A Little Princess

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1905

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-9

Chapters 10-14

Chapters 15-19

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

India

India is an important motif throughout A Little Princess as a place of heat in contrast to the cold, dark, foggy London streets and as a location where Sara was treated with respect by servants, in opposition to her later mistreatment as a drudge in Miss Minchin’s school. India, under English colonial rule, is also exoticized and presented by the colonizers as the country of tiger hunting and of diamond mines that potentially produce incredible wealth.

The sight of the statue of Buddha and other Indian furniture being moved into the new neighbor’s house evokes homesickness in Sara for the land of her birth. Sara surprises Ram Dass by speaking to him in an Indian language, and she is initially drawn to the mysterious new gentleman next door and his monkey because they remind her of the years she spent with her father. The romantic, magical plan of making Sara’s vision come true while she is asleep in the attic is repeatedly attributed to Ram Dass’s imagination and graceful lightness of movement, traits that reflect the “Orientalism” described by author Edward Said as a Western means of presenting Asia in an exotic, mystical, “othered” fashion. Mr. Carrisford’s secretary congratulates Ram Dass on his fanciful plan: “It will be like a story from the ‘Arabian Nights’ […] It does not belong to London fogs” (180). The book’s stereotypical manner of presenting India and its people is reflected in Mr. Carrisford’s comment that “without the help of an agile, soft-footed Oriental like Ram Dass [the plan] could not have been done” (238).

A Soldier

Burnett uses a soldier as a symbol of endurance in the book. One of Sara’s strategies to help herself bear emotional pain or physical suffering is to imagine herself as a soldier. Sara is inspired by the example of her father, Captain Crewe, a British army officer in India. When Sara first arrives at Miss Minchin’s school, she does not like it and anticipates a difficult time. Sara tells her father, “But then I dare say soldiers—even brave ones—don’t really like going into battle” (7). When Sara feels almost unbearable pain because of her father’s absence, she prevents herself from crying: “You have to bear things. Think what soldiers bear! Papa is a soldier. If there was a war he would have to bear marching and thirstiness and, perhaps, deep wounds. And he would never say a word—not one word” (32).

During Sara’s actual physical hardships after the loss of her prosperity, she tells herself: “Soldiers don’t complain . . . I am not going to do it; I will pretend this is part of a war” (102). As Sara is deprived of food and feeling a gnawing sensation in her stomach, she tolerates it by saying to herself, “I suppose soldiers feel like this when they are on a long and weary march” (190). Her vivid imagination and strong mental life enable her to survive brutal treatment long enough to be found by Mr. Carrisford and receive her reward of a restored fortune

Dolls

Dolls play a significant role in A Little Princess. A doll symbolizes both a father’s love and expensive extravagance in the book. Initially, Sara and her father shop for a doll to serve as a companion for her during his absence. Sara names the doll Emily in advance and imagines that she will recognize her when she spots her in the shop window. Sara anticipates that Emily will be her “intimate friend” (10), and when Captain Crewe sees Sara asleep with Emily in her arms, “Emily looked so like a real child that Captain Crewe felt glad she was there” (13). To comfort herself in her loneliness, Sara imagines that Emily hears when Sara confides in her. Sara fantasizes that all dolls secretly can read, walk, and talk when humans leave the room, and they return to stillness when people return. When Miss Minchin calls Sara to her room after Sara learns that her father is dead and she is poor, Sara carries her doll: “I will not put her down. She is all I have. My papa gave her to me” (91).

The other prominent doll in the story is Sara’s spectacular 11th birthday gift from her father. Sara describes this second doll as the Last Doll because Sara is getting older and will never receive another one. Captain Crewe attempted to give his beloved daughter a most memorable present—a doll almost as large as the little girl named Lottie. The Last Doll possesses a custom-designed luxurious wardrobe from Paris that includes an ermine-lined cloak and an opera glass for theater attendance, silk stockings, ball dresses, and a tiara. The opulence of this gift acts as a catalyst for Miss Minchin’s rage when she learns that Sara’s father died with no fortune, but she paid the bill expecting that he would reimburse her. Miss Minchin tells Sara about “that ridiculous doll, with all her nonsensical, extravagant things—I actually paid the bill for her!” (92). When Miss Minchin cruelly asserts that the Last Doll “is mine, not yours” (92), Sara replies that she does not want it then and says she should take it away.