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    The Rose and the Ring
    The Rose and the Ring
    The Rose and the Ring
    Ebook118 pages1 hour

    The Rose and the Ring

    By William Makepeace Thackeray and Mint Editions

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    When Fairy Blackstick created a magical rose and ring, she did not anticipate their existence to be so troublesome. With the power to warp perception, the rose and the ring each make their bearer seem beautiful and irresistibly charming. However, as they are passed down, the magic of the items had been forgotten, leaving their new owners clueless of this ability. The ring resides in the Paflagonia kingdom. Giglio, the King’s nephew, is the rightful heir to the throne, but the opportunity was stolen from him as a baby. However, he owns the ring, which had been passed down from his mother. Since Giglio does not wear the ring, he is often overlooked in the family, overshadowed by Princess Angelica. The rose resides in the Crim Tartary kingdom. Separated for years, the two magical objects reunite when Prince Bulbo of the Crim Tartary kingdom visits Paflagonia, carrying his rose with him. When Angelica immediately falls in love with the prince, this angers Giglio, who had held feelings for Angelica for a long time. After a passionate confrontation between Angelica and Giglio, the enchanted ring is thrown out into the garden, free for anyone to find. As the ring finds a new owner, complicated love triangles emerge, inciting fights, threats, and social turmoil.

    Written like a fairytale, The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackery features magic and dueling kingdoms, capturing the imagination of its audience. Meant to be a satirical work of romantic comedy, The Rose and the Ring criticizes the attitudes of monarchs and high society, specifically challenging their ideals of beauty and marriage. With the combination of clever satire, imaginative prose, and an exciting narrative, this novel is both entertaining and thought-provoking. Originally published in 1855, The Rose and the Ring is a whimsical tale supporting a meaningful message that still remains relevant to modern day society.

    This edition of The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackery features a striking new cover design and is printed in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, The Rose and the Ring caters to a contemporary audience while preserving the original hilarity of Thackery’s work.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMint Editions
    Release dateMar 9, 2021
    ISBN9781513278124
    Author

    William Makepeace Thackeray

    William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta in 1811. He was sent to England in 1817 and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. Following a period of gambling, unsuccessful investments and a brief career as a lawyer, he turned to writing and drawing. In 1836 he married Isabella Shawe; following the birth of their second daughter, her mental health deteriorated and she had to be permanently supervised by a private nurse. Thackeray's first novel, Catherine, was published in 1839-40. Following the success of Vanity Fair (1847-8) he was able to devote himself to fiction, and his other notable works include Pendennis (1849), The History of Henry Esmond (1852) and The Newcomes (1855). He also edited the commercially successful Cornhill Magazine, which published writers such as Tennyson, George Eliot and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Thackeray died suddenly on Christmas Eve, 1863.

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    Reviews for The Rose and the Ring

    3.5/5

    46 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      According to the author's introduction, this was intended to be put on as a dramatic presentation, or pantomime, at Christmastime, for children.

      It was indeed published at Christmas (1854), but I'm not at all convinced that the main intended audience was children. This is, technically, a fairy tale, but it's mainly a political and social satire, caricaturing the events and personalities of the day. I'm quite certain that quite a lot of the humor flew past me, but it seems that it was quite timely.

      The titular rose and ring are magical objects that makes the bearer seem irresistibly beautiful to those around them. They originate with the Fairy Blackstick, who is quite unpopular after wishing some infants 'misfortune' at their christenings, rather than magical blessings. However, sometimes a bit of misfortune is good for the character.

