The Book of Wonder · Question
How does The Book of Wonder develop the theme of Escape and Wonder?
Answer
The Book of Wonder by Lord Dunsany develops Escape and Wonder across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
The book repeatedly invites readers to leave the mundane world—especially London—for fantastical realms at the edge of the world, emphasizing the allure of adventure and the imagination as a refuge from everyday weariness.
The entire chapter is a chronicle of adventures at the edge of the world, emphasizing escape into a realm of wonder.
Shepperalk's joyous gallop across the plain and his departure from his mother's cavern embody a sense of escape into a world of wonder and freedom.
Shard and his crew escape the law and the hangman by retreating to a secret floating island, a wondrous and hidden refuge.
Evidence in the book
- The Book of Wonder
The entire chapter is a chronicle of adventures at the edge of the world, emphasizing escape into a realm of wonder.
- The Bride of the Man-Horse
Shepperalk's joyous gallop across the plain and his departure from his mother's cavern embody a sense of escape into a world of wonder and freedom.
- The Loot of Bombasharna
Shard and his crew escape the law and the hangman by retreating to a secret floating island, a wondrous and hidden refuge.
- Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance
Miss Cubbidge is literally lifted from her mundane London life into a magical, timeless realm of dragons, pearls, and enchanted seas.
- How One Came, as Was Foretold, to the City of Never
The protagonist escapes the ordinary world to reach the twilight City of Never, a place of perpetual wonder, hippogriffs, and unknown marvels.
- The Coronation of Mr. Thomas Shap
Shap's entire journey is an escape from his dreary life into a vivid fantasy world of his own creation.
- The Wonderful Window
Mr. Sladden's purchase of the magical window offers him an escape from his mundane life into a fantastical medieval city.
