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{{Short description|1872 novel by George MacDonald}} |
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{{infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] --> |
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{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}} |
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{{About|the novel|the film|The Princess and the Goblin (film){{!}}''The Princess and the Goblin'' (film)}} |
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{{infobox book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] --> |
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| name = The Princess and the Goblin |
| name = The Princess and the Goblin |
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| image = Princess and the Goblin.jpg |
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| title_orig = |
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| caption = Cover of the 1911 [[Blackie and Son]] edition, illustrator uncredited<ref name=1911blackie/> |
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| translator = |
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| image = |
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| image_caption = |
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| author = [[George MacDonald]] |
| author = [[George MacDonald]] |
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| illustrator = |
| illustrator = [[Arthur Hughes (artist)|Arthur Hughes]] (serial and 1872 book) |
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| cover_artist = |
| cover_artist = |
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| country = |
| country = United Kingdom |
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| language = [[English language|English]] |
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| genre = [[Children's literature|Children's]] [[fantasy novel]] |
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| series = |
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| genre = |
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| publisher = Strahan & Co |
| publisher = Strahan & Co |
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| release_date = |
| release_date = 1872 |
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| media_type = Print |
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| english_release_date = |
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| pages = 308, 12 plates (1911, Blackie and Son, above)<ref name=1911blackie/> |
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| media_type = |
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| |
| wikisource = The Princess and the Goblin |
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| followed_by = [[The Princess and Curdie]]}} |
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| isbn = |
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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 (artist)|Arthur Hughes]]. Strahan had published the story and illustrations as a serial in the monthly magazine ''Good Words for the Young'', beginning November 1870. |
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| preceded_by = |
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| followed_by = |
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}} |
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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. |
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[[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."<ref name = Eaton>{{cite book | title = A Critical History of Children's Literature | last = Eaton |first = Anne Thaxter | editor-first = Cornelia | editor-last = Meigs |year = 1969 |publisher = Macmillan | isbn = 0-02-583900-4 |page=200}}</ref> Jeffrey Holdaway, in the ''New Zealand Art Monthly'', said that both books start out as "normal [[fairy tale|fairytale]]s, but slowly become stranger", and that they contain layers of symbolism similar to that of [[Lewis Carroll]]'s work.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.nzartmonthly.co.nz/jeffreyholdaway_001.html |title= Eight Important works |accessdate= 18 January 2009 |last= Holdaway |first= Jeffrey |date= August 2005 |work= New Zealand Art Monthly |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090307014003/http://www.nzartmonthly.co.nz/jeffreyholdaway_001.html |archivedate= 7 March 2009 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> |
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From the backpage of the Wordsworth Classics edition: |
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:George MacDonald's second novel for children is widely regarded as both his best children's story and one of the finest fantasy tales ever written. The [[Princess]] Irene lives in a [[castle]] on a [[mountain]] with her nurse Lootie, while in [[cave]]s beneath live a race of ugly [[goblin]]s with heads as hard as stone. The lines are drawn for a fantastic confrontation between the Princess, her great-great-grandmother and her intrepid friend Curdie on the one side, and the [[gnome]]-like goblins on the other. It is a thrilling battle of wits which must prove fatal... for someone. |
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[[File:The princess and the goblin (1920) (14566641580).jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|''The Princess and the Goblin'' by George MacDonald, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, 1920]] |
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As the story begins, the royal family is visiting their castle in the countryside. Curdie is the young son of a miner and is already helping his father in the mines (not unusual since this was written in a society where [[child labour]] was still common). Irene discovers her great-great-grandmother, the [[queen mother]], living in an attic in the [[labyrinth]]ine castle, even though everyone else insists that she must be dead by now. Grandmother gives Irene a magical ball of thread which will help her find her way home from anywhere. Attacks by the goblins result in Irene's kidnapping, and Curdie and his father being trapped underground. |
