Coriander free essay sample

?Introduction to Plot The story is built around two alternate worlds, both are in civil wars. In the real world, England, Coriander Hobie is born. She is the main character in the story and the plot revolves around her, in a struggle against Queen Rosmore of the fairy world to keep her mother’s fairy shadow from her in the hope of saving her true love from certain death. She has to deal with the death of her mother, and the rule of a preacher and a stepmother who is not at all kind like her mother. Main Characters Coriander Hobie: A girl who had only known happiness before the tragic death of her mother, and the warrant for the arrest of her father was issued. Coriander is the main character of the story; she starts off as a child who lived in a carefree world until a pair of silver shoes were left on her doorstep. This is when her world starts to turn upside down shortly after she goes out of her way and takes the shoes without her parents’ permission; her mother dies tragically in front of her eyes. Her father married a Puritan in the hope of avoiding bankruptcy. Coriander has all the qualities that you would expect from the main protagonist; she is brave, honest, and resilient. Eleanor Hobie: The mother of Coriander, she and her stepmother Queen Rosmore are the main causes of the plot, as she possesses a great power which Rosmore desires and will even kill her for. She is much like her daughter, brave, clever and unselfish. Thomas Hobie: The father of Coriander, he Mary Danes: She is the maid of Eleanor and Thomas Hobie before the tragic incidents, she acts as the main source of support for Coriander when Arise Fell and Maud Leggs abuse her. She and Coriander have a very close relationship comparable to that of Coriander and her own mother. Queen Rosmore: She is the main antagonist in the story; her struggle for her stepdaughter’s fairy shadow is the plot of the story. She is portrayed as very greedy for power and strict. She rules the fairy kingdom through fear. Arise Fell: He and Maud Leggs are the antagonists in the real world, he is a preacher who is very hypocritical; saying that he is a godly man and that all shall obey the word of god, yet he is very greedy for money and power and uses deception to get money and power, which is sinful. Maud Leggs: She claims to be a good godly woman, but just like Arise Fell she is very hypocritical, also being very greedy for money and power. Hester Leggs: She is the daughter of Maud Leggs and she could not be anything more unlike her mother, she is kind, resilient and unselfish, often risking a good beating from her mother to help Coriander out when she is left to starve. Tycho: He comes from the fairy world and is the love interest of Coriander. He is one of the reasons for Coriander wanting to keep the shadow from Rosmore; if Rosmore gets the shadow then Tycho will surely be killed. Master Thankless: He takes in Coriander and Hester after his apprentice Gabriel finds out how they are being treated by Maud Leggs and Arise Fell. He is very caring of others treating Coriander, Hester and Gabriel as if they were his own children. Gabriel: He is the apprentice to Master Thankless and through his efforts Coriander and Hester are saved from the so called ‘Godly house’ run by Arise Fell and Maud Leggs. He is revealed to have feelings for Hester and later marries her. Medlar: He serves as an introduction to the fairy world for Coriander, it is revealed that he is the one that gets Eleanor and Thomas to fall in love with eachover. Information on the historical period it is set in The story is set during The English Civil Wars (1642-1651) they were a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists. The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. The wars leaded to the execution of King Charles I, his son being forced to go into hiding and Oliver Cromwell taking control of England and forming the Commonwealth of England. Charles I was charged with high treason for being a ‘tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy’ he was executed on the 30th January 1649. On 4 April 1660, in the Declaration of Breda, Charles II made known the conditions of his acceptance of the Crown of England. Monck organised the Convention Parliament, which met for the first time on 25 April 1660. On 8 May 1660, it declared that King Charles II had reigned as the lawful monarch since the execution of Charles I in January 1649. Charles returned from exile on 23 May 1660. On 29 May 1660, the populace in London acclaimed him as king. His coronation took place at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661. These events became known as the English Restoration. How the fantasy elements link with the historical elements In the exact period the novel is set, Cromwell rules with an iron fist, not tolerating any Royalists within his kingdom, they are all either arrested or have gone into hiding like Thomas Hobie. In the parallel world Queen Rosmore