# the young King — Children’s Stories character guide

> the young King in Children’s Stories by Oscar Wilde.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** The young King, The Young King

**First appearance:** 0005-the-young-king

## Snapshot

A sixteen-year-old raised among goatherds, snatched into a palace of jewels and etiquette, whose hunger for beauty collides with the cost of wearing it.

## Who they are

Found by hunters and revealed as the old King's heir, he trades sheepskin for embroidered robes and wanders Joyeuse in a daze of delight, chafing at court ceremony yet dazzled by every jewel. He is still half a woodland creature, wild-eyed on his cushions, and his fierce joy in beautiful things is both his charm and his danger. The night before his coronation, dreams of how such splendor is made will test whether the shepherd boy can still recognize himself.

## In the story

### [The Nightingale and the Rose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/children_s_stories_se/chapters/the-nightingale-and-the-rose)

Not present in this chapter.

### [The Young King](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/children_s_stories_se/chapters/the-young-king)

The protagonist who rejects royal regalia after learning of the suffering behind them, and is divinely crowned.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/children_s_stories_se/characters/young_king
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/children_s_stories_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/children_s_stories_se/characters