The Necklace of Princess Fiorimonde
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These timeless fairy tales offer a refreshingly dark and morally complex alternative to sanitized children's stories, rewarding readers with profound insights into human nature.
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Book Summary
Mary De Morgan's fairy tales explore the dark consequences of vanity, greed, and the misuse of power. Through stories of wicked princesses, selfish pedlars, and foolish kings, the collection warns that beauty and magic often hide dangerous truths, while love and sacrifice offer the only path to redemption.
The collection opens with Princess Fiorimonde, a beautiful sorceress who uses a magic necklace to turn her suitors into beads. Her maid Yolande exposes her deception with the help of a wise woman, leading to Fiorimonde's downfall. In 'The Wanderings of Arasmon,' a musician's wife sacrifices herself to break a village's spell, becoming a golden harp, and her husband searches for her in vain. 'The Heart of Princess Joan' follows Prince Michael's quest to restore the cold princess's stolen heart. 'The Pedlar's Pack' shows a pedlar, donkey, and birds punished for their false promises. 'The Bread of Discontent' features a baker whose enchanted bread spreads discontent among all who eat it. 'The Three Clever Kings' satirizes royal incompetence as three nephews each fail at kingship. Finally, 'The Wise Princess' Fernanda, after seeking knowledge from every source, drowns while saving a child, finding peace only in death. Throughout, De Morgan contrasts outward appearances with inner truth, showing that greed, deception, and unchecked ambition lead to ruin, while love and selflessness bring meaning.
Reading guide
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Character guides, themes, chapter companions — plus Character Web, narrative arc, and theme heatmap teasers that unlock fully beside the text in BetterReads.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional/psychological peak occurs when the baker, in a fit of violent rage, smashes the burnt loaves, an…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
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Princess Fiorimonde
Fiorimonde's father wants her married so a prince can inherit his throne, but a husband would discover her midnight visits to the old witch and put an end to her magic. Rather than give up her beauty, she devises a gold cord that turns each suitor into a bead the moment he closes his hands around it. Her maid Yolande watches the necklace grow and begins to suspect what her mistress is doing.
Prince Michael
Michael enters a court where princes vanish without explanation and the princess's gold cord keeps acquiring new beads. Where other suitors see only beauty, he suspects sorcery, and his courage sets him apart from the men who have already fallen. His pursuit of Fiorimonde places him at the center of the story's struggle between love and dark magic.
Arasmon
Arasmon leaves his beloved Chrysea to seek his fortune, carrying her memory as both comfort and burden. On the road he faces tests of loyalty that measure whether his devotion can survive separation and hardship. His faithfulness, or failure of it, becomes the emotional hinge of a tale about what love costs when it is asked to wait.
Chrysea
Chrysea stays behind while Arasmon seeks his fortune, her patience standing in quiet contrast to the trials he faces abroad. Her constancy is both a gift and a vulnerability, since waiting requires trusting a man she cannot see or guide. She matters because the story's question of whether love endures is answered, in part, by what she chooses to believe about him.
Princess Joan
Joan is the sort of princess people call poor, not for lack of rank but for the difficulties that surround her courtship. A mysterious suitor pursues her heart, and she must decide how much of what he presents can be trusted. Her warmth and good sense make her the moral center of a tale about seeing past enchantment to the truth of a person.
Gervaise
Gervaise serves Princess Joan with a shrewdness that outpaces the courtiers around him, noticing what others overlook. When Joan's mysterious suitor creates confusion and danger, he becomes the practical ally she can rely on. His resourcefulness shows that in a world of magic and rank, plain wit and loyalty can still turn the tide.
Appearance vs. Reality
The book repeatedly contrasts outward beauty or seeming goodness with inner wickedness, as seen in Princess Fiorimonde, whose stunning looks hide her black magic and cruelty, and in the deceptive promises made by the pedlar, donkey, and raven.
Consequences of Deception and Greed
Characters who lie, cheat, or act out of greed—such as the pedlar, donkey, and raven in 'The Pedlar's Pack'—ultimately face punishment and ruin, illustrating that dishonesty and selfishness lead to downfall.
The Pursuit of Knowledge and Happiness
Princess Fernanda's quest to learn everything leaves her unhappy, and she ultimately finds peace only in death, suggesting that wisdom alone cannot bring contentment and that happiness comes from simpler, selfless sources.
Love and Sacrifice
Arasmon's devoted search for his lost wife Chrysea and Chrysea's selfless act to break the village's spell highlight how love motivates sacrifice, while Prince Michael's infatuation with Princess Joan leads to his tragic entrapment.
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