      The plot is a rather slapstick romantic comedy, with quite a lot of lampooning of the upper crust. It's entertaining - but was probably even funnier 150 years ago.
    • 2/5
      Sometimes I'm really sad that I'm an adult. When I was a child, I read an excerpt from this fairy tale and loved it. When I was a young adult in library school I saw that I had read only a excerpt and went in search of the entire book. That being in the dark ages before Amazon, it took me several decades to find the book. And, now, alas, after trying twice, I've found it unreadable. The character I really liked only appears in chapter 4. The rest of the characters are drawn to make moral points. The anti-drinking, dancing and card playing messages are ubiquitous. The story is long and it's rather clear how it will come out. So I've passed my copy on to someone younger who can overlook it's faults and still appreciate it. If only I'd had the whole book when I was twelve.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite books when young and one I still like -- I bought this papernback after mislaying the hardback I had as a child, which I later discovered. I loved the names of the characters --especially the gallant Captain of the Guard, Kutasoff Hedzoff, and enjoyed the complexity of the plot, in which the magic rose and ring (which make their possessors the most desirable people) are exchanged among several characters with extraordinary results, and the Fairy Blackstick sees to it that the hero and heroine benefit by a little misfortune, and then end happily ever after, and everyone else gets his/her just rewards, from the usurping kings Valoroso and Padilla down to the footman's odious wife Barbara Griselda Gruffanuff.
    • 3/5
      Thackeray's Christmas pantomime for children follows the general tropes of other books of this ilk written in the 1800s: there's silliness for the kiddos, but it's also filled with social and political quips clearly intended for adults. Neither have aged well and the whole thing just didn't land for me. I think I have a low tolerance for this particular genre: the plot is flimsy, and the feeling that the author/narrator is constantly wink-winking and nudge-nudging you with his jokes becomes tiresome fairly quickly. *shrug*
    • 4/5
      Perfectly delightful illustrations in the Larger Dumpy Books for Children edition.

    Book preview

    The Rose and the Ring - William Makepeace Thackeray

    I

    SHOWS HOW THE ROYAL FAMILY SATE DOWN TO BREAKFAST

    This is Valoroso XXIV, King of Paflagonia, seated with his Queen and only child at their royal breakfast-table, and receiving the letter which announces to His Majesty a proposed visit from Prince Bulbo, heir of Padella, reigning King of Crim Tartary. Remark the delight upon the monarch’s royal features. He is so absorbed in the perusal of the King of Crim Tartary’s letter, that he allows his eggs to get cold, and leaves his august muffins untasted.

    ‘What! that wicked, brave, delightful Prince Bulbo!’ cries Princess Angelica; ‘so handsome, so accomplished, so witty—the conqueror of Rimbombamento, where he slew ten thousand giants!’

    ‘Who told you of him, my dear?’ asks His Majesty.

    ‘A little bird,’ says Angelica.

    ‘Poor Giglio!’ says mamma, pouring out the tea.

    ‘Bother Giglio!’ cries Angelica, tossing up her head, which rustled with a thousand curl-papers.

    ‘I wish,’ growls the King—‘I wish Giglio was…’

    ‘Was better? Yes, dear, he is better,’ says the Queen. ‘Angelica’s little maid, Betsinda, told me so when she came to my room this morning with my early tea.’

    ‘You are always drinking tea,’ said the monarch, with a scowl.

    ‘It is better than drinking port or brandy and water;’ replies Her Majesty.

    ‘Well, well, my dear, I only said you were fond of drinking tea,’ said the King of Paflagonia, with an effort as if to command his temper. ‘Angelica! I hope you have plenty of new dresses; your milliners’ bills are long enough. My dear Queen, you must see and have some parties. I prefer dinners, but of course you will be for balls. Your everlasting blue velvet quite tires me: and, my love, I should like you to have a new necklace. Order one. Not more than a hundred or a hundred and fifty thousand pounds.’

    ‘And Giglio, dear?’ says the Queen.

    ‘GIGLIO MAY GO TO THE—’

    ‘Oh, sir,’ screams Her Majesty. ‘Your own nephew! our late King’s only son.’

    ‘Giglio may go to the tailor’s, and order the bills to be sent in to Glumboso to pay. Confound him! I mean bless his dear heart. He need want for nothing; give him a couple of guineas for pocket-money, my dear; and you may as well order yourself bracelets while you are about the necklace, Mrs. V.’

    Her Majesty, or MRS. V., as the monarch facetiously called her (for even royalty will have its sport, and this august family were very much attached), embraced her husband, and, twining her arm round her daughter’s waist, they quitted the breakfast-room in order to make all things ready for the princely stranger.

    When they were gone, the smile that had lighted up the eyes of the HUSBAND and FATHER fled—the pride of the KING fled—the MAN was alone. Had I the pen of a G. P. R. James, I would describe Valoroso’s torments in the choicest language; in which I would also depict his flashing eye, his distended nostril—his dressing-gown, pocket-handkerchief, and boots. But I need not say I have NOT the pen of that novelist; suffice it to say, Valoroso was alone.

    He rushed to the cupboard, seizing from the table one of the many egg-cups with which his princely board was served for the matin meal, drew out a bottle of right Nantz or Cognac, filled and emptied the cup several times, and laid it down with a hoarse ‘Ha, ha, ha! now Valoroso is a man again!’