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[[File:Title page to The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, illustrated by Jennie Wilcox Smith, 1920.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|From ''The Princess and the Goblin'' by George MacDonald, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, 1920]] |
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==Summary== |
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The sequel to this book is ''[[The Princess and Curdie]]'', in which Princess Irene and Curdie are a year or two older, and must overthrow a set of corrupt ministers who are poisoning Irene's father, the king. Irene's grandmother also reappears and gives Curdie a strange gift and a monster called [[Lina]] to help his quest. |
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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 [[goblin]]s, 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. |
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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. |
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== Animated versions == |
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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 goblin king falls in love with a princess, but a prince saves her by reciting poetry because goblins hate it. |
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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. |
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A [[The Princess and the Goblin (film)|full-length animated adaptation of the book]], directed by [[József Gémes]], was released in [[1993 in film|1993]]. 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 Blooms]] and [[William Hootkins]]. The film's producer, [[Robin Lyons]], also wrote the screenplay. However, it was not well recieved commercially nor critically upon its U.S. release from [[Hemdale Film Corporation]] in summer 1994. But it became a cult classic on home video. The DVD premiered in 2003. |
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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. |
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The film's [[Dutch language|Dutch title]] is ''De Prinses en de Trollen'' ({{lang-en|The Princess and the Trolls}}). |
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== |
==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 (artist)|Arthur Hughes]].<ref name="Shaberman">{{cite book |last1=Shaberman |first1=Raphael B. |title=George MacDonald: A Bibliographical Study |date=1990 |publisher=St. Paul's Bibliographies |location=Hampshire}}</ref>{{rp|48-52}} 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hein |first1=Rolland |title=George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker |date=1993 |publisher=StarSong Publishing Group |location=Tennessee |page=232}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Shaberman"/>{{rp|48}} |
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==Themes== |
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"The Princess and the Goblins" is also a poem by [[Sylvia Plath]] (1932-1963). |
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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.”<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The Princess and the Goblin |date=1911 |publisher=Blackie and Son |location=London |pages=11–13 |url=https://archive.org/details/princessgoblin00macd2/mode/2up |access-date=19 November 2024}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Silver |first1=Carole G. |title=Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-802846-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YvCwMV7Z24IC |access-date=19 November 2024}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Jason MArc |title=Folklore and the Fantastic in Nineteenth-Century British Fiction |date=2008 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd |location=Hampshire |pages=61–89 |chapter=Chapter Three: Victorian Fairy-Tale Fantasies: MacDonald's Fairlyand and Barrie's Neverland}}</ref> |
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==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. |
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A [[The Princess and the Goblin (film)|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 (filmmaking)|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/movies/The-Princess-and-the-Goblin/|title=Behind The Voice Actors – The Princess and the Goblin|work=Behind The Voice Actors}}</ref> 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). |
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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. |
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== 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.<ref name="Shaberman"/>{{rp|105}} |
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*A 1930 theatrical adaptation was published by W.H. Baker in Boston. The title was changed to ''The Princess and the Goblins''.<ref name="Shaberman"/> |
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*''The Princess and the Goblins'' is also a poem by [[Sylvia Plath]] (1932–1963). |
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*[[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. |
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*It was a book in the "[[100 Classic Books]]" collection for the [[Nintendo DS]]. |
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*[[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.<ref name=Seibert/> |
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==Legacy== |
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The sequel to this book is ''[[The Princess and Curdie]]''. |
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* Author Douglas Anderson suggests that [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s depictions of [[Orc (Middle-earth)|goblins]] within [[Tolkien's legendarium]] was heavily influenced by the goblins in ''The Princess and the Goblin''.<ref>Tolkien, J. R. R. (2003) [1937]. Anderson, Douglas A. (ed.). The Annotated Hobbit. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-713727-5.</ref>{{pn|date=November 2024}} |
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* 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'. |
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* [[G. K. Chesterton]] wrote of ''The Princess and the Goblin'': |