is also a dictator who runs her kingdom through the use of fear. If u disobeyed Rosmore you would be turned into an animal and hunted down, like what happened to Prince Tycho when he refused to marry on Rosmore’s orders. However the people in the fantasy world have the ability to travel into the real world whereas the people in the real world are unable to travel into the fantasy world with the exception of Coriander, so characters from the fantasy world have the ability to influence things in the real world. This is shown when Rosmore killed Eleanor Hobie and told Maud Leggs to marry Thomas Hobie, and later forced Arise Fell and Maud Leggs to take Eleanor’s fairy shadow. Also in the real world females are seen as inferior to males while in the fantasy world it seems to be the opposite, with Queen Rosmore ruling the kingdom. What you could ask yourself while reading the book Well I think the main question for readers, is that how one girl who is still a child can cope with all that is in front of her. She is mistreated by Arise Fell and Maud Leggs constantly, has the responsibility of saving a whole alternate universe thrust upon her by keeping Rosmore from her mother’s shadow. And all this while she is still grieving the loss of her mother to death, the loss of her father to exile, and the loss of Danes who had been like a bigger sister if not mother to her. Not to mention that during that time period girls were often thought to have ‘feeble minds’ compared to men. Another is what is the book truly saying to you? Is it pointing out that humans sometimes caught up in their own lust for power can do terrible things to one another? Or is it taking a political stand and saying that a monarchy is better than a theocracy which is what Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans were running. Or is it just showing you the harsh conditions that you had to live in as a female during the 17th century, being inferior to males? Main idea of the novel The novel I believe, like all other fantasy novels pits good against evil in a struggle for power. All of the ideas stem from this main idea of good against evil, in that in the real world it is a battle of the Royalists, who are portrayed to be good against the Puritans. In the end evil gets what it deserves, in both worlds the evil dictators were both overthrown. This can stem into the idea that love and courage conquer all, both being traits that you would expect from a protagonist. When Coriander falls in love with Tycho this is her main motive for wanting to keep the shadow from Queen Rosmore, if she fails he will surely be killed. Having said this, it is still remarkable the amount of courage she has to confront Arise Fell and Maud Leggs, where during the confrontation she finally gets Arise to accept that her name is Coriander ‘for without her name who was she’ , in an effort to obtain the shadow back. Even when she is very young she demonstrates remarkable feats of courage getting the key from the stuffed alligator’s mouth which her father describes as ‘quite a brave thing to do for someone as scared of that alligator as you’ while disobeying her mothers wishes at the same time. Critical Judgement I don’t know how you will react to the book, but I personally loved it. I felt that I could easily relate to the main character Coriander, and every time something tragic happened such as the loss of her mother I could really connect with it. The time with which the story is set goes well to complement the sad atmosphere of the story. The sad points in the book which I really connected with were further helped by the fact that at the beginning of the book everything is so happy but then Coriander finds out that life isn’t as simple as it seems. The only bad thing that I could find about the book was that at the start it was a bit slow and pointless until you get to the part when her mother dies, then you realize that the beginning was to emphasize her loss, but it could be the reason why some people don’t finish the book as they read the first fifty or so pages and fall asleep. Luckily enough for me I went through the whole book and I loved it. Brilliant, imaginative work from Sally Gardner, managing to tie two worlds together while still having one essential plot I give it 4. 5/5. Ideas for further research on the novel and 3 novels you should also read If you loved the novel as much as I did you could find out more about the period of time the book was set in, or more about the author Sally Gardner. She has just released a new book called the ‘red necklace’ which would be good to read if you enjoyed I, Coriander. It is set in the French Revolution and ties in gypsy magic as well so it is fairly similar to I, Coriander. Also other popular fantasy books such as the Harry Potter series which is about a young wizard who never knew his parents and grows up with the expectations of being one of the greatest wizards ever even though he didn’t even know the magical world existed.