    ‘But oh!’ he went on (still sipping, I am sorry to say), ’ere I was a king, I needed not this intoxicating draught; once I detested the hot brandy wine, and quaffed no other fount but nature’s rill. It dashes not more quickly o’er the rocks than I did, as, with blunderbuss in hand, I brushed away the early morning dew, and shot the partridge, snipe, or antlered deer! Ah! well may England’s dramatist remark, Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown! Why did I steal my nephew’s, my young Giglio’s—? Steal! said I? no, no, no, not steal, not steal. Let me withdraw that odious expression. I took, and on my manly head I set, the royal crown of Paflagonia; I took, and with my royal arm I wield, the sceptral rod of Paflagonia; I took, and in my outstretched hand I hold, the royal orb of Paflagonia! Could a poor boy, a snivelling, drivelling boy—was in his nurse’s arms but yesterday, and cried for sugarplums and puled for pap—bear up the awful weight of crown, orb, sceptre? gird on the sword my royal fathers wore, and meet in fight the tough Crimean foe?’

    And then the monarch went on to argue in his own mind (though we need not say that blank verse is not argument) that what he had got it was his duty to keep, and that, if at one time he had entertained ideas of a certain restitution, which shall be nameless, the prospect by a CERTAIN MARRIAGE of uniting two crowns and two nations which had been engaged in bloody and expensive wars, as the Paflagonians and the Crimeans had been, put the idea of Giglio’s restoration to the throne out of the question: nay, were his own brother, King Savio, alive, he would certainly will the crown from his own son in order to bring about such a desirable union.

    Thus easily do we deceive ourselves! Thus do we fancy what we wish is right! The King took courage, read the papers, finished his muffins and eggs, and rang the bell for his Prime Minister. The Queen, after thinking whether she should go up and see Giglio, who had been sick, thought ‘Not now. Business first; pleasure afterwards. I will go and see dear Giglio this afternoon; and now I will drive to the jeweller’s, to look for the necklace and bracelets.’ The Princess went up into her own room, and made Betsinda, her maid, bring out all her dresses; and as for Giglio, they forgot him as much as I forget what I had for dinner last Tuesday twelve-month.

    II

    HOW KING VALOROSO GOT THE CROWN, AND PRINCE GIGLIO WENT WITHOUT

    Paflagonia, ten or twenty thousand years ago, appears to have been one of those kingdoms where the laws of succession were not settled; for when King Savio died, leaving his brother Regent of the kingdom, and guardian of Savio’s orphan infant, this unfaithful regent took no sort of regard of the late monarch’s will; had himself proclaimed sovereign of Paflagonia under the title of King Valoroso XXIV, had a most splendid coronation, and ordered all the nobles of the kingdom to pay him homage. So long as Valoroso gave them plenty of balls at Court, plenty of money and lucrative places, the Paflagonian nobility did not care who was king; and as for the people, in those early times, they were equally indifferent. The Prince Giglio, by reason of his tender age at his royal father’s death, did not feel the loss of his crown and empire. As long as he had plenty of toys and sweetmeats, a holiday five times a week and a horse and gun to go out shooting when he grew a little older, and, above all, the company of his darling cousin, the King’s only child, poor Giglio was perfectly contented; nor did he envy his uncle the royal robes and sceptre, the great hot uncomfortable throne of state, and the enormous cumbersome crown in which that monarch appeared from morning till night. King Valoroso’s portrait has been left to us; and I think you will agree with me that he must have been sometimes RATHER TIRED of his velvet, and his diamonds, and his ermine, and his grandeur. I shouldn’t like to sit in that stifling robe with such a thing as that on my head.

    No doubt, the Queen must have been lovely in her youth; for though she grew rather stout in after life, yet her features, as shown in her portrait, are certainly PLEASING. If she was fond of flattery, scandal, cards, and fine clothes, let us deal gently with her infirmities, which, after all, may be no greater than our own. She was kind to her nephew; and if she had any scruples of conscience about her husband’s taking the young Prince’s crown, consoled herself by thinking that the King, though a usurper, was a most respectable man, and that at his death Prince Giglio would be restored to his throne, and share it with his cousin, whom he loved so fondly.

    The Prime Minister was Glumboso, an old statesman, who most cheerfully swore fidelity to King Valoroso, and in whose hands the monarch left all the affairs of his kingdom. All Valoroso wanted was plenty of money, plenty of hunting,

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