The Tripartite Nature of the Moon Goddess in The Princess and the Goblin
The moon has been worshipped as a female deity since the beginning of time. Not only is the moon a feminine principle, it is also a symbol of transformation due to its own monthly cycle of change. With this in mind, it is clear upon a close reading of The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald that the grandmother figure is a personification of the moon, and as such is a catalyzing agent for Irene's maturation and transformation through the course of the novel. Taking this a step further, the elder Irene contains the threefold aspect of the Moon Goddess. She is Artemis, Selene, and Hecate; the crescent moon, the full moon, and the dark moon; maiden, mother, and crone (Rush, 149).
Due to the three-fold nature of the grandmother, one can break this story into three parts. It begins with Hecate the Dark Moon and crone, moves to Artemis the crescent moon and maiden, and ends with Selene the full moon and the mother. After interacting with each of these aspects, Irene undergoes a significant transformation which ultimately leads her to the next aspect. This tripartite structure is prevalent in folklore.
Irene encounters Hecate the Dark Moon in her first two visits to her grandmother. This image of the grandmother is reinforced in two ways in Irene's encounter with her. First, her physical description matches the dark aspect, "she was dressed in black velvet with thick white heavy-looking lace about it; and on the black dress her hair shone like silver"(MacDonald, 13). Silver is the metal associated with the moon (Jobes 119). In addition, as Hecate is one of the caretakers of children (Stapleton, 89) and in the second scene with the grandmother, while she is still Hecate, she heals Irene's injured thumb. However, there is a much more subtle way in which the grandmother is developed as being Hecate. Since Hecate is the moon before, "she has risen and after she has set," (Jobes 1120) then the dark aspect of the grandmother in her first two scenes demonstrates that Irene is still in the dark period before her major transformation, before being brought into full illumination.
Despite being within the dark aspect, Irene still benefits from her first encounter with her grandmother and thus undergoes a small change. Due to meeting her grandmother, Irene realizes that sometimes it is wise to keep her own counsel. She reasons that her grandmother "did not want the household to know she was there" (MacDonald, 26) and thus decides not to take Lootie to her grandmother's rooms. For an eight year-old, this is a significant change since it marks the beginnings of adolescence. The princess also stops confiding in her childhood nurse, beginning her movement towards independence from the mother figure in her life.
Irene's second encounter with her grandmother does not result in as direct a transformation. Although the audience is introduced to the magical aspect of Hecate, in that one learns that the grandmother only allows certain people to see her, the transforming power of the moon symbol is not evidenced. The result of this meeting is to give Irene the knowledge of her grandmother's lamp, thus setting up a meeting between the princess and Artemis, the second personification of the moon.
Since the elder Irene had shown the princess her magical lamp, Princess Irene knew to follow it when the goblin creature frightened her. However, this lamp does not lead to the crone, but instead to Artemis, the maiden. Rather than being dressed in black anymore, the grandmother is dressed in "the loveliest pale blue velvet, over which her hair, no longer white, but of a rich golden colour, streamed like a cataract" (MacDonald, 112). Thus the silver hair of the crone has been replaced by the golden hair of the maiden, and the black of the dark moon has been replaced by the blue of the crescent moon. Indeed, the grandmother herself states that she feels young and strong, and is thus wearing her crown.
Since Artemis is the goddess of wild things (Grant and Hazel, 54) one suspects that she sent the goblin creature to scare Irene and to seek solace from her grandmother. Although this seems to be a morally ambiguous act, it allows Artemis to help Irene through her next transformation. It is at this point that the grandmother gives Irene her magic talisman, the fire-opal ring. By now it is clear that Irene's move towards intellectual independence is waxing, just as the moon-aspect of her grandmother is.
The influence of the grandmother is demonstrated the most clearly here, after her meeting with Artemis. Irene shows great courage in her rescue of Curdie from the goblins. If it were not for her grandmother and the ring she was given, she could not have mastered the courage and belief to enter a goblin mine and free her friend. Indeed, even before she goes to save Curdie, she demonstrates her further movement from her childhood through her self-possessed speech to her mother-figure Lootie. She points out to Lootie that the nurse was just as illogical on the mountain as Irene was in facing the long-legged cat.
Directly upon the rescue of Curdie, Selene is introduced. Again, her clothing has changed. Now she is dressed in white, symbolizing the brightness of the full moon. She is in her full glory, and is, "more lovely than ever" (MacDonald, 173). By this point, there is little she needs to do to help Irene's transition. She teaches wisdom to Irene, so that Irene will not reproach Curdie for his inability to see her. However, in the act of saving Curdie, Irene nearly reaches the pinnacle of her independence. Her complete change from childhood occurs in the aptly named Chapter 24, "Irene Behaves Like a Princess". Here, although she maintains a relationship with Lootie, Irene demonstrates her movement into adolescence. She is no longer dependent upon Lootie and places herself under another's care. Just as her grandmother has reached her full glory as the moon aspect, so to has Irene reached her full glory of independence.
One cannot ignore the power of the grandmother within The Princess and the Goblin, nor can one ignore the link between the grandmother and the moon. As the personification of the moon, the grandmother reflects Irene's own movement through the story-she is dark, waxing, and full. This changing of the moon aspect results in the transformations of Irene's character. Thus the grandmother as the personification of the moon is a necessary aspect of the novel.
Works Cited
Grant, Michael and John Hazel. Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology: A Dictionary.
New York: Dorset Press, 1979.
Jobes, Gertrude. Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols. 2 vols. New York: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1962.
MacDonald, George. The Princess and the Goblin. London: Penguin Group, 1996.
Rush, Anne Kent. Moon, Moon. New York: Moon Books, 1976.
Stapleton, Michael. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Mythology. London: The Hamlyn Publishing Group, 1978.