= The_Princess_and_the

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= The_Princess_and_the_Goblin =
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Introduction
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'The Princess and the Goblin' is a children's fantasy novel by George
MacDonald. It was published in 1872 by Strahan & Co., with
black-and-white illustrations by Arthur Hughes. Strahan had published
the story and illustrations as a serial in the monthly magazine 'Good
Words for the Young', beginning November 1870.

Anne Thaxter Eaton writes in 'A Critical History of Children's
Literature' that 'The Princess and the Goblin' and its sequel "quietly
suggest in every incident ideas of courage and honor." Jeffrey
Holdaway, in the 'New Zealand Art Monthly', said that both books start
out as "normal fairytales, but slowly become stranger", and that they
contain layers of symbolism similar to that of Lewis Carroll's work.

Summary
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Eight-year-old Princess Irene lives a lonely life in a castle in a
desolate, mountainous kingdom, with only her nursemaid for company.
Her father, the king, is normally absent, and her mother is dead.
Unknown to her, the nearby mines are inhabited by a race of goblins,
long banished from the kingdom and anxious to take revenge on their
human neighbours. One rainy day, the princess explores the castle and
discovers a mysterious lady who identifies herself as Irene's namesake
and great-great-grandmother. The next day, Princess Irene heads
outside but is chased by goblins and rescued by a young miner, Curdie.

At work in the mines, Curdie overhears the goblins talking and learns
their weakness: they have very soft, vulnerable feet. He also hears
that the goblins intend to flood the mine. Irene is about to see her
great-great-grandmother again, but is frightened by a cat and escapes
up the mountain; the light from her great-great-grandmother's tower
leads her home. Her great-great-grandmother gives Irene a ring
attached to an invisible thread, which connects her constantly to
home.

When Curdie explores the goblins' domain, he is discovered by the
goblins and stamps on their feet with great success; when he tries to
stamp on the Queen's feet she is uninjured due to her stone shoes. The
goblins imprison Curdie and Irene's magic thread leads her to his
rescue. Curdie steals one of the goblin queen's stone shoes. Irene
takes Curdie to see her great-great-grandmother but she is visible
only to Irene. Curdie learns that the goblins are digging a tunnel in
the mines toward the king's palace, where they plan to abduct the
Princess and marry her to goblin prince Harelip. Curdie warns the
palace guards about this, but is imprisoned instead and contracts a
fever through a wound in his leg, until Irene's
great-great-grandmother heals the wound.

The goblins come to abduct the princess, but Curdie escapes from his
prison and stamps on the goblins' feet. He follows the magic thread to
Irene's refuge at his own house, and restores her to the king. When
the goblins flood the mines, the water enters the palace, and Curdie
warns the others; the goblins drown. The king asks him to serve as a
bodyguard; but Curdie refuses, saying he cannot leave his mother and
father. Instead he accepts a new red petticoat for his mother.

Publication history
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The Princess and the Goblin was first serialised in the children’s
periodical 'Good Words for the Young', where it appeared between
November 1870 and June 1871. This was accompanied by a series of 30
illustrations by Arthur Hughes. In a letter George MacDonald wrote to
his wife, dated to the 25th February 1871, he stated that “I know it
is as good a work of the kind as I can do, and I think it will be the
most complete thing I have done.” Despite this, sales of 'Good Words
for the Young' began to slow, which the story was blamed for. Strahan,
his publisher, stated that it had “too much of the fairy element” in
it. It was published separately in novel form by Strahan & Co in
December 1871, although the publication date was listed as 1872. The
first American publication also came in 1871 through Routledge, New
York.

Themes
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MacDonald’s depiction of the goblins portray them as descendants of
individuals who had fled underground to escape from the strict laws of
society. Within the opening of the novel, MacDonald states that “there
was a legend current in the country that at one time they lived above
ground, and were very like other people. But for some reason or other,
concerning which there were different legendary theories, the king had
laid what they thought too severe taxes upon them… According to the
legend, however, instead of going to some other country, they had all
taken refuge in the subterranean caverns.” This synthesis of folkloric
and anthropological elements reflected a persistent evolutionary
theory in contemporary Victorian society, which conflated mythological
tales of fairies with folk memories of primordial race. The conclusion
of the novel, in which Curdie tricks the goblins into flooding their
underground kingdom in an extended reference of the Biblical Flood,
can therefore be read as an act of God in excising the goblins, who
are depicted as moral and physical degenerate. This is MacDonald’s
attempt to synthesise scientific, pagan and Christian elements into a
single unified system of ethics and morals. It has been observed,
however, that this final sequence is both shocking and disturbing,
depicting as it does the extermination of innocent animals alongside
the "evil" goblins.

Film adaptations
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In the 1960s, the novel was adapted in animated form by Jay Ward for
his 'Fractured Fairy Tales' series. This version involved a race of
innocent goblins who are forced to live underground. The ugly goblin
king falls in love with a beautiful princess, but a prince saves her
by reciting poetry because goblins hate it.

A full-length animated adaptation of the book, directed by József
Gémes, was released in 1992 in the United Kingdom, and in June 1994 in
the United States. This Hungary/Wales/Japan co-production, created at
Budapest's PannóniaFilm, Japan's NHK, and S4C and Siriol Productions
in Great Britain, starred the voices of Joss Ackland, Claire Bloom,
William Hootkins and Rik Mayall. The film's producer, Robin Lyons,
also wrote the screenplay and voiced the Goblin King. However, it was
not well received commercially nor critically upon its US release from
Hemdale Film Corporation in summer 1994, reportedly grossing only $1.8
million domestically and receiving mainly negative reviews (compared
to Disney's very successful 'The Lion King' that was released during
the same month in the United States).

The film's title is "De Prinses van het Zonnevolk" in Dutch (English:
The Princess of the Sun-people), "Prinsessan og durtarnir" in
Icelandic (The Princess and the Trolls), and "La princesse et la forêt
magique" (The princess and the magic forest) in French.

Other adaptations
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* The book was dramatised by adapted by Gracer Calvert Holland in
1926. This was published in script form by Erskine MacDonald before it
was performed.
* A 1930 theatrical adaptation was published by W.H. Baker in Boston.
The title was changed to 'The Princess and the Goblins'.
* 'The Princess and the Goblins' is also a poem by Sylvia Plath
(1932-1963).
* Shirley Temple played Princess Irene in a production on an episode
of her television show. Although the plot follows the basic outline of
Macdonald's story, it glosses over the darker elements and is played
primarily as comedy. Irene and Curdie are portrayed as young adults
instead of children (with hints of a budding romance), and the goblins
are forgiven their evil deeds and reform.
* It was a book in the "100 Classic Books" collection for the Nintendo
DS.
* Twyla Tharp used the story in the full-length ballet of the same
title. It was her first to incorporate children and was
co-commissioned by Atlanta Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 2012.

Legacy
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The sequel to this book is 'The Princess and Curdie'.

* Author Douglas Anderson suggests that J. R. R. Tolkien's depictions
of goblins within Tolkien's legendarium was heavily influenced by the
goblins in 'The Princess and the Goblin'.
* In C. S. Lewis' novel 'That Hideous Strength', Elwin Ransom says
that he lives "like the king in 'Curdie'", and later in the novel,
Jane Studdock reads the "Curdie books".
* G. K. Chesterton wrote of 'The Princess and the Goblin':

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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_and_the_Goblin