The Princess and the Goblin

“She was rather afraid, but her curiosity was stronger than her fear.”

Irene is courageous from the very beginning and does not hesitate to follow her curiosity wherever it leads her. The author establishes that being courageous is not the absence of fear but rather the ability to act despite it. Here, Irene follows a series of passageways that will lead her to her grandmother, but she doesn’t yet know where she is headed. She follows her instincts, believing in herself and her ability to find her way.

“Not to be believed does not at all agree with princesses: for a real princess cannot tell a lie.”

One of the novel’s central themes is What It Means to Be a Princess, and this is explored throughout the story as Irene develops her courage and faith, and exhibits the traits that illustrate her godly heritage and purity of heart. When Irene meets her grandmother, she is excited and tells Lootie about the experience. Lootie does not believe a word that Irene utters, instead accusing her of making up stories. This hurts and offends Irene, who tries her best to act like a princess should and never tells lies. Although Lootie should know this about Irene, she is blinded by the fact that she has no Faith in the Mystical. No matter what, Lootie will not believe in Grandmother.

“They can’t bear singing, and they can’t stand that song. They can’t sing themselves, for they have no more voice than a crow; and they don’t like other people to sing.”

When Irene first meets Curdie, he can be heard singing verses on the mountainside to ward off the goblins. He happily and confidently explains to Irene and Lootie that the goblins cannot stand the sound of singing because they themselves are unable to sing. Their voices have become coarse after decades of living underground, and they resent the fact that humans can do this and they cannot. This quote develops The Dual Nature of Humanity: In its joy and creativity, singing reflects the divine side of humanity, while the goblins represent humans’ more brutal and sinful traits.

“Regardless of the fact that we were the first possessors of the regions they now inhabit; regardless equally of the fact that we abandoned that region from the loftiest motives; regardless also of the self-evident fact that we excel them so far in mental ability as they excel us in statue, they look upon us as a degraded race and make a mockery of all our finer feelings.”

When Curdie starts exploring the goblin caves, he discovers the goblin palace, in which a meeting is being held with the royal goblin family and all of the citizens in attendance. One of the members of the king’s court addresses the crowd with a rousing and convincing speech about the humans’ responsibility for stealing the goblins’ land, revealing the motive behind the goblins’ plans to flood the mines. Despite their disdain for humans, the goblins embody many of humanity’s worst impulses, including pride and vindictiveness.

“How pleasant the night air felt upon the outside of the mountain after what he had gone through in the inside of it!”

This quote parallels the moment in which Irene arrives at her grandmother’s door after becoming lost by herself on the mountainside at night. In both instances, the children feel an immense sense of relief to be free of the threat of the goblins. Curdie comes out of the caverns after discovering the goblin palace and their plot to cause havoc for the miners. Because Curdie is a miner himself, he relishes the fresh and open air of the surface more than most people might.

“The only question is whether you will believe I am anywhere—whether you will believe I am anything but a dream.”

One of the novel’s central themes is faith, which comes to fruition through the relationship that Irene has with her grandmother and the faith and trust that Grandmother demands of Irene. Irene goes through several periods of doubt about Grandmother’s existence, wondering if she was merely a dream. Grandmother feels hurt by Irene’s doubt but shows patience as Irene finds her way towards faith.

“No one understands animals who does not see that every one of them, even amongst the fishes, it may be with a dimness and vagueness infinitely remote, yet shadows the human.”

The goblins own pets that the novel refers to as “goblin creatures.” These creatures were originally ordinary surface animals such as horses, cats, and dogs, but the goblins brought them underground with and, like the goblins, they have changed over time. The goblin creatures became increasingly humanlike, standing on two legs and developing large heads. This alarms the humans because it threatens their sense of themselves as unique. However, MacDonald here suggests that this attitude reflects misguided pride.

“Every little girl knows how dreadful it is to find a room empty where she thought somebody was; but Irene had to fancy for a moment that the person she came to find was nowhere at all.”

Irene’s faith is regularly tested throughout the novel. In this quote, Irene goes into the room where her grandmother usually spins, but Grandmother is not there. Irene experiences a temporary moment of doubt, wondering if Grandmother is a figment of her imagination after all. Fortunately, Grandmother is in her bedroom and Irene finds her there.

