''The Wicked Prince'' () is a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

by the Danish author and fabulist

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

first published in 1840. The story of a conquering prince who aspires to overthrow God and is driven mad for his grandiosity, it has been analysed for its representation of technology and as an early work of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

Synopsis

The protagonist of ''The Wicked Prince'' is a cruel and ambitious prince (sometimes translated as ''king'') who becomes powerful and wealthy after conquering and pillaging all his neighbouring polities. His armies overthrow a church, but the priests refuse to place statues of him upon their altars, on the basis that his worldly power is inferior to God's. Infuriated by this, the prince decides to conquer Heaven and overthrow God. He builds a ship capable of flying through the air, armed with thousands of turrets and flying on the wings of hundreds of eagles. As the ship flies to Heaven, the prince is stopped in his tracks by a single angel, who is able to ground the ship with a single drop of blood from its wings. Though the prince nearly dies as his ship falls to Earth, he is invigorated in his goal and spends the next seven years building ever more-powerful vessels. Seven years after his original attack, the prince returns to Heaven with new ships transporting a massive army. As his soldiers leave for Heaven, God sends a swarm of gnats to attack the prince. He tries to attack them with his sword, but is unable to hit them; following this, he demands his servants wrap him in silken coverings such that the gnats would be unable to reach him. As they do so, a single gnat sneaks through and stings the prince's ear. Driven mad by the pain, he throws off his robes and runs away, mocked by his soldiers for being defeated by a single gnat.

Publication history

''The Wicked Prince'' was written by

and first published in October 1840 under the Danish title , in (''Salon: A

Belles-lettres () is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pej ...

Monthly''). It was intended for publication in the , but was seemingly rejected. The story was first included in an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

in 1868, 28 years following its original publication.

Analysis

''The Wicked Prince'' is markedly more technological than most fables, a characteristic that has been discussed in analysis of Andersen's work. The bibliographer , describing the story as an "uncanny fantasy", recorded that its plot device of a flying

dirigible An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat ( lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding ...

predated the first successful real-world attempt by twelve years. In an analysis of the emotional content of fairy tales, it was one of four works by Andersen selected, alongside ''

The Emperor's New Clothes "The Emperor's New Clothes" ( ) is a literary folktale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, about a vain emperor who gets exposed before his subjects. The tale has been translated into over 100 languages.Andersen 2005a 4 "Th ...

'', ''

The Princess and the Pea "The Princess and the Pea" () is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a princess who is tested to become the wife to a lonely prince. The tale was first published with three others by Andersen in a cheap booklet on 8 May 18 ...

'', and ''

The Little Match Girl "The Little Match Girl" (, meaning "The little girl with the matchsticks") is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story, about a dying child's dreams and hope, was first published in 1845. It has been ...

''. The story has been studied as a work of science fiction,, for the role that insects play in the narrative, and as a metaphor for dictatorships, including through the publication of editions during the World War II Nazi

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself Neutral countries in World War II, neutral, but that neutrality did not prevent Nazi Germany from Military occupation, occupying the country soon after the outbreak of ...

comparing the prince to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

References

{{Hans Christian Andersen Danish fairy tales 19th-century science fiction works 1840 works Short stories by Hans Christian Andersen Insects in popular culture Heaven in popular culture Fairy tales about princes Fictional princes

Synopsis

Publication history

Analysis

See also

References