Structure
Fairy-tale elements
The story “Petronella” by Jay Williams is a feminist fairy-tale. This means that the story promotes gender equality and women’s rights. Williams uses a fairy-tale plot structure and traditional fairy-tale narrative elements, but the characters are unconventional.
Traditional fairy-tale elements (also known as tropes) include the presence of magical characters (Albion), magical items (th…
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Beginning
The fairy-tale lacks the traditional ‘Once upon a time’ opening, but the exposition does include fairy-tale elements such as the setting and the fact that the characters are royalty: “In the kingdom of Skyclear Mountain three princes were born to the king and queen. (…) When they were grown they always went out to seek their fortunes.” (p. 113, ll. 1-5).
The first h…
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Middle
The rising action focuses on Petronella’s adventures as she decides to seek out her fortune and a prince.
Tension is first introduced when Petronella and her brothers Michael and George grow up and the boys decide to seek their fortunes. Petronella decides to join them, but her brothers and family are against it:
‘Impossible!’ said the king.
‘What will the people say?’ cried the queen.
‘Look,’ said Prince Michael, ‘be reasonable, Pet. Stay home. Sooner or later a prince will turn up here.’ (p. 113, ll. 24-27)
Presenting their attitudes is not typical of fairy tales, which usually focus on the hero and dismiss the other members of the family.
Typical fairy-tale elements are introduced when the three siblings enter a “great dark forest” (p. 114, l. 2) and meet an old man trapped by a curse at a forked road. The fact…
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Ending
In the falling action, Petronella is annoyed by the prince’s attitude who proposes leaving Albion trapped, while she begins to worry about the enchanter. She decides to make a deal with Albion: “ ‘If I release you,’ she said, ‘will you promise to let the prince go free?’ ” (p. 119, ll. 25-26).
The fairy tale includes a plot twist – also atypical for the genre – as Petronella finds out that the prince was never a prisoner but a rude guest who never left and that Albion was actually chasing her: “ ‘I was chasing you. You are just the girl I’ve been looking for. You are brave and kind and talented and beautiful as well.’ ” (p. 119, l…