“Oh, what a lovely haven to reach from the darkness and fear through which she had come! The soft light made her feel as if she were going into the heart of the milkiest pearl; while the blue walls and silver stars for a moment perplexed her with the fancy that they were in reality the sky which she had left outside a minute ago covered with rainclouds.”

This quote parallels the moment in which Curdie emerges from the caverns feeling relieved to be out of the darkness and in the free air. It also showcases the comforting light and purity of Grandmother, whose bedroom chambers resemble the night sky itself. Irene has stars covering her ceiling in her own bedroom, but they are not of the magical variety. The contrast between the darkness of the dangerous night and the light and warmth of Grandmother is strong in this moment, as Irene comes rushing in after getting lost alone on the mountainside. It was Grandmother’s beacon that guided her back to safety.

“You must not doubt the thread. Of one thing you may be sure, that while you hold it, I hold it too.”

Grandmother helps Irene develop faith through the thread she gives to her. Whenever Irene is in trouble, she can put the ring under her pillow and follow the thread to safety. The thread eventually helps Irene save Curdie and guides both Curdie and Irene away from the goblin attack. The thread connects Irene to her grandmother, ensuring that they are never apart.

“Where ‘tis all a hole,

Sir, Never can be holes:

Why should their shoes have soles, Sir,

When they’ve got no souls?”

Throughout the story, Curdie uses singing to fend off the goblins. Sometimes he creates rhymes on the spot, and other times he utilizes a rhyme that the miners have found to work in almost all cases. This quote showcases the way in which Curdie forms rhymes and uses word play—punning on “sole” and “soul—to taunt the goblins. The lyrics of the songs are often mocking in nature, serving to build up the confidence of the singer and wear down the listener.

“The sun was not yet up, but some of [the clouds’] edges had caught his light, and hung out orange and gold-coloured fringes upon the air. The dew lay in round drops upon the leaves, and hung like tiny diamond ear-rings from the blades of grass about her path.”

MacDonald frequently uses simile to describe the setting and characters in his story. He also describes the environment in detail, inviting the reader to use their imagination. In this passage, Irene is following Grandmother’s thread to save Curdie, although she does not yet know this is where she is headed. When she is out on the mountain, she often admires the ways in which nature beautifies the world effortlessly. The descriptions of the natural world contrast with the descriptions of the goblin tunnels—the goblins disdain sun and moonlight, preferring their lamps—perhaps hinting at a critique of industrialization.

“Her tale, as he did not believe more than half of it, left everything as unaccountable to him as before, and he was nearly as much perplexed as to what he must think of the princess.”

When Irene saves Curdie from the goblins, she explains that she was led to him by her grandmother’s magical thread. Although Curdie is aware that Irene could not have coincidentally found him or even known to search for him, he cannot bring himself to believe her claims. Instead, he thinks she is making up stories and begins to doubt her character as a princess. Curdie’s lack of faith is something that he grapples with throughout the story, but his belief solidifies after he is led by the thread and witnesses the moon-lamp.

“You must believe without seeing.”

Irene and Curdie argue about whether Irene’s claims of having a magical grandmother who led her to Curdie using a special thread are true. Irene has learned her grandmother’s lessons about faith and now tries to impart them to Curdie. Paraphrasing Jesus’s words to his disciples, she insists that he needs to believe in Grandmother even though he cannot see her, but this is something Curdie cannot yet bring himself to do. 

“People must believe what they can, and those who believe more must not be hard upon those who believe less. I doubt if you would have believed it all yourself if you hadn’t seen some of it.”

After Curdie accuses Irene of lying—something she has experienced many times in relation to her grandmother—she is hurt, confused, and upset. Grandmother reminds Irene that because she has seen Grandmother for herself, it is much easier for her to believe. Irene must grant Curdie patience as he finds his faith rather than judging him or priding herself on her supposed superiority.

“That may be only because you do not understand it. If you did, you would probably find it was an explanation, and believe it thoroughly.”

