TL 104 | CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS LITERATURE

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER COLLEGE

Anngela D. Aruyal
College of Teacher Education
BSEd-2B
“RUMPELSTILTSKIN”

Summary of Rumpelstiltskin Story

A miller’s daughter was captured by the King, who demanded that turn all the bunches of
straw into gold. She was left helpless, as she had no idea how to do this. That is when a funny
old man appeared and offered to help her in exchange of her gold necklace. He worked hard
and turned all the straw into gold. The king was happy, and ordered her to turn some more
straw into gold. The old man appeared, and demanded the girl’s gold ring in exchange for his
help. She obliged, and he turned all the stacks of straw into gold. The King did not stop there.
He ordered the girl to turn a huge stack of straw into gold, and promised to marry her if she
completed the task in time. This time, the old man demanded that the girl give him her first
child. When time came to fulfil the promise, the girl, who was now the queen, did not want to
part with her baby. She accepted the challenge to guess the man’s name within three days,
upon which the man would leave her alone. So, the queen sent her messengers to follow the
man, who was gloating thinking about his victory. He was merrily singing a song in which he
revealed that his name was Rumpelstiltskin.
Moral of The Story
The moral of the story is, “Always tell the truth, and take responsibility of your actions”. If
the miller’s daughter had been truthful to the King, she would have never found herself in this
situation. However, once she was trapped under the burden of her promise, she had to find her
way out of it and honor the deal.
Appropriate Age
Rumpelstiltskin is appropriate for children ages 4-7, and grade level 1-2. From the short
story of Rumpelstiltskin, children will learn never to use lies as a shortcut to success. They will
understand that lies will create a much bigger trap for them. Children will also learn never to
accept deals from strangers without fully understanding the consequences and expectations.
Story Characters
The main characters in this story are: the miller, his daughter, the King and a funny old
man called Rumpelstiltskin.
Theme
The theme of this story is about power and greed. The poor miller, the King, and
Rumpelstiltskin are all seeking power or attempting to get an advantage with what they have.
The poor miller tells the King about his daughter's "gift" in order to appear more powerful in
the King's eyes.
The Conflict
Rumpelstiltskin. We begin with a central conflict, or inciting incident, which in this case
is the miller telling the king that his daughter can spin gold. This lie sets a series of events in
motion, the rising action, in which the daughter is put to the test and Rumpelstiltskin appears
on the scene to strike a bargain
“Rumpelstiltskin” uses figurative language such as similes and allusions to enhance the
imagery of her poems and transform these short stories into confessional poetry. Anne Sexton
utilizes similes and metaphors to help portray messages to her readers.