# The Rain Maiden explained — The Windfairies

> Chapter companion for The Windfairies by Mary De Morgan.

## What happens

A shepherd and his wife, living in a lonely cottage, are visited by a mysterious woman during a storm who grants them a child on the condition that the mother loves the child above all else. A daughter is born who displays strange, rain-loving behaviors and a deep connection to water. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, the King's son falls in love with her and wishes to marry her, but she refuses, preferring to stay with her mother. The mother's desire for her daughter's royal marriage conflicts with the daughter's wishes, leading to tension as the wedding approaches.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Sacrifice

The mother's love for her daughter is tested by her ambition for the girl's royal marriage, while the daughter's love for her mother leads her to refuse the prince.

### Nature and Magic

The mysterious woman who grants the child, the girl's magical connection to rain and water, and the supernatural events surrounding her birth and behavior.

### Innocence and Temptation

The daughter's innocent, natural ways are contrasted with the temptation of wealth, status, and royal marriage offered by the prince.

## Character check-ins

### The Wife

The shepherd's wife, who longs for a child and is granted one by the mysterious woman, but later struggles with her daughter's unusual nature and her own ambitions for the girl's marriage.

### Nanina

The shepherd's daughter, a beautiful young woman with a deep love for rain and water, who refuses to marry the King's son and wishes to remain with her mother.

### The Old Gentleman

The old King, who initially opposes his son's choice of a beggar-maid bride but eventually agrees to accept her.

## Key lines

> She would never go near a fire, however cold she was, neither did she love the sunshine, but always ran from it and crept into the shade; but when she heard the rain pattering against the windowpanes she would cry, 'Listen, mother, listen to my brothers and sisters dancing,' and then she would begin to dance too in the cottage, her little feet pattering upon the boards;

The girl avoided fire and sunlight, preferring shade, but the sound of rain made her dance joyfully, calling the raindrops her siblings.

_Highlights the girl's unique, rain-loving nature and her connection to the elements._

> But the daughter only said, 'But I don't want to marry the King's son, mother, or anyone. I will never be the wife of any man; I will stay with you and nurse you when you are old and sick, for I can live in no house but this cottage, and have no friend but my mother.'

The daughter firmly refused the prince's proposal, declaring she would never marry and would instead care for her mother in their cottage.

_Shows the daughter's rejection of societal expectations and her devotion to her mother._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_windfairies_se/chapters/the-rain-maiden
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_windfairies_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_windfairies_se/chapters