The Role of Organic
Gold as a Catalyst in The Golden Bird
and Rumplestiltskin.
Gold is a valuable but finite
resource, inorganically formed as a mineral (ThinkQuest 2000).
Organically formed gold is a recurring plot device in fairytales, as
it is a catalyst to quickly transform a character's fortune
through the potential for an infinite supply of gold through organic
reproduction. In The Golden Bird (Open Library n.d., 237)
there exists a tree that bears golden apples, the golden bird, and
golden horse; the titular character in Rumplestiltskin
spun straw into gold for the miller's daughter (Open Library n.d.,
228), and even in Jack and the Beanstalk a hen laid golden
eggs (Marshall 2007).
The youngest Prince's fortune in The
Golden Bird is dependent on securing organic forms of gold; he
won't prove his worth to his father unless he can retrieve the golden
bird, and the bird's owner will execute him unless he steals the
golden horse. Securing these earthly golden riches is allegorical
(Limouze n.d.) for the young prince proving his innate worthiness.
The King in Rumplestiltskin is
drawn to marry the miller's daughter upon hearing her remarkable
talent for spinning; alleged to include the ability to spin straw
into gold. Her survival, like that of the young prince in The
Golden Bird; is dependant
on her ability to add to the King's fortune with organically produced
gold “as he could never have enough of gold” (Open Library n.d.,
229). Once she apparently accomplishes this feat through a deal made
with the magical Rumplestiltskin, the King marries her, securing her
future as a Queen.
In The
Golden Bird the princess's testimony ultimately proves the young
prince's accomplishments and worth, and in Rumplestiltskin the
Queen defeats Rumplestiltskin
by learning his true name; however in both tales the catalyst
allowing these characters to prove their worth is organic gold.
References
Limouze, H. n.d.
Rhetorical Figures of Style.
http://www.wright.edu/cola/Dept/eng/limouze/STYLE711.HTM#allegory
(accessed February 5, 2013).
Marshall, L. 2007. The Project
Gutenberg EBook of Favorite Fairy Tales, by Logan Marshall.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20748/20748-h/20748-h.htm#beanstalk
(accessed February 4, 2013).
Open Library. n.d. Household
Stories. http://www.archive.org/stream/householdstories00grimrich
(accessed February 4, 2013).
ThinkQuest. 2000. What is a
Mineral? http://library.thinkquest.org/J002289/minerals.html
(accessed February 5, 2013).
