“But at last he knew that he was going to die. He had just strength to fly up to the Prince’s shoulder once more. ‘Good-bye, dear Prince!’ he murmured, ‘will you let me kiss your hand?’
‘I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little Swallow,’ said the Prince, ‘you have stayed too long here; but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you.’ ” (Wilde, 13)

This quoted passage from “The Happy Prince,” reminded me of today’s very popular, “Beauty and the Beast,” for a similar adaptation. In this particular part of the story, after all is said and done, the Swallow, using his last breathe, shares a kiss and I love you’s with the Prince. After living a selfish life, he sacrifices essentially everything for the Prince and in return, receives true love and redemption. However, it is necessary for him to die in order to do so, making this story slightly dark in a way. At the every end, they are liberated and share eternity together in heaven.
While in, “Beauty and the Beast,” a cruel Prince is turned into a beast by an enchantress, in order to find someone to love him and ultimately redeem himself for his shallow ways. As a beast, he falls in love with Belle, a girl who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to free her father, much like Swallow’s sacrifice in “The Happy Prince.” At the end of the fairytale, Belle and Beast exchange I love you’s and a kiss, as Beast is at the brink of death, where he is then saved and transformed into a Prince again, suggesting that he is redeemed and liberated.
As you can see, both stories are quite similar. Their similarities include, but are not limited to, the state of purgatory, the factor of love, an ultimate sacrifice, and redemption by death. These fairytales suggest that our characters are designed to risk it all to the point of death with a beloved, in order to compensate for their unsatisfactory lives. As the readers, we find a sense of freedom and hope towards the end of the stories when the main characters are liberated from their purgatories.