# King Thrushbeard explained — Household Tales > Chapter companion for Household Tales by Jacob Grimm. ## What happens A proud princess mocks all her suitors, especially a king with a crooked chin whom she calls 'King Thrushbeard.' Her father, angered by her haughtiness, swears she will marry the first beggar who comes to the palace. A fiddler appears, and the king forces her to marry him. She lives in poverty, struggling with menial tasks, and eventually becomes a kitchen maid. At a royal wedding, she is humiliated when her hidden jars of leftovers spill, but the groom reveals himself as King Thrushbeard in disguise, who orchestrated her downfall to cure her pride. He forgives her, and they celebrate their wedding. ## Themes in this chapter ### Pride and Humility The princess's pride leads to her downfall, and her eventual humility is rewarded with forgiveness and a happy marriage. ### Social Class and Marriage The princess's disdain for suitors based on rank and appearance is punished, and she is forced into a marriage with a beggar, highlighting the consequences of class snobbery. ### Transformation and Redemption The princess transforms from a haughty, mocking figure into a humble, repentant wife, and is redeemed through King Thrushbeard's forgiveness. ## Character check-ins ### the princess The proud and haughty daughter of the king who mocks all suitors, especially King Thrushbeard. She is humbled through poverty and menial labor, eventually learning humility. ### King Thrushbeard The king with a crooked chin mocked by the princess. He disguises himself as a beggar fiddler and later as a hussar to humble her, then reveals his true identity and forgives her. ### the King The father of the princess who, angered by her mockery of suitors, swears she will marry the first beggar and forces her to keep that oath. ### the fiddler The beggar fiddler who marries the princess; later revealed to be King Thrushbeard in disguise. ### the hussar A drunken hussar who deliberately rides through the princess's crockery, breaking it; later revealed to be King Thrushbeard in disguise. ## Key lines > A King had a daughter who was beautiful beyond all measure, but so proud and haughty withal that no suitor was good enough for her. A king's daughter was extremely beautiful but also very arrogant, believing no suitor was worthy of her. _Introduces the princess's flaw of excessive pride._ > The King said, 'Your song has pleased me so well that I will give you my daughter there, to wife.' The king declared that the fiddler's song pleased him so much that he would give him his daughter as a wife. _The king fulfills his oath by marrying his daughter to the first beggar._ > She began to weep, and did now know what to do for fear. 'Alas! what will happen to me?' cried she; 'what will my husband say to this?' She cried in fear, not knowing what to do, and worried about her husband's reaction. _Shows the princess's fear and helplessness after the hussar destroys her wares._ > He said to her kindly, 'Do not be afraid, I and the fiddler who has been living with you in that wretched hovel are one. For love of you I disguised myself so; and I also was the hussar who rode through your crockery. This was all done to humble your proud spirit, and to punish you for the insolence with which you mocked me.' He comforted her, revealing that he was both the fiddler and the hussar, and that his disguises were meant to humble her pride and punish her mockery. _The climax where King Thrushbeard reveals his true identity and explains his motives._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/king-thrushbeard - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters