The Princess and the Goblin bucks this trend from the outset. In most fairy tales, female characters may be categorized as either maidens, mothers, or crones, limiting the roles they are allowed to play. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, $15, Amazon What I didn't realize at the time was how the story, although not necessarily feminist, was full of girl power. The animated adaptation of MacDonald's novel came out in 1991, and I watched transfixed as a cast of lovable characters with funny names sang and stomped around to defeat the goblins, who hated music and had very soft, squishy feet. I was first introduced to The Princess and the Goblin in the early 1990s at my local video store, from which I rented such animated fantasy classics as A Troll in Central Park and Once Upon a Forest. Everything turns out well for the novel's human characters, and the evil goblins meet their end after attempting to steal away the princess. The thread leads both Irene and Curdie to his mother's little house on the mountainside, where everyone is safe and sound. Irene manages to escape, but Curdie believes she has been abducted, and he follows her magic thread to try and rescue her. When he tries to warn the guards about the goblins' plan, they lock him up instead. When Curdie later sneaks into the goblins' lair to spy on them, Irene's ring leads her to his rescue.Ĭurdie overhears the goblins' conversations in the mines, and learns that they intend to tunnel into the palace, kidnap Princess Irene, and marry her off to the goblin prince. Irene and Lootie are rescued by Curdie, a boy who works in the mines and knows all about the goblins. She goes on an outing with her nursemaid, Lootie, only to nearly be captured by the goblins who live underground. You see, Irene is a very good little girl with some particularly bad luck. And my oh my, does Irene ever need that ring. The grandmother is kind, and eventually gives Irene a magical gift: a ring attached to a superfine thread that she may always follow home if she gets lost. The Princess and the Goblin centers on a lonely, eight-year-old princess, Irene - pronounced as "eye-REEN-ee" in the 1991 animated film adaptation - who discovers that her great-great-grandmother and namesake lives in a secret room in her father's palace. It's George MacDonald's 1872 novel, The Princess and the Goblin, and I've got so many reasons why you should read it. There's one little-known fairy tale that's full of girl power, however, and it's one of my favorite stories ever. As much as I love fairy tales, I'll be the first to admit that they're often hella misogynistic in the treatment of their female characters, sometimes even violently so.
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