After conflict arises with Irene over the existence of her grandmother and the thread, Curdie goes home to talk to his parents about everything. Curdie’s mother reasons with him, explaining to him that Irene likely understands more than he does. Curdie’s mother is instrumental in the development of Curdie’s faith, which she here distinguishes from full understanding: MacDonald suggests that if a person could grasp every aspect of God’s plan, faith would no longer be faith.

“Lootie had very foolish notions considering the dignity of a princess, not understanding that the truest princess is just the one who loves all her brothers and sisters best, and who is most able to do them good by being humble towards them.”

As Irene develops a friendship with Curdie, she begins to open up to the people who live on the mountainside, making friends with the miner children and visiting them when Lootie permits it. Lootie limits Irene’s contact with the common people, wrongly believing that Irene should act above them because she is a princess. In fact, the king has instilled a different set of values in his daughter about the meaning of royalty: She is to be kind, understanding, and loving towards all those who live in her kingdom.

“Here I should like to remark, for the sake of princes and princesses in general, that it is a low and contemptible thing to refuse to confess a fault, or even an error. If a true princess has done wrong, she is always uneasy until she has had an opportunity of throwing the wrongness away from her by saying: ‘I did it; and I wish I had not; and I am sorry for having done it.’ So you see there is some ground for supposing that Curdie was not a miner only, but a prince as well. Many such instances have been known in the world’s history.”

MacDonald makes use of authorial intrusion as the narrator addresses the reader directly and refers to himself. When he explains what it means to be a prince, he refers to Curdie’s willingness to admit his error in mistrusting Irene and to apologize for hurting her. In this way, Curdie embodies the dignity and honesty of a true prince.

“My readers may wonder that, with such skilful workmen about her, she had not yet replaced the shoe carried off by Curdie […] I presume [the king] insisted on her being content with skin shoes, and allowed her to wear the remaining granite one on the present occasion only because she was going out to war.”

MacDonald again uses authorial intrusion to refer to himself and address the reader directly. The Princess and the Goblin is told in the style of a bedtime story, and MacDonald does not shy away from speaking to those who could be reading or listening. The audience of this story is more than likely children, and this playful technique makes the story personable and invites the reader to involve themselves in it. The author also admits to not being certain about every fact of the story he is telling, as he is only presuming the reason for the queen having not made another shoe.

“Curdie burst in dancing and gyrating and stamping and singing like a small incarnate whirlwind.”

MacDonald uses alliteration, simile, and rhythm to describe Curdie’s movements and singing of verses as he attacks the goblins, mirroring the verses’ structure. By this point in the story, Curdie is beyond confident in dealing with the goblins. Although he is still very young, he enthusiastically leads the king’s guards in a charge against the goblins, using his knowledge of their weaknesses to thwart their efforts and defeat them.

“With a heart full of delight, Curdie sat down at the corner of the hearth, on a stool opposite his mother’s chair, and gazed at the princess, who slept as peacefully as if she had been in her own bed.”

Over the course of the novel, Curdie and Irene develop a fondness for one another that is made obvious when Curdie finds Irene safe inside his home with his mother. When Curdie gazes upon the princess in his mother’s arms, he is relieved and overwhelmed with joy. Irene has become someone whom he cares about as much as his own parents, and he would do anything for her.

“She had more to tell about Curdie than about herself, and what she did tell about herself none of them could understand—except the king and Curdie.”

Through their adventures, Curdie demonstrates that he is a great leader: resourceful, intelligent, and loyal to those he cares about. Irene admires Curdie deeply, and when she meets her father after the goblin attack, she is eager to tell him and all of the servants about the many brave and glorious deeds that Curdie has performed. Irene also talks about her experiences with Grandmother, the thread, and the moon-lamp, which her father and Curdie understand, but which the servants likely never will.

“One night long ago Curdie drove the goblins away and brought Lootie and me safe from the mountain. And I promised him a kiss when we got home, but Lootie wouldn’t let me give it to him. I don’t want you to scold Lootie, but I want you to tell her that a princess must do as she promises.”

One important quality in a princess is the resolution to keep her promises. The first time that Irene meets Curdie, he saves her and Lootie from the goblins. Irene is grateful to Curdie and wants to thank him with a kiss, but Lootie is scornful of the miners and forbids it. Irene upholds her promise several months later after gaining her father’s permission.