In the story "The Wonderful Sheep" there are many strange occurances. Choose an interesting detail and explain what could be its symbolism.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2004

Answers

Miranda and the white dress is an interesting occurence and has a lot of symbolism behind it. White is commonly the color of purity and chastity, implying Miranda to be implicitly good and almost holy in her actions and being. The fact that this offends the King is a clear sign that there will be friction between he and Miranda pretty soon--as he takes offense at the color which basically represents good, he is proving himself to have evil qualities and characteristics.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2004

I think that 'metaphors turned literal' really are sort of a motif in this story. Though it is not necessarily a symbol, I feel it was worth being mentioned. "A look that could kill" killed the young slave. The king acted as a lion, but became a sheep literally as the spell enchanted him. In the end, the sheep literally died of heartbreak. It's definitely common in this story to have something figurative become real.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2004

Yeah, we all got a good laugh out of teh deaths of Patypata, Grabugeon, and Tintin, horrible though they were. But they represent the princesses problem in a nutshell; she has become so used to things being handed to her that she can no longer think or act for herself. The same weakness caused the death of the King of Sheep - she was so caught up in amusing herself that she forgot her promise to return. She can sort of coast through life on her beauty, but even that cannot ensure her happiness.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2004

There are always swoony, insincere statements in literature about not being able to live without someone and dying of a broken heart. This all becomes literal in The Wonderful Sheep--the Sheep King cautions her to return swiftly, and when she does not, promptly keels over. I mean, there is an overall moral of keeping your promises, but there are also a lot of points against the insincerity of language.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2004

What a horrible ending to a fairy story.

Anyway, I found the King's request for her Miranda's heart and tounge is fitting because those are the of MIranda's two body parts that offend the king. Miranda says impertinent things to him (using her tounge), and by these comments the King feels she does love him (she has no heart). So the king's seemingly random request actually makes some sense.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2004

When the Princess returns to her original home to see the weddings of her two sisters, she goes with a rather ridiculous escort, featuring eight-foot-high guards and griffings pulling the carriage. Also, the carriage is made of mother-of-pearl, and the Princess is completely decked out with jewels and such. This (tacky) array probably serves to show that she is nearly a goddess at this point and is nearly untouchable. When she leaves the palace, she is escorted by a slave, a monkey, and a dog. Her return is quite the opposite, and one gets the idea that she will not be harmed by the King (even when he locks her in).

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2004

This has got to be one of the most random stories ever written.

Perhaps Patypata, Grabugeon, and Tintin, her friends, stand for her happiness and innocence. When her friends dye, she is (understandably) unhappy and afraid. When she sees the "shadows" of her friends, perhaps their presence indicates the Princess' almost returning to her original feeling of having everything. But as she cannot touch the shadow, so her desire to marry the king instead of a sheep is never reached and the Sheep King dies.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2004

The land of the Sheep and the shadows seems to be a bizar place to punish someone! But perhaps the punishment is seeing the shadows of those you love, and not being able to interact with them. The symbolism may be a heaven motife, but that seems unlikely since it is underground. Elements of celtic paganism are actually present in this story, since fairies were, in that mythology, dead souls. Also the land of the fey (faeries) a place of supreme happiness, endless food, and the delites of nature.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2004

One of the more interesting details in this story is the use of the sheep as the talking-animal-a-person-falls-in-love-with. I think the symbolism there is kind of an "Appearances being deceiving" cliche. I mean who honestly expects a sheep to be a nice guy?

For that matter, who falls in love with a sheep?

-bains

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2004

I think the rage of the King at the start of the story was odd. I think it symbolizes how people, as imperfect as they are, are quick to anger over simple trivial things. I think him forgiving her at the end is saying that people are quickly over this anger and soon forget all of it.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2004

The pre-sheep King supposedly falls into a dried up pool of water with shooting flames. This, I think, shows that even if you look before you leap, things may not turn out well for you. Dante may have another theory here.....

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2004

This story seems to play off the major themes of other fairy tales; the sheep-king is reminiscent of "Beauty and the Beast," and I could've sworn that in "Snow-white" someone sent to kill her was supposed to bring back her heart. The interesting thing is, this story turns out differently in both cases - the sheep dies before he regains his shape, and the captain of the guard doesn't find a suitable replacement for her heart. It's almost as if the author says, "things don't always go the way people want them too, even in fairy tales."

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2004