How does Thumbelina’s abduction and marriage to multiple animals throughout the story contribute to her lack of agency and her passivity?

What does marriage mean in terms of control over her life by others/patriarchal structures?

Source: “Straightening Agentic Women: The ‘Willful’ Princess in Contemporary Fairy-Tale Picturebooks.” - Rosalyn Borst

Source: “Willful Subjects” - Sara Ahmed

Thumbelina is a passive character, things happen to her in the story, not because of her

• A main part of her character is how her appearance lends itself to her being saved. 

• Ex: crying such that the readers feel pity when she is captured, using the word “poor” multiple times to make Thumbelina seem meek.

• She isn’t willful and doesn’t have the desire to break away and stand up for herself like how Borst and Ahmed describe

What is the consequence of willfulness?

• If Thumbelina doesn’t obey what her, essentially, captors tell her, then she will be forced to the elements and left helpless.

• Discuss the field mouse’s threats as an example

Subtopic 1: Retellings -

• In the poem Thumbelina Moves On we see a version of Thumbelina where she is independent and willful and is no longer accepting the fates that she is given. She pushes back against what other’s are saying. This depicts a version of a willful Thumbelina that isn’t present in the original/source.

Other animals are always trying to marry Thumbelina off because of how beautiful they think she is and how she’d make the “perfect bride”.

Examples of this are: the mother toad trying to force Thumbelina into marrying her toad son, the mayfly’s trying to marry her, and the mole. 

Karen E. Rowe’s Feminism in Fairy Tales discusses marriage in a number of stories, similar to Thumbelina. She talks about how marriage continues a pattern of removing control from the protagonist and subjecting them to a life of domesticity.

• “festive nuptials signify the heroine’s conformity to the socially dictated roles of wife and mother” (Rowe, 250)

• Marriage as a form of enchantment

Thumbelina could be viewed as someone who despite her situation, was kind and compassionate towards others and survived based on her morality, showing resilience.

Antifeminist counter argument → Thumbelina uses her resources and kindness to get help to try and save her from dire situations

Examples: surviving in the cold by building herself a shelter, helping and saving the swallow even when she wasn’t supposed to.

Thumbelina’s story shows a common trope of female protagonists being bystanders to their own story.

• This idea is dangerous as it insinuates that women’s roles and nature should be passive/submissive

• Recognizing the elements that make Thumbelina’s story problematic like the aspect of marriage, is important to better understanding and revealing truths about similar stories in the field of fairytales.