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{{Blockquote |text=I for one can really testify to a book that has made a difference to my whole existence, which helped me to see things in a certain way from the start; a vision of things which even so real a revolution as a change of religious allegiance has substantially only crowned and confirmed. Of all the stories I have read, including even all the novels of the same novelist, it remains the most real, the most realistic, in the exact sense of the phrase the most like life. It is called ''The Princess and the Goblin'', and is by George MacDonald, the man who is the subject of this book.<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=Greville |title=George MacDonald and His Wife |date=1924 |publisher=Lincoln MacVeagh The Dial Press |location=New York |page=1}}</ref> |author=G. K. Chesterton |title=''Introduction to George MacDonald and His Wife'' (1924) |source=page 1}} |
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==References== |
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{{reflist |25em |refs= |
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<ref name=Seibert> |
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{{cite news |
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| last = Seibert |
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| first = Brian |
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| title = Toe Shoes That Carry a Princess to Victory |
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| newspaper = The New York Times |
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| date = 12 February 2012 |
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| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/arts/dance/twyla-tharps-the-princess-and-the-goblin.html |
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| accessdate = 3 March 2012 |
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}}</ref> |
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<ref name=1911blackie> |
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WorldCat library records report "twelve full-page illustrations in colour, and thirty text illustrations in black and white", presumably from the title page; and 308 pages, 12 plates: {{OCLC|1114809890}}, {{OCLC|16568450}}. Retrieved 11 October 2019. |
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<br> Probably the 12 colour illustrations are by a new artist and the 30 black-and-white are those by Hughes from the original serial and book publications, both uncredited in this edition. Other publishers created new editions thus, with artwork credited. For instance, [[J. B. Lippincott]] used new colour illustrations by Maria L. Kirk in 1907, {{OCLC|1582102}}. |
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</ref> |
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}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{portal|Children's literature}} |
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{{wikisource}} |
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{{Sister project links |wikt=no |b=no |n=no |q=no |v=no |commonscat=The Princess and the Goblin |s=The Princess and the Goblin}} |
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*{{gutenberg|no=708}} |
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* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/george-macdonald/the-princess-and-the-goblin}} |
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*{{gutenberg|no=709|name=The Princess and Curdie}} |
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*[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/708 Public domain version of The Princess and the Goblin at Project Gutenberg] |
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*{{imdb title|id=0107875}} |
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*{{librivox book | title=The Princess and the Goblin | author=George MACDONALD}} |
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*{{isfdb title|id=1365}} |
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*{{IMDb title|qid=Q12084660|id=tt0107875}} |
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{{George MacDonald}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess and the Goblin}} |
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[[Category:Fantasy novels]] |
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[[Category:Children's novels]] |
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[[Category:1872 novels]] |
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[[Category:Scottish children's literature]] |
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[[Category:1993 films]] |
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[[Category:Animated films]] |
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[[Category: Fictional goblins]] |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[hu:A hercegnő és a kobold]] |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess And The Goblin}} |
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[[Category:1870s children's books]] |
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[[Category:1872 British novels]] |
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[[Category:1872 fantasy novels]] |
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[[Category:British fantasy novels]] |
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[[Category:British novels adapted into films]] |
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[[Category:Children's books set in subterranea]] |
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[[Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1872]] |
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[[Category:Fictional goblins]] |
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[[Category:Fictional princesses]] |
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[[Category:Fictional queens]] |
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[[Category:Fictional Welsh people]] |
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[[Category:Novels about legendary creatures]] |
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[[Category:Novels about mining]] |
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[[Category:Novels set in mansions and country houses]] |
