Royalty in terms of Kings, Queens as well as Princesses are found within many novels, including The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald as well as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. The Princess and the Goblin represents royalty mainly through a Queen figure, even though the King is found within the novel. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe however represents royalty through kingliness, in comparison to The Princess and the Goblin. Both novels however represent a religious allegory and faith as major reoccurring themes that is found in the protagonists’ progression through their adventures. Therefore, the representation of royalty within The Princess and the Goblin and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe exemplify …show more content…
Lewis and MacDonald have similarities in their work, such as their theme of the absent king, however Lewis revises MacDonald’s idea by including a more extreme religious outlook compared to MacDonald’s subtle descriptions. Overall, both novels exemplify a religious outlook on royalty. Within The Princess and the Goblin, royalty is prevalent more so within the Queen than the King. The King was still known to be a powerful figure, when he was described as “King over a great country full of mountains and valleys” (MacDonald, 3), however he was mainly absent in the story, coming back just to increase the amount of guards that is protecting his daughter who is the main protagonist, Princess Irene. The main symbol of religion, though subtle revolved around Irene’s luminous grandmother, whose name is also Irene. In terms of her appearance, she is described as a very old woman, as shown when Irene asks her grandmother if she is a hundred, where she replies, “Yes- …show more content…
I am too old for you to guess” (MacDonald, 12). However, she is instead described as a woman that is beautiful and still looks very young, “Her slippers glimmered with the light of the Milky Way, for they were crossed with seed-pearls and opals in one mass. Her face was that of a woman of three and twenty” (MacDonald, 72). This feature of endless youth symbolizes an entity of agelessness, thus the Grandmother is shown as someone who is not human. The Grandmother can be seen as a parallel to Mary, Mother of God in Christian doctrine. Within the bible, Mary is described as “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (The English Standard Bible, Revelation 12:1). The Grandmother also has manifestations around her which represents religious connotations in the novel. Pigeons are usually present in scenes where the Grandmother talks to Irene. They were described as, “loveliest of pigeons, mostly white” (MacDonald, 13), as well as “Snow-white pigeon flew in at an open window and settled upon Irene’s head. She broke into a merry laugh, cowered a little, and put her hands to her head” (MacDonald, 20). These white
The characterizations of women have, throughout history, been one of the most problematic subjects in literary tradition. An extraordinary dichotomy has existed with women as being both the paragon of virtue and the personification of evil. Ancient Greeks feared women, and poets such as Hesiod believed the female sex was created to be the scourge of the gods and the bane of men (Fantham 39). Romans, on the other hand, incorporated tales of brave and virtuous women as an intrinsic part of their legendary history (219). Many Catholic saints, revered for their piety, were notoriously misogynistic (Dollison 106), and yet the church counted legions of holy women in the rosters of saints alongside their male counterparts. Despite much historical controversy as to the precise nature of women, none of this confusion seems to seep into the writings of George MacDonald, and there appears to be no conflict to MacDonald’s regard towards women in his female characters in The Princess and the Goblin. The character of the Grandmother in particular is one of the most complimentary fabrications of the figure of the mature female in literature. MacDonald created this fascinating construct of femininity by steeping the Grandmother not only in the arcane feminine symbols such as spinning, pigeons, and the moon, but also in his own concept of the ideal woman, as wise and compassionate as she is mysterious.
... her children, and gave people hope to see through the darkness. The theme truly is "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger". Granny is humanity. Humanity's need to give reason and purpose to life sets us up for disappointment. It is human nature to expect, whether good or bad, there is reason for our existence that someone will always be there to save us, especially in something as final as death. Granny surely believed her "jiltings" would be corrected upon her death because of her religious beliefs. But even in death, life tries to break you, and even in death you can find strength, the strength to blow out your own candle.
The grandmother is representative of godliness and Christianity which O'Connor apparently believed to be more prevalent in the "glamorous" Old South: The old woman settled herself comfortably, removing her white cotton gloves and putting them up with her purse on the shelf in front of the back window. The children's mother still had on slacks and still had her head tied up in a green kerchief but the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collar and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace, and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once she was a lady. (2148)
The Paper Bag Princess is a counter point to traditional fairy tales about Princes and Princesses as it displays characters in altered roles. Princess Elizabeth challenges the modern view of the masculinity of a hero by reversing gender roles when she chooses to save Prince Ronald herself. By taking on the fire breathing dragon and outsmarting him, Princess Elizabeth defies typical princess roles and fairytale plots. Although lacking Cinderella elegance, Elizabeth's determination, self-confidence and awareness of her inner be...
The grandmother serves as a symbol of etiquette and structure: dressing as a lady with her neckline “pinned [with] a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet” (O’Connor) and constantly reminding her grandkids of the wonderful gift of nature and the necessary appreciation for their belongings, keeping the children from throwing their sandwich wrappers out the car window and bickering, and attempting to improve their manners. She believes in herself to be a good, Christian woman. On the contrary, the grandmother is, as T. W. Hendricks observes in his literary criticism, Flannery O’Connor’s “spoiled prophet”, “compromised by her delusions about her background and social status” and a partaker in sinful pride. She is pretentious and domineering towards her son, as well as, his wife and children. She seems to believe her opinions, on more than just religion, are factual.
