Short Fiction · Chapter
V: What Is to Be Done? explained
The king and queen, distressed by their daughter Rosamond's lightness, argue about her condition and seek advice from the princess, who denies knowledge of the spell and advises patience.
What happens
The king and queen, distressed by their daughter Rosamond's lightness, argue about her condition and seek advice from the princess, who denies knowledge of the spell and advises patience. The king worries about Rosamond's future, including the possibility of her having children who might also be weightless.
Themes in this chapter
Family and Sacrificial Love
The king and queen's distress over their daughter's condition and their efforts to seek a remedy reflect parental love and concern.
Wealth and Materialism
The king counts his gold sovereigns but finds them meaningless compared to his daughter, highlighting the emptiness of material wealth.
Characters to notice
- The Princess
The king apologizes to her, but she denies knowledge of the spell, though her eyes shine pink with happiness.
- Rosamond
The light princess whose weightlessness causes her parents distress; she is heard laughing in the background.
- King Ralph
The king counts his money, argues with the queen, apologizes to the princess, and worries about Rosamond's future.
Key passages
“To think, that every one of these gold sovereigns weighs a quarter of an ounce, and my real, live, flesh-and-blood princess weighs nothing at all!”
The king laments that his gold coins have weight while his daughter has none.
Highlights the king's frustration with Rosamond's lightness and the irony of valuing gold over his child.
“But what if she should marry? ... Just think! If she were to have children! In the course of a hundred years the air might be as full of floating children as of gossamers in autumn.”
The king fears that if Rosamond marries and has children, they too might be weightless and fill the air.
Shows the king's anxiety about the long-term consequences of the spell.