Prince Charming 的词源

1837年，这个词源自法语 Roi Charmant，是《奥尔诺伊夫人的“蓝鸟”》（1697年）中的男主角。在英语中，他被融入了本土的童话故事，比如《睡美人》和《灰姑娘》。

As for me, I have always agreed with the fairy books that the moment when Prince Charming arrives is the perfect climax. Everything that goes before in the life of a girl simply leads up to that moment, and everything that comes after dates from it; and while the girl of the twentieth century, sallying forth in search of adventure, may not hope to meet at the next turn a knight in shining armor, or a sighing troubadour, she does hope, if she is normal and has the normal dreams of a girl, to find her hero in some of the men who pass her way. [Temple Bailey, "Adventures in Girlhood," Philadelphia, 1919]

我一直同意童话书中的观点：王子出现的那一刻是完美的高潮。女孩生活中的一切都在为这一刻铺垫，而之后的每个时刻都从这一刻开始。尽管二十世纪的女孩在寻找冒险时，可能不再指望在下一个转角遇到骑士或吟唱的游吟诗人，但如果她是正常的，怀有女孩应有的梦想，她仍然希望在路过的男人中找到她的英雄。[坦普尔·贝利，《少女冒险》，费城，1919年]

 参见 charming.