The style of “The Happy Prince” is typical both of the fairy tale genre and of Wilde’s personal voice. The action-driven nature of the story, with a lot of dramatic action happening over the course of a few days, follows the convention of the fairy-tale style.
Accordingly, the story has a fast pace and is largely driven by plot, with the story being clearly structured around the form of a problem, quest, and resolution. The use of the rule of three, in that the story progresses through the three acts of charity that the Prince asks of the Swallow, clearly delineates the action of the story, as the three acts signal an escalation of sacrifice each time. The choice of language, while often descriptive, is also fairly simple, chiming in with the typical fairy-tale style, which is designed to be read aloud and told to children.
Wilde’s personal style, however, is also apparent in “The Happy Prince,” with the use of lavish descriptions and poetic prose being key features of Wilde’s writing. The way the Prince and the Swallow speak, for example, is often grandiose and poetic, and the Swallow’s descriptions of his travels are full of vivid, descriptive passages, while the Prince’s speech is often sentimental and spoken in a “low musical voice.” That it is these characters’ speech that proves most poetic is also typical of Wilde, who was known as a great conversationalist and whose skill in writing was most recognizable in the lively speech of his plays. Wilde's clever playfulness with language also shines through in instances such as the snapping of the statue’s leaden heart, which turns the figurative expression of a broken heart into something literal.
