Beyond the Glass Slipper by Kate Wolford

Author:Kate Wolford [Wolford, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: D2D
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Published: 2013-12-17T07:00:00+00:00

The Blue Light

Introduction:

Fairy tales are frequently sources for social commentary. Kings and queens are as foolish about children as peasants are. Animals like “Puss in Boots” can make noblemen of a simple miller’s son through the artful application of well-chosen gifts, scamming for some fine clothes, and some strategic appropriation of estates. A naked emperor believes he wears a splendid outfit.

This story starts out making no bones about how badly soldiers were treated during and after wars. That rulers can be utterly indifferent to the plight of the men who actually fought in wars is clear by the end of the third sentence. Fairy tales may be bursting with criticism about rulers, but this story is unusually blatant about how the powerful break contracts with poor workers.

By the end of this tale, the soldier seems as cruel as the king. He violates the princess by forcing her to perform chores while asleep. Even the usual fairy tale assertion about love—that a prince or hero in the story sees a princess and is immediately struck by her beauty, doesn’t happen here. No mention is made of her character, either.

The soldier himself is not young or old. He is wounded and sad at the beginning of “The Blue Light.” He does have a simple, guileless quality found often in fairy tale heroes. He accepts help when offered, even if he is bewildered, and isn’t especially curious. Things happen. He’s not sure why. A lack of curiosity about “why” is a male characteristic in fairy tales. Women who cannot avoid curiosity are brought to doom or near doom. “Sleeping Beauty” cannot help finding the spindle, because she cannot help exploring the castle. “Snow White” cannot help herself—she has to open the door to the peddler woman. Yet Jack in “Jack and the Beanstalk” is remarkably uncurious about where his magic beans actually come from—even though he does climb up the beanstalk very eagerly. The miller’s son in “Puss and Boots” seems not at all interested in how his cat came to walk, talk, and plot.

As social commentary, the message in “The Blue Light” seems to be that everyone, given the opportunity, will behave selfishly or stupidly. The simple earnestness of the common folk is not celebrated here. The divine right of kings is not upheld. The witch loses her chance at treasure because she can’t control her temper.

If there is a “good character” here, it may be the black dwarf. “The Blue Light” obviously has shades of “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” in it, with a “bound” supernatural character in the form of the dwarf. Despite being compelled to help the soldier, rather than voluntarily doing so, the dwarf tries to counsel the increasingly vengeful soldier about his actions.

Many fairy tales do not end with happily ever after, but most are a bit more uplifting than this one. If there is a moral message here, it’s that power corrupts all humans.

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