“So the Swallow picked out the great ruby from the Prince’s sword, and flew away with it in his beak over the roofs of the town.

He passed by the cathedral tower, where the white marble angels were sculptured. He passed by the palace and heard the sound of dancing. A beautiful girl came out on the balcony with her lover. ‘How wonderful the stars are,’ he said to her, ‘and how wonderful is the power of love!’ ‘I hope my dress will be ready in time for the State-ball,’ she answered; ‘I have ordered passion-flowers to be embroidered on it; but the seamstresses are so lazy.’

He passed over the river, and saw the lanterns hanging to the masts of the ships. He passed over the Ghetto, and saw the old Jews bargaining with each other, and weighing out money in copper scales. At last he came to the poor house and looked in. The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and the mother had fallen asleep, she was so tired. In he hopped, and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman’s thimble. Then he flew gently round the bed, fanning the boy’s forehead with his wings. ‘How cool I feel,’ said the boy, ‘I must be getting better;’ and he sank into a delicious slumber.

Then the Swallow flew back to the Happy Prince, and told him what he had done. ‘It is curious,’ he remarked, ‘but I feel quite warm now, although it is so cold.’ “ (Wilde, 8)

**** As the woman comments on love, I can’t help but think of the love between Swallow and the Prince. She speaks exclaims about the power of love, making me think that this might be a foreshadow of what will happen between the main characters. The bond between them being so powerful that it drives them to transform themselves, find redemption, and enter through the gates of heaven together.

**** Here, we see the beautiful girl complain about her dress being made by the lazy seamstress. In this story, we see an underlying theme of vanity. It is very present here, as the shallow, pretty girl complains about something as unimportant as a dress, while the seamstress is dealing with a deathly ill son. The girl is completely engulfed in here love and happiness to realize the pain and suffering of others, much like the Prince in his human form. Perhaps, she too will turn into a statue to learn her lesson?

**** Here, we see a drastic social divide between the rich and the poor. This story comments about essentially no middle class, there seems to be only those who are extremely well of, and those who are barely scraping by. However, we see that those who have less money, seem to be better people over all, suggesting that the author thinks that too much money leads to being materialistic and egotistical, which is more undesirable than being poor.

**** This is the first time in the story where we see a real change in Swallow. His act of fanning the boy, was done on his own account and not demanded by the Prince. This is his first true act of kindness, essentially transforming him from selfish to kind. The proof of this transformation is in the warmth he felt afterwards, as his heart doubled in size.