A House of Pomegranates

"A House of Pomegranates" by Oscar Wilde is a compilation of fanciful stories from the late 1800s, where the reader will see magical places while diving into ideas about attractiveness, pain, and tough moral choices. In "The Young King," we meet a boy with a privileged background who was brought up in the woods but is unexpectedly thrown into the luxurious world of royalty, where he is challenged by the scary realities that come with wealth and power. As this story opens, the young King considers his recent elevation while amidst the palace's grandeur on the night before his coronation. He was raised by commoners, we discover, and he now struggles with the contrast between his humble beginnings and the wealth he is about to receive. He has intense dreams in this section that show the horrible realities of his realm, such as how the poor are taken advantage of, how charm often requires giving something up, and how significant his royal attire is morally. When he gets out of bed, he has to choose whether to put on the opulent garb that represents a life of luxury based on other people's suffering, which is a moving scenario that encourages speculation about his future decisions and the obligations of being in charge.