It contains five stories that are highly popular among children and frequently read in schools: "The Happy Prince," "The Nightingale and the Rose," "The Selfish Giant," "The Devoted Friend," and "The Remarkable Rocket."

[2] Viewing various scenes of people suffering in poverty from his tall monument,[3] the Happy Prince asks the swallow to take the ruby from his hilt,[2] the sapphires from his eyes,[4] and the gold leaf covering his body[5] to give to the poor.

As winter comes and the Happy Prince is stripped of all of his beauty, his lead heart breaks when the swallow dies as a result of his selfless deeds and severe cold.

[5] The people, unaware of their good deeds, take the statue down from the pillar due to its shabbiness (intending to replace it with one of the Mayor[6]) and melt the metal in a furnace, leaving behind the broken heart and the dead swallow, which are thrown in a dust heap.

"[16] The student angrily throws the rose into the gutter, returns to his study of metaphysics, and decides not to believe in true love anymore.

[20] On the giant's return after visiting his friend the Cornish Ogre for seven years, he takes offence at the children and builds a wall to keep them out.

[21] One day, the giant is awakened by a linnet, and discovers that spring has returned to the garden, as the children have found a way in through a gap in the wall.

Hans was a little man who owned a beautiful garden, where he grew flowers of all kinds and colours which were sold in the market to make some money.

[29] He enjoyed the company of another man called Hugh, a miller who used to visit Hans very often during the summer time and with whom he shared thoughts about friendship and loyalty.

[30] However, when winter came, Hans found himself in a very difficult situation, as his flowers wouldn't flourish anymore until the following spring, meaning that he was impoverished, living on a simple diet of a few pears and hard nuts.

Meanwhile, the miller lived comfortably in his own house and avoided visiting his friend or helping him in any way, not to make him jealous and spoil, if not break, their friendship.

[33] One day, Hans was asked to go and seek a doctor for Hugh's son, who had hurt himself, but as it was a stormy and rainy night, he could barely see where he was going.

[34] Hugh, exaggerating his sadness,[35] attends Hans's funeral, and the linnet's story is concluded with the following sentence: "'A great loss to me at any rate,' answered the Miller; 'why, I had as good as given him my wheelbarrow, and now I really don't know what to do with it.

[35] This story has been adapted for comics by the cartoonist P. Craig Russell, in Volume 4 of "Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde," which also includes "The Nightingale and the Rose.