The Remarkable Rocket
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Themes
All Themes Pride, Arrogance, and Delusion High Society and Snobbery Fame and Alienation
Quotes
Characters
All Characters The Rocket The King The Frog The Duck
Symbols
All Symbols The Court The Countryside Fireworks
Literary Devices
All Literary Devices Anthropomorphism Dramatic Irony Foil Genre Hyperbole Irony Mood Satire Setting Situational Irony Style Tone
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The Remarkable Rocket

by

Oscar Wilde
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The King Character Analysis

The King is the ruler of the kingdom in which the story takes place and the father of the Prince who is getting married. Like the Rocket, the King is convinced of his own greatness and his self-absorption has made him similarly delusional. The King believes that he is a skilled musician and, although his entire Court knows otherwise, that delusion is reinforced since none of his Courtiers have the courage to tell him the truth. The King is also in the habit of answering questions that are not addressed to him, believing that anyone should be happy to receive his wisdom. Although the King and the Rocket never interact, the King serves to reinforce the same self-importance and self-obsession—and the delusion that follows—that possesses the Rocket, which the story is warning against.

The King Quotes in The Remarkable Rocket

The The Remarkable Rocket quotes below are all either spoken by The King or refer to The King. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Pride, Arrogance, and Delusion Theme Icon
).
The Remarkable Rocket Quotes

“She was like a white rose before,” said a young Page to his neighbour, “but she is like a red rose now;” and the whole Court was delighted.

For the next three days everybody went about saying, “White rose, Red rose, Red rose, White rose;” and the King gave orders that the Page's salary was to be doubled. As he received no salary at all this was not of much use to him, but it was considered a great honour, and was duly published in the Court Gazette.

Related Characters: The Page (speaker), The King
Related Symbols: The Court, Fireworks
Pride, Arrogance, and Delusion Theme Icon
High Society and Snobbery Theme Icon
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
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The King Quotes in The Remarkable Rocket

The The Remarkable Rocket quotes below are all either spoken by The King or refer to The King. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Pride, Arrogance, and Delusion Theme Icon
).
The Remarkable Rocket Quotes

“She was like a white rose before,” said a young Page to his neighbour, “but she is like a red rose now;” and the whole Court was delighted.

For the next three days everybody went about saying, “White rose, Red rose, Red rose, White rose;” and the King gave orders that the Page's salary was to be doubled. As he received no salary at all this was not of much use to him, but it was considered a great honour, and was duly published in the Court Gazette.

Related Characters: The Page (speaker), The King
Related Symbols: The Court, Fireworks
Pride, Arrogance, and Delusion Theme Icon
High Society and Snobbery Theme Icon
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
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