Faith is something that the author lacks as she only see 's herself as this defiant child. However, this changes as she realizes that she shares a special bond with her grandmother, rather than taking care of her for an obligation. In the very last scene, the author watches her grandmother as she slowly passes away and cries with “sobs emerging from the depths of anguish,” finally realizing that she actually had a very close relationship with her grandmother, developing a type of respect. The author had always felt her grandmother’s gray eyes watching over here, like a safety net, for every move she had made (Viramontes
Granny’s name “Weatherall” reflects strength, survival, and endurance (Harder, 151). Her memories upon her deathbed reveal her to be strong, independent, Catholic, and Southern (Abcarian, 20). Her life was a struggle to avoid dealings with her true feelings (Brinkmeyer 12). Granny is not ready to die and has not come to terms with the events of her life. She is desperate to discover some meaning and purpose for the life she lived (Abcarian, 20). Granny is bored to explore repressed memories and her true self and feelings (Brinkmeyer, 11-12). The critical event in her life occurred when her fiancé George left her at the altar (Abcarian, 20). It is obviously a turning point in her life (Brinkmeyer, 11). She returns to it again and again and recalls that “the whole bottom dropped out of the world” (Brinkmeyer, 11). Despite marrying another man and having a family, she suffered a loss that was never fulfilled (Abcarian, 21). Granny comes to realize in the end that even her religion has been a means of denying real feelings and pain...
Most women in their childhood had probably dreamt of being a princess and meeting their charming prince. As Walt Disney’s figures have been influential in this sense, the ideal portrayal of princesses still attracts young girls who imitate them, their lifestyle and their physical appearance. In Sleeping Beauty (1959) and in The Little Mermaid (1989) the narration is focused on the search for true love, personified by a prince, for self-accomplishment. It is crucial to differentiate the representation of femininity of the two protagonists in the two movies to better understand if the role of Princesses has changed over those last thirty years. The main figures in both movies
This is the moment when she realizes that she will not be admitted to Heaven and God has not come for her. As a result, she instantly thinks she will be going to hell. She feels that God is cruel and she will never forgive him for this. Granny is still holding onto things, even as she is fading away on her deathbed. She seems just as strong-willed and hardened moments from her death as she does when the story starts. As one critic writes, “Loosely based on Porter’s own grandmother, Granny Weatherall is tough and defiant, even in the face of death.”
There are two stories, written 36 years apart, with very different main themes. The first story is “Inherit the Wind,” a play written in 1955, which is a fictionalized story about the State vs. John Scopes Monkey Trial. In “Inherit the Wind,” the “criminal” is Bertram Cates, who taught his high school students text about evolution. In a world like Hillsboro, where nobody speaks against God or the Bible, this is considered a terrible sin. The second story, The Wretched Stone, a picture book written in 1991, is about a crew on a ship. They find a stone and become infatuated with it, and don’t help the captain navigate a brewing storm. The main theme of “Inherit the Wind” is the importance of free thought, while the main theme of The Wretched
The grandmother; is not godly, prayerful, or trustworthy but she is a troublesome character. She raised her children without spirutuality, because she is not a believer, she is Godless.
This unnamed character feels superior and far more knowledgeable to that of the rest of her family while truth behold, she is just as manipulative, sneaky and selfish as the rest of them. She treats her son like a foolish idiot, is critical and judgmental of his wife. She is constantly nagging on the children and revels a greater moral attitude towards them. The plot begins with a family car trip in which they ironically run into a criminal they were trying to travel away from all because the Grandmother insisted on a detour to see an old house. Throughout the story, theology is depicted in a tricky way. God is mostly nonexistent but assumed to be believed in by the Grandma because she is a “perfect lady.” It is not until the final scene when the Misfit threatens her life, that she finally experiences a moment of grace by recognizing him as one of her own children. O’Connor demonstrates a strong belief in the salvation of religion by describing the Grandma sitting perfectly and looking up into the cloudless sky after her death. Through the Grandma’s character, it is learned that O’Connor believed everyone deserves to be saved no matter how sinful his or her actions may
C.S. Lewis created a story of a fictional world called Narnia that was inside of a wardrobe. There were four siblings who found this world, once inside they saw numerous creatures like witches and centaurs that were symbols for something bigger. C. S. Lewis uses Christian symbolism in The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe through the characters of Aslan, Edmund, and the White Witch.
The symbolism between C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia, and the New Testament in the Bible, particularly the account of Jesus’ death is not merely coincidental because The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is, in fact, an allegory. An allegory is a story with morals in which characters, plots and settings are used as symbols. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis is rich with Christian symbolism even though the allegorical nature of it is the subject of much controversy. Nonetheless, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is an allegory. In this tale, four ordinary children find a wardrobe that leads them into Narnia, an extraordinary land parallel to our universe with talking animal and fantasy creatures. An evil witch has cast a spell of eternal winter over the land and has lured one of the children into betraying the others for enchanted Turkish Delights. Meanwhile, a magical lion, the nemesis of the witch, has arrived after a 100-year absence because of the betrayal of Edmund and ancient prophecies. Soon the children find themselves as involved in the battle as the other creatures and the lion must free Narnia from the clutches of the evil witch and atones for Edmund’s betrayal. The symbolism in the characters, plots, setting, miscellaneous things and themes prove Narnia is, indeed, allegorical
The Narnia Chronicles have already established themselves as timeless works of literature. They appeal to both the atheists and the God-fearing, to both the uneducated and to scholars; to children and adults. An understanding of the Biblical allegory in these books is not essential to their appreciation. A critical analysis of these works, however, does allow the reader to more fully appreciate Lewis' unique gift to simplify complex narratives and craft beautiful children's fantasies. This, in turn, allows the reader to gain both a deeper understanding of Lewis as a skilled creative writer, and a deeper satisfaction of his art. To be able to appreciate C.S. Lewis as such an artisan can only add to one's enjoyment of his works.