experience pain and suffering to learn. The Universe has all of infinity at its disposal to teach you, it does not need you to be its whipping boy.

Ruby's wisdom is in teaching you how precious you are. You were handcrafted in Love, and meant to be happy.

For people in recovery, it is said to reduce the time needed for chemicals and toxins to exit the body.

Ruby stimulates the heart Chakra. It helps you to change, and make the transition from the person you are today, to the person you want to be, and you wish to be in your heart.

And this is what the Prince needs - he needs to change from the shallow person he CHOSE to be before when he was alive, and make new better choices based on the concern he shunned before, because it is when we concern ourselves with the lives and suffering of others that we develop compassion and become better human beings.

Then he gives away the two sapphires that make up his eyes - the sapphire symbolises faith, truth, sincerity and wisdom.

Sapphire is a stone of protection and prophetic wisdom, a wondrous crystal that can watch over human destiny. It is believed to promote joy, faith, hope and protection during long journeys. It brings light and peace and opens the mind toward beauty and intuitive understanding. Sapphire stones are thought to be able to maintain the hope needed in order that our deepest desires and dreams will be fulfilled one day.

So again we see a symbolic connection to change, to destiny, to transformation.

Next the Prince gives away his gilding, stripping himself of the last vestiges of all that is falsely admired, revealing his base / true nature - lead.

Gold symbolises wealth, riches, personal power and extravagance. All the things the Prince surrounded himself with during his life and which he now sees the falseness of.

Lead represents the impurities of metals and humans. Some say these are the vexations and troubles which God puts on people to bring them back to repentance. Others say these are just the troubles of life which man has to overcome in order to perfect himself. But as lead burns it burns all of the impurities with it which is why Boethus the Arab called it the water of sulphur. The tribulations of life are metaphoric with lead as they cleanse people of the imperfections they incur.

The Philosopher's Stone was only activated and the process of transmutation completed when sprinkled with lead.

Lead transmutes into mercury when combined with silver. Mercury is the symbol of making ideas real and substantial.

Oscar Wilde, like many of his contemporaries at the time, was deeply involved in the Theosophical and Spiritualist movements in which the study of alchemy would have been de rigeur.

Note - the tales of the swallow all focus around Egypt - the subject of fascination for Freemasons, Theosophists and the ilk.

 

[Polly Parrot]

But what about the swallow? The prince is only capable of doing good through the swallow's actions, but the bird dies. So, in my opinion, the prince may be doing good but as he is already dead there are no real consequences to it for him. Through his pleas he convinces the little bird to stay with him even though the bird needs the warmer climate of Egypt to be able to survive the winter, and this ultimately claims the animal's life. Granted, the townspeople do take apart the statue of the prince as it is now a statue made purely of lead and, in their eyes, it lacks any sort of outward beauty...but I suppose that's the rich people who only seem to care for beauty on the outside (in the story, obviously).

 

[Meadow337]

in Egyptian mythology the Ba or the spirit / soul is represented by a bird. And no true transformation is complete without death.

The swallow also represents death and ressurection. The ending hints that is what Wilde was getting at. With God saying these were the "best" things, but were they in fact 'best'.

After all is stripped away, what we are left with is the base lead, Adamic nature. There is no alchemical transformation into something better. So in a sense he isn't offering any redemption from what is to be human as such.

 

[Meadow337]

I find it hard to perceive any cynicism in the basic moral of 'The Fisherman and His Soul'.

He wrote the fairy tale version of 2 Corinthians 13 -

If I .... but do not have love, I am nothing.

 

[Conscious Bob]

Both the Happy Prince and the wee swallow were getting on my nerves I think I prefer Oscar when the humour's black and my favourite short story by him was Lord Arthur Savile's Crime. A charlatan convinces Lord Arthur that he's fated to commit a murder and Lord Arthur sets about his dastardly deed with the upmost seriousness, pretty funny and a good take on planning versus opportunism.