Showing results for "The Remarkable Rocket" in Anthologies & Short Stories

Set in a magical kingdom where a wealthy prince and a Russian princess meet for the first time and fall madly in love with each other. Their wedding is to be a huge celebration for the entire realm, with all sorts of entertainment, including fireworks as a grand finale. As soon as various firework elements are set in place, they start talking amongst each other, and we meet the very distinguished Remarkable Rocket, responsible for so many of Oscar Wilde's memorable epigrams.

In The Remarkable Rocket, Oscar Wilde delivers a brilliantly witty and satirical tale of vanity, self-importance, and misplaced ambition. As the fireworks gather in the King’s garden, each prepares for their moment of glory. Yet none is more convinced of his own greatness than the Rocket—an absurdly proud and overly emotional figure who believes the entire celebration exists in his honor.

Have you ever met someone so full of themselves that even fireworks seem dull by comparison? In Oscar Wilde’s whimsical tale "The Remarkable Rocket", a pompous and self-important rocket believes himself destined for greatness, oblivious to the world around him. As he prepares for a grand celebration, his vanity and arrogance set off a chain of absurd and hilarious events, revealing the dangers of pride and the folly of self-importance.

This story concerns a firework, who is one of many to be let off at the wedding of a prince and princess. The rocket is extremely pompous and self-important, and denigrates all the other fireworks, eventually bursting into tears to demonstrate his "sensitivity." As this makes him wet, he fails to ignite and, the next day, is thrown away into a ditch.

Everything in the world revolves around just him. Or does it? A moral fable on delusions of self-importance. First published 1888 in The Happy Prince and Other Tales.

This is a story from the The Happy Prince and Other Stories collection.