As Francis Marloe remarks in his postscript to Bradley Pearson's narrative, The Black Prince is an "ambiguous" title (Postscript by Francis: par. 8)—one that may have multiple different meanings. Although Shmoop loves to leave some things open to interpretation, we're going to break down the title's two clearest meanings for you:
- The title refers to the classical god Eros, whom Bradley refers to as "the black Eros" throughout his story.
- The title refers to Prince Hamlet, who enters Shakespeare's play wearing the black clothing that much of the Western world associates with death and mourning. The fact that his outfits complement his melancholy mood doesn't hurt, either.
Since Bradley Pearson thinks of his narrative as being fundamentally a love story—one in which his love for Julian Baffin makes him feel like "the black Eros" has stretched him on the rack and hung him out to dry—and since he also identifies himself with Hamlet throughout his story, the novel's title goes both ways.
As an added bonus, the initials BP (as in Black Prince) are also the initials of Bradley Pearson's own name—a point that highlights both the extent to which Bradley identifies himself with Hamlet and the degree to which his world was turned upside down and inside out when he was attacked by Eros.