Dealing with Dragons

Cimorene is a princess of Linderwall, a “prosperous and pleasant” (1) but unremarkable place to live. Unlike her six older sisters, Cimorene is bored with her lessons and loathes her society’s expectations of “proper” behavior. She therefore asks the castle staff to train her in subjects that she finds more exciting, such as fencing, magic, Latin, cooking, economics, and juggling. However, each time she tries a new hobby, her father intervenes, claiming that the lessons aren’t proper.

When she is 16, Cimorene summons her fairy godmother to ask for help, but her fairy godmother will only help if Cimorene is in love. When Cimorene’s parents take her to a tournament, or “tourney,” in a neighboring kingdom, she realizes that they are arranging a marriage for her with Prince Therandil, who is earnest but dull. When she confronts her parents and declares that she does not like Therandil at all, they remain unmoved.

Cimorene goes directly to the prince, who admits that although he doesn’t want to marry her either, he doesn’t think that it is “right” to object to his father’s plans for him. After leaving the prince, Cimorene encounters a talking frog who helps her to brainstorm ways to avoid marrying Therandil.