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[[Category:Novels set in mountains]] |
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[[Category:Novels adapted into ballets]] |
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[[Category:Children's books about princesses]] |
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[[Category:British novels adapted into television shows]] |
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[[Category:Novels by George MacDonald]] |
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[[Category:Scottish children's literature]] |
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[[Category:Victorian novels]] |
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[[Category:19th-century British children's literature]] |
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[[Category:Children's books about goblins]] |
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Latest revision as of 08:55, 24 November 2024
 Cover of the 1911 Blackie and Son edition, illustrator uncredited[1] | |
| Author | George MacDonald |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Arthur Hughes (serial and 1872 book) |
| Genre | Children's fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Strahan & Co |
Publication date | 1872 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 308, 12 plates (1911, Blackie and Son, above)[1] |
| Followed by | The Princess and Curdie |
| Text | The Princess and the Goblin at Wikisource |
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."[2] 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.[3]
_(14566641580).jpg)
Summary
[edit]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
[edit]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.[4]: 48–52 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.[5] 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.[4]: 48
Themes
[edit]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.”[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]
Film adaptations
[edit]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.[9] 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
[edit]- 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.[4]: 105
- A 1930 theatrical adaptation was published by W.H. Baker in Boston. The title was changed to The Princess and the Goblins.[4]
- 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.[10]
Legacy
[edit]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.[11][page needed]
- 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:
I for one can really testify to a book that has made a difference to my whole existence, which helped me to see things in a certain way from the start; a vision of things which even so real a revolution as a change of religious allegiance has substantially only crowned and confirmed. Of all the stories I have read, including even all the novels of the same novelist, it remains the most real, the most realistic, in the exact sense of the phrase the most like life. It is called The Princess and the Goblin, and is by George MacDonald, the man who is the subject of this book.[12]
— G. K. Chesterton, Introduction to George MacDonald and His Wife (1924), page 1
References
[edit]- ^ a b
WorldCat library records report "twelve full-page illustrations in colour, and thirty text illustrations in black and white", presumably from the title page; and 308 pages, 12 plates: OCLC 1114809890, OCLC 16568450. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
Probably the 12 colour illustrations are by a new artist and the 30 black-and-white are those by Hughes from the original serial and book publications, both uncredited in this edition. Other publishers created new editions thus, with artwork credited. For instance, J. B. Lippincott used new colour illustrations by Maria L. Kirk in 1907, OCLC 1582102. - ^ Eaton, Anne Thaxter (1969). Meigs, Cornelia (ed.). A Critical History of Children's Literature. Macmillan. p. 200. ISBN 0-02-583900-4.
- ^ Holdaway, Jeffrey (August 2005). "Eight Important works". New Zealand Art Monthly. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ a b c d Shaberman, Raphael B. (1990). George MacDonald: A Bibliographical Study. Hampshire: St. Paul's Bibliographies.
- ^ Hein, Rolland (1993). George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker. Tennessee: StarSong Publishing Group. p. 232.
- ^ MacDonald, George (1911). The Princess and the Goblin. London: Blackie and Son. pp. 11–13. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
- ^ Silver, Carole G. (1998). Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-802846-8. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
- ^ Harris, Jason MArc (2008). "Chapter Three: Victorian Fairy-Tale Fantasies: MacDonald's Fairlyand and Barrie's Neverland". Folklore and the Fantastic in Nineteenth-Century British Fiction. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. pp. 61–89.
- ^ "Behind The Voice Actors – The Princess and the Goblin". Behind The Voice Actors.
- ^ Seibert, Brian (12 February 2012). "Toe Shoes That Carry a Princess to Victory". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (2003) [1937]. Anderson, Douglas A. (ed.). The Annotated Hobbit. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-713727-5.
- ^ MacDonald, Greville (1924). George MacDonald and His Wife. New York: Lincoln MacVeagh The Dial Press. p. 1.
External links
[edit]
- The Princess and the Goblin at Standard Ebooks
- Public domain version of The Princess and the Goblin at Project Gutenberg
The Princess and the Goblin public domain audiobook at LibriVox- The Princess and the Goblin title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Princess and the Goblin at IMDb
- 1870s children's books
- 1872 British novels
- 1872 fantasy novels
- British fantasy novels
- British novels adapted into films
- Children's books set in subterranea
- Fictional characters introduced in 1872
- Fictional goblins
- Fictional princesses
- Fictional queens
- Fictional Welsh people
- Novels about legendary creatures
- Novels about mining
- Novels set in mansions and country houses
- Novels set in mountains
- Novels adapted into ballets
- Children's books about princesses
- British novels adapted into television shows
- Novels by George MacDonald
- Scottish children's literature
- Victorian novels
- 19th-century British children's literature
- Children's books about goblins