NOTES PREPARED BY
W . M . BHAT
TEACHER SCHOOL
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
JAMMU AND KASHMIR
Lesson No. 22
THE HAPPY PRINCE
(Oscar Wilde)
About the Author:- Oscar Fingal O Flahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright, poet and critic. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880’s he became one of the London’s most popular play wrights in the early 1890s. His wit, brilliance, and fear won him many devotees. He died in 1900.
THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Q.1. Why do the courtiers call the prince the Happy Prince? Is he really happy? What does he see around?
Ans. While the prince was alive, he lived always a happy life in his palace. So the courtiers called him the happy prince. But after his death, his statue was put on a high pedestal. Now he could see the misery of poor people all around. It made him very sad.
Q.2 Why does the Happy Prince send a ruby for the seamstress? What does the swallow do in the seamstress home?
Ans. The Happy Prince saw a poor woman whose son was ill. The boy was asking for oranges. But the woman could not afford. Therefore, the Happy Prince sent a ruby for her. The swallow put the ruby on a table and fanned the boy’s forehead with its wings.
Q.3 For whom does the Prince send the sapphires and why?
Ans. The prince sent one sapphire for a playwright and the other for a poor match girl. The playwright has no fire wood to keep himself warm. The match girl starts weeping after she accidentally throws her matches into a drain. The Happy Prince helped them by sending his sapphires to them.
Q.4 What does the swallow see when it flies over the city?
Ans. When the swallow flew over the city, it saw the rich enjoying in their houses while the beggars begging at their gates. The swallow even saw two little boys lying in each other’s arms to keep themselves warm.
Q.5 Why did the swallow not leave the prince and go to Egypt?
Ans. The prince had given the two sapphires of his eyes for the poor. Now he was completely blind. The swallow had a kind heart. He could not leave the prince in that state.
Q.6 Why is the statue of the Prince described as looking like a beggar and being no longer useful?
Ans. The statue of the prince had lost all its gold, sapphirines and the ruby. It looked worn out like a beggar.
Q.7 What proclamation does the Mayor make about the death of the birds?
Ans. The proclamation made by the Mayor was that no birds should be allowed to die at the feet of the statue.
Q8 What impression do you gather of his personality from this?
Ans. The proclamation gives an idea that the mayor was out of brain. No creature in whole world knows his place of death; how can a bird know.
Q.9 What were the two precious things the angel brought to God? In what way were they precious?
Ans. The Angel brought leaden heart of the prince and the dead swallow to God. Both things were precious as both loved to serve the humanity.
Q.10. What happened to the prince’s heart? What feelings does the end of the story arouse in you?
Ans. It broke into pieces when swallow died at his feet. The story ends up bringing deep feeling of sympathy towards humanity in our hearts.
LANGUAGE WORK:
Use the following in sentences of your own:
1. Bring out: (Bring somebody Out) A year at college has really brought her out of herself.
2. Bring up (bring somebody up) - He was brought up by his aunt.
3. Bring forth (to produce something) – Trees bring forth fruits.
4. Look up: (to raise your eyes) - She looked up from her book and smiled.
5. Look into: (to investigate something) - The manager is looking into your complaint
6. Look after: (take care of somebody) – My only desire is to look after my parents in their old age.
7. Look down upon: (consider somebody inferior) - He looks down upon illiterate people.
8. Look around: (to examine various choices) - We are looking around for a new car.
9. Fall in (to collapse) - The slab of the building fell in due to earth quake.
10. Hang in (preserve/stick) - Hang in there! The exam will soon be over.
11. See through (to realize the truth about something) - I can see through your trick.
12. See off (to say goodbye) - We all went to the railway station to see her off.
Verb / Tenses:
(i) One night these flew over… (Simple Past)
(ii) His friends had gone away… (Past perfect)
(iii) I will put up there... (Simple future)
(iv) .. You have done a good deed… (Present perfect)
Narration: English language has two ways to narrate the spoken- words of a person. These two ways are: (i) Direct speech (ii) Indirect speech.These two ways are usually used to convey a message (spoken words, of one person to another person.
Direct speech: “Why are you weeping then?” asked the swallow.
Indirect speech: The swallow asked (the prince) why he was weeping.
Direct speech: He said, “I want to meet your teacher”.
Indirect speech: He said that he wanted to meet my teacher.
Direct speech: He said, “I bought a book for you”.
Indirect speech: He said that he had bought a book for me.
Direct speech: He said, “I am going to school”.
Indirect speech: He said that he was going to school.
0 Comments