"The Young King" by Oscar Wilde is part of a collection of
short stories and fairy tales published under the name of The House of
Pomegranates". Most of the short stories in this collection have the
expected traits of Wildean style in the form of epigrams and paradoxical endings, with
an aim to appeal to the senses in a surprising and creative
way.
The story "The Young King" is about a prince who is
about to be crowned King. Yet, he never lived the life of a price before. This prince is
an unclaimed son of the now dead King and, as a rule, he is the heir to the throne. Once
he is brought to court, he is given all the rich luxuries of a future king. Yet, the
night before his crowning, the boy has three nightmares involving the evils of Death,
Avarice, the Plague, and Fever. In these dreams the young future King is clearly told
that a lot of less fortunate people had to work hard at creating his jewels, and many
sacrifice their lives so that the king could have all the things he needed on time for
his coronation. Hence, the day of his coronation the boy wore the robes of a peasant, a
stick instead of a sceptre, and a crown made of twigs. People around him felt ashamed of
him and treated him disrespectfully, saying that he is embarrasing the upper classes.
Yet, by this sacrifice something seemed to take place: The sun rose, and the
boy's meagre clothing seemed to shine witht he colors of the church glass. The stick
grew into a beautiful vine, and in all it was as if the sacrifice showed the true beauty
of his spirit. Even the bishop noticed this, and gave validity to the goodness of spirit
versus the superficiality of riches.
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