Rumpelstiltskin

INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA The drama is about a dwarf called Rumpelstiltskin and a millers daughter, Lisa. Lisa is the daughter of an untruthful miller. When the king visits his cottage, he lies to the king that Lisa can spin straw into gold. The king tells the miller he would like to take Lisa to the palace to spin gold to poor country. So the girl is brought to a high tower. The room is full of straw with a spinning wheel and a reel. He tells Lisa to set to work and if by early next morning she has not spun the straw into gold, she has to die. Poor Lisa has no idea how straw can be spun into gold. She is frightened and begins to weep. All at once the door opens and in comes Rumpelstiltskin who agrees to spin the straw into gold if she gives him her necklace. Then he seats himself in front of the wheel and sets to work till all the straw is spun. By daybreak the king is already there and he looks at the gold with greedy eyes. Then he takes her into a larger room full of straw and commands her to spin it into gold again. Later, the door opens again, and Rumpelstiltskin appears and says he would spin all that straw for her ring. The next morning, the king rejoices beyond measure but still he has not enough gold. So he takes her to the tower full of straw. There he tells her that if she spins all that straw into gold, she would be his wife. That night, Rumpelstiltskin comes in. Lisa has nothing left to give him. So he makes her promise that when she becomes queen, her first child would be given to him. When the king comes in the morning, he marries Lisa and she becomes queen. A year later, she brings a beautiful child into the world. Suddenly Rumpelstiltskin comes into her room and reminds her of her promise. The queen is horror-stricken and offers him gold but he refuses. As he loves playing games, he gives her three days to guess his name right. If she succeeds, she could keep her child. On the first and second day, she fails to do so. On the third day, she finds out his name from her parents. On that day, she reveals his name. Rumpelstiltskin loses hi bargain. He is so angry that he drives his foot far into the ground. This creates a chasm and he vanishes into it.

Rumpelstiltskin

SETTING The events of the story happen in a period of about a year. The story is set a time when magical creatures like fairies, elves, dwarves and goblins live in peace with humans. Magic is an important part of their world. The events take place in three places from the millers cottage to the tower to the palace to the woods.

PLACE
Cottage where Lisa lives with her parents. Castle where the King lives Nursery where Queen Lisa looked after the baby and where the strange little man appeared. Woods where the strange little man lives.

MAIN AND MINOR CHARACTERS

LISA She is a hardworking girl who can bake pies, buns and tarts. Her dishonest father puts her in trouble by lying to the king. She has to use her survival instincts to save her life. With Rumpelstiltskins help, she is not killed by the king. She makes a promise to give her first-born to Rumpelstiltskin. This is to get him to spin gold on the third day. However, she does not keep to her promise. Fortunately, she finds out his name just in time to keep her child

Rumpelstiltskin
RUMPELSTILTSKIN He is funny little man with magical powers. One of his powers is spinning gold from straw. However, he is not so generous with Lisa. In return of his help, he demands a gift. First, it is a necklace, then a ring. On the third day, he asks for her first-born child. When she refuses to give him her child, he poses a challenge to her. As he likes playing games, he gives her three days to guess his name. He is arrogant that he overlooks her finding out his name. When she does so, he gets into a rage and creates a chasm. Too bad, he disappears in it. THE KING He is a ruthless king who would do anything to help his country. When told that Lisa could spin gold from straw, he takes her to a tower to use her. Threatening to kill her, he gives her no choice but to spin straw into gold. When he sees the gold, he becomes greedier. He demands that she spins more gold. However, he shoes his integrity for he keeps his promise to marry her on the third day.

Rumpelstiltskin
FATHER He is a dishonest man. Feeling proud of his daughters skill in baking, he tells a lie to the king. He lies about Lisas ability to spin gold from straw. He is a caring father for he makes an attempt to help his daughter later. He follows Rumpelstiltskin and finds out his real name. By doing so, he saves Lisa from a difficult situation. She keeps her child.

MOTHER Like her husband, she is dishonest. She supports her husband about Lisas ability to spin gold from straw. This puts her daughters life in danger. Later, she does her part in saving Lisa from a difficult situation. Together with her husband, they find out Rumpelstiltskins real name.

THEME The theme tells the readers what the story is about. There are two themes. One is that of telling a lie. The other theme is using ones survival skills.

MORAL VALUES The values of the short story relate to the characters qualities. The two values highlighted in the story are those of honest and integrity.

LESSON LEARNT/MESSAGE

Rumpelstiltskin
A message tell us what the readers can learn from the poem. It usually teaches a moral value. Through the story, the author teaches two lessons. One is that we must not be dishonest with others. The other lessons is we must not make empty promises.

SYNOPSIS The King was making his rounds around his kingdom. The King visits Lisas cottage. Lisas parents began to praise Lisa and claim that she can bake the best pies in the world. In order to make himself appear more important, Lisas father lies to the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The King knows that his kingdom is poor, thus, the king called for the girl, shut her in a tower room with straw and a spinning wheel, and demanded that she spin the straw into gold by morning or be executed. She had given up all hope, when a strange little man appeared in the room and spun straw into gold for her in return for her necklace; then again the following night for her ring. But on the third night, with nothing left, the strange creature spun straw into gold for a promise that the girls first-born child would become his. The greedy king was so impressed that he married Lisa, but when their first child was born, the strange little man returned to claim his payment. The queen was frightened and offered him all the wealth she had if she could keep the child. The strange little man refused but finally agreed to give up his claim to the child if the queen could guess his name in three days. At first she failed. Later, Lisas parents follow the little man and see him dance around a small fire and they hear him say out loud, Tricks and riddles are my game, Rumpelstiltskin is my name.

Rumpelstiltskin
WHY I LIKE/DISLIKE THIS DRAMA I like this drama because it teaches me how to be an honest person. We must be an honest person. We must always keep our promises. It is when we are able to keep our promises that people will respect us. Although the King was greedy, he kept his promise to marry Lisa once she was able to spin the straw into gold. Even the strange little man kept his promise to Lisa when she was able to guess his name. He did not try to cheat her. I dislike this drama because the story can influenced me to become a dishonest person. We must also do the work itself and not with the ability of the others. I disliked the king because of his tyranny and greed for gold. As a king, he only cares for his well-being and not his kingdom. The plot twist or a morally charged new ending; changing the whole story or removing characters from the text can take away from the original story. A respectable revision can be to change the easiness of the ending. The queen was able to find out Rumpelstiltskin's real name too easily; it should have been a bigger test since the prize was her first-born child.