Post by stardustpilgrim on Apr 8, 2023 21:41:24 GMT -5
At the heart of Anodos’ journey through Fairy Land
is the library of the Fairy Queen. By placing a library at the centre of Fairy
Land, MacDonald expresses the significance of books and reading in a unique
way. In The Portent, MacDonald likens books to a religious experience
saying: “The very outside of a book had a charm to me. It was a kind of
sacrament—an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace”
(45). Within the realms of Fairy Land in Phantastes, MacDonald takes this
further as the books’ outward appearance are described with some difficulty:
“The walls were lined with books: most of them in ancient bindings, but
some in strange new fashions which I had never seen, and which, were I to
make the attempt I could ill describe” (138-9). The inclusion of books whose
outward appearance is essentially indescribable leads to books which are
also inwardly difficult to explain—although Anodos does attempt to do so at
length before proving two renditions of tales he has read. Works of fiction
become immersive experiences:
Mine was the whole story. For I took the place of the character
who was most like myself, and his story was mine; until, grown
weary with the life of years condensed in an hour, or arrived at my
deathbed, or at the end of the volume I would awake with a sudden
bewilderment, to the consciousness of my present life. (140-141)
This complete envelopment of the reader by the text is further underlined
by the next chapter, where Anodos loses his own identity while describing
the contents of a tale: “But see the power of this book, that . . . I write as if
myself had visited the far-off planet, learned its ways and appearances, and
conversed with its men and women. And so, while writing, it seemed to me
that I had” (150). The power of the text did not end when Anodos finished
reading it, but still holds this immersive power over him when back in the
real world.
In contrast to this, Anodos manages to keep the first person “I” out
of the second tale (the tale of Cosmo). At first this would appear to indicate
that the tale has had less influence upon him. The influence of the Cosmo
tale can, however, be found throughout Phantastes. The tale revolves around
a magic mirror owned by the hero, Cosmo. There is a use of mirrors and
reflection throughout the text that is most explicit in Anodos’ statement that:
“All mirrors are magic mirrors. The commonest room is a room in a
poem when I turn to the glass” (123). Mirrors are like fairy books, showing
a desirable world into which the viewer longs to go. But, unlike the magic
books, they also provide a barrier, creating a duality between the real and
the fantastic. While trying to describe Fairy Land, Anodos falls back upon
Cosmo’s tale which he has internalised and connects with his attempts to
describe Fairy Land in visual terms, often describing the world in terms of
light and reflection. Anodos even refers to the magical qualities of mirrors
before we are told the Cosmo tale (123). The imagery of the Cosmo tale is
used to express Fairy Land to those who are grounded in the real, primary
world. The barrier, presented by the mirror, becomes an acknowledgment of
Anodos’ inability to accurately relate the tales to us; we are left on this side of
the looking glass. The contents of the fairy library open Anodos’ imagination,
allowing him to see the fairy inhabitants who have been hidden since he
gained his shadow. The awakened imagination also provides Anodos with
the imaginative range to attempt to describe his journey in Fairy Land, albeit
through a glass darkly.
The greatest forces lie in the region of the uncomprehended. I will
go farther. The best thing you can do for your fellow, next to rousing
his conscience, is not to give him things to think about, but to wake
things up that are in him; or say, to make him think things for
himself. (134)
is the library of the Fairy Queen. By placing a library at the centre of Fairy
Land, MacDonald expresses the significance of books and reading in a unique
way. In The Portent, MacDonald likens books to a religious experience
saying: “The very outside of a book had a charm to me. It was a kind of
sacrament—an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace”
(45). Within the realms of Fairy Land in Phantastes, MacDonald takes this
further as the books’ outward appearance are described with some difficulty:
“The walls were lined with books: most of them in ancient bindings, but
some in strange new fashions which I had never seen, and which, were I to
make the attempt I could ill describe” (138-9). The inclusion of books whose
outward appearance is essentially indescribable leads to books which are
also inwardly difficult to explain—although Anodos does attempt to do so at
length before proving two renditions of tales he has read. Works of fiction
become immersive experiences:
Mine was the whole story. For I took the place of the character
who was most like myself, and his story was mine; until, grown
weary with the life of years condensed in an hour, or arrived at my
deathbed, or at the end of the volume I would awake with a sudden
bewilderment, to the consciousness of my present life. (140-141)
This complete envelopment of the reader by the text is further underlined
by the next chapter, where Anodos loses his own identity while describing
the contents of a tale: “But see the power of this book, that . . . I write as if
myself had visited the far-off planet, learned its ways and appearances, and
conversed with its men and women. And so, while writing, it seemed to me
that I had” (150). The power of the text did not end when Anodos finished
reading it, but still holds this immersive power over him when back in the
real world.
In contrast to this, Anodos manages to keep the first person “I” out
of the second tale (the tale of Cosmo). At first this would appear to indicate
that the tale has had less influence upon him. The influence of the Cosmo
tale can, however, be found throughout Phantastes. The tale revolves around
a magic mirror owned by the hero, Cosmo. There is a use of mirrors and
reflection throughout the text that is most explicit in Anodos’ statement that:
“All mirrors are magic mirrors. The commonest room is a room in a
poem when I turn to the glass” (123). Mirrors are like fairy books, showing
a desirable world into which the viewer longs to go. But, unlike the magic
books, they also provide a barrier, creating a duality between the real and
the fantastic. While trying to describe Fairy Land, Anodos falls back upon
Cosmo’s tale which he has internalised and connects with his attempts to
describe Fairy Land in visual terms, often describing the world in terms of
light and reflection. Anodos even refers to the magical qualities of mirrors
before we are told the Cosmo tale (123). The imagery of the Cosmo tale is
used to express Fairy Land to those who are grounded in the real, primary
world. The barrier, presented by the mirror, becomes an acknowledgment of
Anodos’ inability to accurately relate the tales to us; we are left on this side of
the looking glass. The contents of the fairy library open Anodos’ imagination,
allowing him to see the fairy inhabitants who have been hidden since he
gained his shadow. The awakened imagination also provides Anodos with
the imaginative range to attempt to describe his journey in Fairy Land, albeit
through a glass darkly.
The greatest forces lie in the region of the uncomprehended. I will
go farther. The best thing you can do for your fellow, next to rousing
his conscience, is not to give him things to think about, but to wake
things up that are in him; or say, to make him think things for
himself. (134)