Victorians! discussion

Life in the palace became difficult as the people in town could not be trusted and the people didn’t trust what was going on in the palace. Lina and the Legserpent hunted every day for deer and fish to feed the everyone remaining in the palace. The one night Curdie woke up and noticed a bright light coming from the King’s chamber. He entered and saw the King laying on a marble table and his body being consumed by a fire of roses. Next to him was the Old Princess weeping. Her tears soaked her long hair, and after some time she dowsed the fire with her tears that dripped from her hair. She carried the King back to his bed and Curdie felt an immeasurable joy. He knew things would be all right. He went back to his place of sleep outside the King’s door.

In the morning the King awoke restored to full health. He knows there are enemies before the gates of the city, so he readies to put his armor on and to get a horse. He is surprised the horse he thought dead was right there. With Princess Irene on her pony and Curdie on foot with his motely crew of beasts they all make their way out of town. Debra follows at a distance on a great red horse.

With the women at a safe distance the battle ensues. It is a strange battle, for the sun is darkened by a huge flock of doves who swarm and peck the enemy in great big waves orchestrated by Debra. On the ground the beasts do their part. Overwhelmed by this unexpected counter-offence the enemy flees in disorderly fashion.

The King ordered the people of town to find and take care of their dead and wounded. Soon after there was judgment in the market place for the captured lord chancellor and other traitors. Each was bound on a beast and these left town with their burdens on the back never to be seen again. Later in the palace at supper Debra reveals herself to Curdie. She is great-grandma Irene. Curdie falls on his knees and burst into tears.

The King promises Princess Irene to Curdie as a wife once they are fully grown, so that they could inherit the kingdom in due time. Curdie is sent out into the kingdom to find people with human hands to form a new and upright court.

It was a new golden age for the kingdom, and after the king died Curdie and Irene ruled. They had no children, and after they died a king was chosen. He was only interested in the rich ores buried underneath the palace and the town fell back into its old wicked ways. They were so greedy that they undermined the city. It collapsed and nothing was left of it.

I laughed when Curdie’s creatures were referred to as the “uglies.” Somehow cruel, accurate, and affectionate.

I can see the forefather of all those battles in Narnia!

I know the ending was meant to be cautionary, but it made me sad to think of all the greed I see in the decisions of today.

Overall, I enjoyed these continued adventures of Curdie and Irene. I wasn’t sure where things were going at the outset, but MacDonald brought it around. Lina is still my favorite character, and I’m quite fond of the Uglies. Perhaps I have a thing for the underdog.

This story has a lot of symbolism packed into it. The 19th century had so much social upheaval with the Industrial Revolution causing so many people flocking into the towns for work and being unmoored from their rural setting and way of life. One thing MacDonald saw was that storytelling experienced a rupture. There were no stories that fit the new environment and conditions the people lived in. In the documentary “The Fantasy Makers” they have a long section on MacDonald.

I think with this story here he was exploring the loss of enchantment. The human person is body, mind, and soul, and all these aspects have to be nurtured in order to be fully human. The stark realities of life as a worker in factories plus the influences of new philosophies served to relegate the spiritual into the private sphere, it was stuff no longer needed in these modern times. But ultimately the material will fold in on itself as it cannot address the needs of the heart and spirit so necessary for human flourishing.

I did wonder why Curdie and Princess Irene never had children. What made them infertile? Maybe it goes back to the beginning of the story when Curdie had lost his innocence and then shot the dove. He should have recognized it as a messenger from great grandma Irene. This mistake would not have happened to the younger Curdie. He regained his belief in the enchanted, but maybe he was injured just like Frodo.

The connection to the Industrial Revolution is fascinating! I’d thought that miner was an unusual career for a fairytale character. More typically I think of farmboys and village artisans, like blacksmiths. I just thought of it as related to the goblins of the last book… needing to be familiar with the landscape underground.

But the industry adds a whole new layer. It makes the tragedy of the ending make more sense.

Well, even though much of the ending to Curdie’s story was predictable, I must admit that I didn’t realise that the housemaid was the old Princess Irene in disguise. That was a clever twist by George MacDonald. Also I was slightly misled by the title of the story because by ‘Princess’ and Curdie I thought the book would be about the young princess. However, young Irene played only a small part and in fact it was the older princess or to give her proper title ‘Queen Irene’ who was the main protagonist alongside Curdie.

The fact that the most powerful person in the story took the guise of a housemaid and during the celebratory dinner was the person who waited upon everyone else, seemed like a powerful statement about the humility of power and wisdom and how it should be used within a community.

It seemed sad that there was no one with similar wisdom to continue after Irene and Curdie. This seemed like a statement about the rise and fall of empires, as if this is an inevitability due to mankind’s greed and selfish intentions.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. I would have liked more emphasis on the young princess and Curdie’s courtship, marriage and their subsequent governing of the kingdom. It might be because I have read The Princess and the Goblin in which the young princess featured heavily.

I have been reading some Pope and Swift recently and their more direct and sometimes savage satire contrasts greatly with the gentle but still powerful messages that George MacDonald conveys within his entertaining fairy stories.

Renee wrote: "The connection to the Industrial Revolution is fascinating! I’d thought that miner was an unusual career for a fairytale character. More typically I think of farmboys and village artisans, like bla..."

One wouldn't expect so much social commentary in a fairy tale, but this is exactly what emerged in this new genre that MacDonald helped create, fantasy. The author Nicholas Kotar talks about this. He pointed out the novel was the place for social commentary and edgy issues in the 19th century with Dickens, Eliot, et. al. In the 20th century this shifted from the novel to fantasy. The fantasy masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings is very much a product of the 20th century and the experiences of two world wars. I am not much of a fantasy reader, the worlds they create are often way too bleak for me, but I am fascinated by the history.

Trev wrote: "This seemed like a statement about the rise and fall of empires, as if this is an inevitability due to mankind’s greed and selfish intentions."

Yes, very much so. The 19th century was such a tumultuous time. In the beginning we still had monarchies all over Europe and then with Napoleon and the forced secularization it all fell apart piece by piece. The final death knell was World War I. It was also a heady time of new discoveries in the natural sciences and technologies. MacDonald captures many elements of this in this story.

What I found interesting is that the beasts and Queen Irene, the dimension of the enchanted, do not die. They only leave the scene. They still exist. It is as if the next chapter is the rediscovery of the enchanted by mankind. The place of decadence is gone, just like Rome collapsed in on itself in the 5th century, but there is the wide hinterland of Europe where a re-birth of civilization awaits. MacDonald didn't leave us without hope in his tale!

I wondered why the ending of this marvelous story was so bleak, so thanks to my fellow readers for spotting the hidden message of societal changes. Lena was also my favorite character, and I assume her disappearance marked her return to a happy human life. I do wish MacDonald had written the story of Irene and Curdie’s marriage, perhaps with a guest appearance by the Uglies. I hope we can read more MacDonald takes in the future.