# Prince — Short Fiction character guide

> Prince in Short Fiction by George MacDonald.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0077-the-light-princess

## Snapshot

A young royal whose fairy-tale inheritance of power collides with the harder work of becoming worthy of it, tested by tasks that reward humility over birth.

## Who they are

He enters the tale as the expected hero, handsome and titled, with a kingdom waiting and expectations pressing from every side. What unsettles him is not dragons or rivals but the demand that he earn what he was simply given, a lesson delivered through strange encounters and unlikely teachers. His arc anchors the story's moral center, asking whether nobility is a birthright or a discipline.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/i)

Rosamond's father, the king, who is frustrated by his daughter's behavior.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xi)

Mentioned as having left; his departure triggers Rosamond's relapse.

### [The Light Princess](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/the-light-princess)

The prince who loves the princess and seeks to break her curse.

### [Put Me in Again](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/ix-put-me-in-again)

A wandering prince searching for a perfect princess; he rescues the princess from the lake and falls in love with her.

### [X: Look at the Moon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/x-look-at-the-moon)

The prince sets out for food, sings to the princess, and swims with her nightly; he falls in love but is troubled by her laughter at his declarations.

### [Hiss!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xi-hiss)

Perplexed and distressed by the princess's sudden behavior and the lake's decline.

### [Where Is the Prince?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xii-where-is-the-prince)

Disguises himself as a shoeblack to learn about the princess; dives in the lake and polishes the princess's unused boots.

### [XIII: Here I Am](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xiii-here-i-am)

The prince, disguised as a shoeblack, volunteers to sacrifice himself by plugging the leak in the lake, bargaining for the princess's company during his drowning.

### [XIV: This Is Very Kind of You](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xiv-this-is-very-kind-of-you)

Sacrifices himself by sitting in the hole to stop the water, sings a love song, and is rescued by the princess after drowning.

### [XV: Look at the Rain!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xv-look-at-the-rain)

Recovers alongside the princess, teaches her to walk, and rejoices in their betrothal.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters/prince
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters