A Little Princess · Chapter
Becky explained
Sara's greatest power is her storytelling, which captivates her schoolmates.
What happens
Sara's greatest power is her storytelling, which captivates her schoolmates. One foggy afternoon, she notices a poor scullery-maid, Becky, peering at her through the area railings. Later, Becky sneaks into the schoolroom to listen to Sara's story about a princess and a merman. Sara befriends Becky, promising to tell her the rest of the story daily. When Sara finds Becky asleep in her room, exhausted from work, she feels compassion and decides to treat her kindly, pretending to be a princess scattering largess.
Themes in this chapter
Imagination and Storytelling
Sara's storytelling ability is highlighted as her greatest power, allowing her to create vivid worlds and connect with others, including Becky.
Kindness and Empathy
Sara shows compassion to Becky by sharing her story, offering cake, and treating her with dignity, embodying the idea of scattering largess.
Social Class and Inequality
The contrast between Sara's privileged life and Becky's drudgery underscores the class divide, which Sara bridges through her kindness.
Characters to notice
- Sara Crewe
Sara uses her storytelling gift to captivate others and shows kindness to Becky, treating her as an equal and promising to share her stories.
- Becky
The scullery-maid, exhausted from hard work, is drawn to Sara's stories and finds warmth and hope in Sara's kindness.
- Lavinia Herbert
Mentioned as envious of Sara's storytelling power, though not directly present in the chapter.
- Miss Minchin
Referenced indirectly as someone who would be cross if she found Becky asleep in Sara's room.
- Mariette
Sara's maid, who dresses her in a rose-colored frock and makes a wreath for her hair for the dancing lesson.
- Emily
Sara's doll, mentioned as sitting in a chair of her own in Sara's room, like a presiding goddess.
Key passages
“Of course the greatest power Sara possessed and the one which gained her even more followers than her luxuries and the fact that she was 'the show pupil,' the power that Lavinia and certain other girls were most envious of, and at the same time most fascinated by in spite of themselves, was her power of telling stories”
Sara's most remarkable talent was her storytelling, which attracted more admirers than her wealth or status, and even her rivals like Lavinia were both jealous and captivated by it.
Establishes Sara's storytelling as a central trait that transcends material advantages.
“When I am telling it, it doesn't seem as if it was only made up. It seems more real than you are—more real than the schoolroom. I feel as if I were all the people in the story—one after the other. It is queer.”
Sara feels that her stories become more vivid than reality, and she embodies each character as she narrates.
Reveals Sara's immersive imagination and her ability to lose herself in her own tales.
“Then, breathed Becky, devoutly, 'I wouldn't mind how heavy the coal-boxes was—or what the cook done to me, if—if I might have that to think of.'”
Becky says that having Sara's story to look forward to would make her harsh work and mistreatment bearable.
Shows the profound impact of Sara's kindness and storytelling on Becky's spirit.
“If I was a princess—a real princess, I could scatter largess to the populace. But even if I am only a pretend princess, I can invent little things to do for people. Things like this. She was just as happy as if it was largess. I'll pretend that to do things people like is scattering largess. I've scattered largess.”
Sara reflects that even as a pretend princess, she can perform small acts of kindness that bring joy to others, like giving Becky a story and cake.
Highlights Sara's philosophy of using imagination to practice generosity and empathy.
