# The Cruel Ranee — Indian Fairy Tales character guide

> The Cruel Ranee in Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the new Ranee, the Ranee, The Ranee, Ranee

**First appearance:** 0018-the-son-of-seven-queens

## Snapshot

The new queen whose jealousy turns a household into a hunting ground, forcing her stepchildren to flee for their lives.

## Who they are

She enters the story as the king's second wife, a woman whose resentment of her stepchildren curdles quickly into open persecution. Her cruelty is not passive: she schemes, demands, and drives the young prince and princess out of the palace, setting the whole tale in motion. Without her malice there is no exile, no forest, no test of the children's cleverness and loyalty — she is the engine that turns a royal family into fugitives.

## In the story

### [Punchkin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se/chapters/punchkin)

The Prudhan's widow who marries the Raja and mistreats his daughters.

### [The Son of Seven Queens](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se/chapters/the-son-of-seven-queens)

The white hind who bewitches the king, demands the eyes of the seven queens, and becomes the new queen.

### [The Boy Who Had a Moon on His Forehead and a Star on His Chin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se/chapters/the-boy-who-had-a-moon-on-his-forehead-and-a-star-on-his-chin)

One of the four wicked Queens who conspire against the gardener's daughter and steal her son.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se/characters/cruel_ranee
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se/characters