Tea at Trianon: Edward Eager's Chivalry

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Edward Eager's Chivalry

I love Knight's Castle by Edward Eager. For one thing, it takes place in Baltimore, Maryland. From Gina Marinello-Sweeney:

At the beginning of the book, Roger receives a castle of knights and his sister Ann a dollhouse. However, their cousin Eliza defies such behavior by scorning dolls, thereby leading Ann to feel less comfortable playing with them. In fact, not only does Ann refrain from playing with the dolls, but she helps Eliza alter some of the dolls’ property and relocate these items to the castle. While it may be argued that Ann is the heroine of the story who understands the ways of the Old One deeply, her reaction to Eliza here highlights the societal pressure that young people still face today. In literary form, the consequences of this peer pressure are displayed to dramatic effect. The “giant” dolls with “china-like perfection” become villainous, holding others captive because Ann and Eliza violated the established rules of toys (read: humans).
Such a defense of “rights” in contrast with the cry for change may also be connected to the children’s fourth visit to this magical land, where Prince John, who wears a “peculiar cap” and is addressed with a “peculiar salute” by “oddly uniformed” knights, represents Hitler and Nazism. Jack wonders if the “terrible new ideas…just sort of leaked in from the outside world,” for, “goodness knows there’s enough of them around!” Yet, once again, the future is not completely condemned. Indeed, Roger’s original toy soldiers, from modern G.I.’s to Spanish War veterans, are the “snowbound sleepers,” who, led by their owner, SPOILER: save the day. Honor is therefore found in some aspects of modern life. (Read more.)