Today is George MacDonald’s 184th birthday. Since fairy tales has been the topic of conversation here of late, I’ll let him speak on the matter. These words will be familiar to some – indeed, they’ve been discussed here before – and new to others. In either instance, they are worth our careful consideration.
“You write as if a fairytale were a thing of importance: must it have meaning?”
It cannot help having some meaning; if it have proportion and harmony it has vitality, and vitality is truth. The beauty may be plainer in it than the truth, but without the truth the beauty could not be, and the fairytale would give no delight. Everyone, however, who feels the story, will read its meaning after his own nature and development: one man will read one meaning in it, another will read another.
“If so, how am I to assure myself that I am not reading my own meaning into it, but yours out of it?”
Why should you be so assured? It may be better that you should read your meaning into it. That may be a higher operation of your intellect than the mere reading of mine out of it: your meaning may be superior to mine.
[...]
A fairytale, like a butterfly or a bee, helps itself on all sides, sips every wholesome flower, and spoils not one. The true fairytale is, to my mind, very like the sonata. We all know that a sonata means something; and where there is the faculty of talking with suitable vagueness, and choosing metaphor sufficiently loose, mind may approach mind, in the interpretation of a sonata, with the result of a more or less contenting consciousness of sympathy. But if two or three men sat down to write each what the sonata meant to him, what approximation to definite idea would be the result? Little enough–and that little more than needful. We should find it had roused related, if not identical, feelings, but probably not one common thought. Has the sonata therefore failed? Had it undertaken to convey, or ought it to be expected to impart anything defined, anything notionally recognisable?
Excerpts taken from “The Fantastic Imagination.”
For the best internet resource on George MacDonald, see The Golden Key website.
See also Zossima Press’s George MacDonald materials. You can get his complete collected works on CD-ROM for $10!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Travis, excellent choice from MacDonald to quote for his birthday.
I must say this quote from “The Fantastic Imagination” fits very well along side what I feel is coming from your new book, “Harry Potter & Imagination, the way between two worlds”.
I can see by what you quoted from MacDonald, why many different thoughts and opinions and visions into various chapters within Potterverse are presented by each individual reader.
While the writer of a work places part of his/her vision or inner soul into their work which has a specific meaning to them, we also place or take our own vision or inner soul into the story and at times our conclusion can be very different from the conclusion of the writer. This invites our “imaginative welcome” to quote C S Lewis in compliment of this point.
This all takes place for the reader without loosing the “big picture” or the entire “sonata” as George MacDonald would so eloquently teach us.
I’m a big MacDonald fan myself – good stuff.
His “Unspoken Sermons” series are excellent too if anyone hasn’t read them before. MacDonald’s putting Christian theology and fairy tale together were one of the things C.S. Lewis mentioned as being influential in his conversion.
J.P., I’ve had MacDonald’s “Unspoken Sermons” on audiobook for quite some time, and still haven’t had a chance to listen to them. I’ll have to put them higher up on my listening list.
Hey Travis,
I hate to admit this, but I’ve never read any of MacDonald’s works. Any recommendations for starting. Thanks.