# Goblin Counsels explained — The Princess and the Goblin

> Chapter companion for The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.

## What happens

Curdie awakens in a goblin prison, overhearing the goblin king, queen, and prince Harelip discuss his fate. They debate starving him, killing him, or feeding him to their creatures. Curdie taunts them with rhymes, provoking the queen and causing a domestic quarrel. After they leave, he resolves to feign weakness and prepare more rhymes as weapons.

## Themes in this chapter

### Courage vs. Fear

Curdie shows courage by taunting the goblins with rhymes despite being imprisoned and facing starvation or death.

### Deception and Appearance

The goblin queen hides her feet with shoes, and Curdie plans to feign weakness to deceive his captors.

### Good vs. Evil

The goblins' cruel plans to starve or feed Curdie to creatures contrast with Curdie's defiant, good-hearted resistance.

## Character check-ins

### Curdie

Imprisoned in a goblin cave, he listens to the goblins' plans and taunts them with rhymes, then resolves to pretend to be dying and forge more rhymes.

### Harelip

The goblin prince, present in the council, supports the queen's cruel suggestions and makes an ugly noise at the idea of a feast.

### Glump

Referred to as the goblin king, he presides over the discussion, agrees to starve Curdie, and later quarrels with the queen about her shoes.

## Key lines

> They are poor feeble creatures, those sun-people, and want to be always eating. We can go a week at a time without food, and be all the better for it; but I've been told they eat two or three times every day!

The goblin king mocks humans for needing to eat frequently, boasting that goblins can fast for a week.

_Highlights the goblins' contempt for human frailty and their plan to starve Curdie._

> But why should our poor creatures be deprived of so much nourishment? Our little dogs and cats and pigs and small bears would enjoy him very much.

The goblin queen suggests feeding Curdie to their pets rather than wasting his meat.

_Reveals the queen's cruel practicality and the goblins' dehumanizing view of Curdie._

> Go to bed, Goblin, do. Help the queen Take off her shoe. If you do, It will disclose A horrid set Of sprouting toes.

Curdie sings a rhyme mocking the queen's hidden feet, provoking her anger.

_Curdie uses rhymes as a weapon to unsettle the goblins and expose their vulnerabilities._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xix-goblin-counsels
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters