The Day Boy And The Night Girl Analysis
Opposites Intertwined-A Victorian Fairy Tale of Light and Darkness An analysis of the work “The Day Boy and the Night Girl”, by George MacDonald (see works cited), evokes questions regarding its classification as a fairy tale. These questions arise due to the adherence of the story to the basic structure and themes of a fairy tale, although, as will be explained below, the story 's structure is materially different in a way which may be explained by the circumstances of the historical period in which the story was written. Unlike literary fairy tales, “The Day Boy and the Night Girl” is not an oral tale passed down through tradition and then transcribed. Instead, George MacDonald wrote an original story. Nevertheless, the themes of the story are those that are to be found in most fairy tales-namely, the element of romance, the dichotomy of good and evil, and the happy ending (see works cited 2). Moreover, the structural pattern of the story also follows the principal plot functions present in fairy tales, as set out in Zipes’ model (xiii). All of these themes and patterns come together in a story that is shaped by an appreciation, on the part of the author, of what comprises the fairy tale, in a time when, as a result of the advent of the industrial revolution, the world would have been perceived as …show more content…
The author has created a wondrous setting in a world almost devoid of the supernatural (excepting the witch, and Nycteris ' eyes, which are unnaturally large). The setting of the story is similar to a magical world, though this is only through the prism of the protagonists ' minds, i.e. the darkness being a supernatural force of evil for Photogen, and the sun being the “lamp of death” (MacDonald) for
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