# The Princess — Short Fiction character guide > The Princess in Short Fiction by George MacDonald. **Role:** major **Also known as:** princess **First appearance:** 0000-a-double-story ## Snapshot A royal daughter whose sheltered upbringing becomes a cage, forcing her to choose between obedient silence and the dangerous freedom of her own judgment. ## Who they are Raised amid ceremony and expectation, she is watched by servants, advisors, and a grandmother whose love arrives wrapped in control. Her curiosity and stubborn honesty pull against the obedience her position demands, and the tension between them turns ordinary rooms into testing grounds. What she decides about whom to trust sets the story's course well before its crises arrive. ## Relationships ### [King Ralph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters/king_ralph) _family_ King Ralph is the father of the Princess, and their relationship involves royal duty and paternal care. ### [Rosamond](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters/rosamond) _friendship_ Rosamond and the Princess are close friends or companions, possibly within a court or shared setting. ### [King Ralph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters/king_ralph) _family_ King Ralph is the father of the Princess, and their relationship involves royal duty and paternal care. ### [King Ralph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters/king_ralph) _family_ King Ralph is the father of the Princess, and their relationship involves royal duty and paternal care. ### [Rosamond](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters/rosamond) _friendship_ Rosamond and the Princess are close friends or companions, possibly within a court or shared setting. ### [Rosamond](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters/rosamond) _friendship_ Rosamond and the Princess are close friends or companions, possibly within a court or shared setting. ## In the story ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/i) Rosamond's mother, the queen, who along with the king seeks help from the wise woman. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/ii) Referred to as the princess; she is the same as Rosamond, the kidnapped child. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/iii) Referred to as the princess, she is the same as Rosamond, facing the moon and the heath alone, then finding the wise woman's cottage. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/vi) Referenced in comparison to Agnes, noted for her rages and selfishness. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/vii) Referred to as the princess, she is contrasted with Agnes in terms of moodiness and lack of self-awareness. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/ix) Rosamond is referred to as 'the princess' throughout; she struggles with her identity and pride. ### [Agnes in the Palace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/x) Referred to as the lost princess (Rosamond); the king and queen are desperate to find her. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xi) Referenced as the princess; her behavior and internal struggle are central to the chapter. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xii) Referred to as the princess throughout; Rosamond is the princess in this context. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xiv) Rosamond is identified as the princess; she takes her place between the blinded king and queen. ### [The Castle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/the-castle) The eldest sister, beautiful and silent, who initially forgets her brother but later experiences a spiritual awakening and becomes the first to sense the father's presence. ### [The Light Princess](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/the-light-princess) The light princess cursed with physical and emotional lightness. ### [What! No Children?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/i-what-no-children) Born at the end of the chapter as the long-desired child of the king and queen. ### [II: Won’t I, Just?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/ii-won-t-i-just) The infant being christened, who laughs and crows after the curse is cast. ### [She Can’t Be Ours](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/iii-she-can-t-be-ours) The baby princess who has been bewitched by her aunt to lack gravity, floating to the ceiling and laughing. ### [IV: Where Is She?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/iv-where-is-she) The infant princess, light as air, is carried off by a fairy wind and later found under a rosebush; she delights the household with her buoyant nature. ### [V: What Is to Be Done?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/v-what-is-to-be-done) The king apologizes to her, but she denies knowledge of the spell, though her eyes shine pink with happiness. ### [She Laughs Too Much](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/vi-she-laughs-too-much) Now seventeen, she laughs at everything, including war and her parents' grief, and has a peculiar bounding run. ### [VII: Try Metaphysics](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/vii-try-metaphysics) The princess exhibits a complete lack of gravity, both physically and in her attitude, finding joy in her condition and dismissing her parents' concerns with laughter and whimsical desires. ### [Try a Drop of Water](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/viii-try-a-drop-of-water) The princess lacks gravity and finds freedom and temporary restoration of gravity in the lake; she cannot cry despite attempts to make her weep. ### [Put Me in Again](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/ix-put-me-in-again) The bewitched princess who has lost her gravity; she is angry at the prince for rescuing her but later enjoys swimming with him. ### [X: Look at the Moon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/x-look-at-the-moon) The princess swims in the lake, responds to the prince's song, and joins him on the rock; she laughs at his talk of love and seems puzzled. ### [Hiss!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xi-hiss) Grows increasingly distressed as the lake sinks, pining away as her beloved water disappears. ### [Where Is the Prince?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xii-where-is-the-prince) Keeps to her room, brooding over the dying lake; has forgotten the prince and her parents. ### [XIII: Here I Am](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xiii-here-i-am) The princess lies motionless, taking only lake-water, and is the reason for the king's desperate search for a volunteer. ### [XIV: This Is Very Kind of You](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xiv-this-is-very-kind-of-you) Initially indifferent and self-centered, she eventually feeds the prince, kisses him, and frantically rescues him after he drowns, showing a change of heart. ### [XV: Look at the Rain!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xv-look-at-the-rain) Bursts into tears, discovers her gravity, learns to walk, and becomes betrothed to the prince. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters/the_princess - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_21_se/characters