Analysis of E. Hoffmann's fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King"

Queen Mary's Dolls' House is the largest, most famous and beautiful dolls' house in the world. It was created under the direction of leading British architect Edwin Lutyens from 1921 to 1924, and features the work of 1,500 of the finest artists, craftsmen and manufacturers of the early 20th century.

The idea for the house was proposed by Marie Louise, cousin of George V, Queen Mary's husband. And despite the fact that the queen was 57 years old when she received this gift, the surprise came to court. Queen Mary was an avid collector of miniature trinkets. The prototype of the miniature masterpiece was Buckingham Palace.
Many items in Queen Mary's House are replicas of the furniture and accessories of Windsor Castle. The interior details constantly remind you that this is not just a rich house, but a royal residence. In the salon there are two silver thrones standing side by side, a collection of leather document boxes with “The King” embossed in gold on each one in the library and, of course, a specially equipped safe room for storing royal jewelry

Have you read Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "How Watson Learned the Trick?" In it, Dr. Watson attempts to use the deductive method. But why is the story so short? That's because it was intended for the library of Queen Mary's Doll's House.

The author himself wrote 500 words of his work into a miniature book. Other modern authors Chesterton, Kipling, Maugham, Joseph Conrad, Whit Sackville-West and others wrote short stories and poems especially for the miniature library. Only Bernard Shaw refused to make a contribution to the education of dolls - he did not like such eccentricities

Everything in this palace is real and functional. There is electricity and running water with cold and hot water here. Everything works from elevators to drain barrels. In one of the rooms there is a specially made authentic Zinger sewing machine; a Cartier clock decorates the living room and shows the exact time; in the garage there are genuine Rolls-Royces, a tiny gramophone plays records, and a piano plays.

The lodge also has a dressing room for the royal dress and miniature royal regalia with real diamonds.

In the dining room there is a silver dinner service made by Garrad, and Webb made the glasses. Queen Mary's doll's house even had a wine cellar. The bottles were blown by Whitefriars Glass Co. Women filled the bottles with wine; it was believed that women had a steadier hand. The bottles reached 1.25 cm in height and were sealed with cork and sealing wax, with labels that were copies of the original ones and those reduced using microphotography.

Wine Vault.

The impressive wine cellar was created by Berry Bros of St James's, London, founded in 1698. The business of this oldest English company began with the trade of tea, coffee and exotic spices; it later became a supplier of wine to the Royal Court and in 1903 received its first Royal Order (the company has two in total) from King Edward VII. It is not surprising that the doll's house wine cellar is a unique collection consisting of more than 1,200 varieties of champagne, wines, spirits and beer.

The house is equipped with the latest technology of the time. There is electricity, running water, and working elevators. In the garage there are luxury cars Daimler limousine, Rolls Royce, and Silver Ghost s1923 - a luxurious seven-seater limousine with working engines.

The interiors of the royal house are decorated with the Royal Coat of Arms of Great Britain. One of the most luxurious is at the head of the bed in the king's bedroom.

The armorial shield is of Gothic form, surrounded by a garter ribbon and embroidered on it with the motto of the Order of the Garter "Honi soit y mal y pense" (French: "Shame on him who thinks evil of it") on both sides supported by a crowned lion, personifying Scotland and chained unicorn, symbol of Wales. Below is the motto of the British monarch: "DIEU ET MON DROIT" (French: "God and my right").

In the queen's bedroom there is a famous gramophone on which you can play records.

bathroom.

Between the royal bedrooms is a luxurious full bathroom. The bathroom is finished in green marble. As in all 5 bathrooms of the house, there is a running water supply with hot and cold water, the toilets are equipped with flush mechanisms, and even miniature toilet paper is not forgotten.

Kitchen.

Queen Mary's Doll's House houses a unique collection of paintings and graphics. Many of the miniature paintings are by famous artists, including Sir William Orpne, Sir Alfred Munnings, Sir William Nicholson and Ambrose McEvoy, who made a copy of the portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the Dining Room by the German artist Franz Xavier Winterhalter in 1846. These ceremonial portraits adorn the Puppetry's dining room Houses.

The house was completed in 1924 - 11 weeks before the International British Empire Exhibition, where it became the main exhibit and attracted more than 1.6 million visitors. In 1925, it was shown at the “Ideal Home” exhibition, after which it was moved to a room specially equipped for it at Windsor Castle, where it remains to this day.

On the twenty-fourth of December, Fritz and Marie, the children of medical adviser Stahlbaum, are sitting in the bedroom waiting for Christmas gifts, installed along with the Christmas tree in the hallway. The girl is looking forward to a wonderful present from her godfather - senior court adviser Drosselmeyer, who every year makes another unusual toy, but understands that gifts from mom and dad are better, since they are not taken away immediately after the holiday. Older sister Louise assures the little ones that the Christ Child will make sure that they are given the most desired toys.

Present

Under a large, magnificently decorated Christmas tree, Marie finds many elegant dolls, toy dishes and a silk dress. Fritz receives a new bay horse and a squadron of hussars for Christmas. Godfather Drosselmeyer gives the children a wonderful castle with moving gentlemen, ladies and a small senior court adviser. Children watch the toy for a while, but then they get bored with it.

Favorite

Marie notices under the tree a modestly standing, dandy-looking little man, bought by his father for cracking nuts. She takes him under her wing, putting the smallest nuts in his mouth. Fritz, on the contrary, forces the Nutcracker to crack only hard and large nuts, which leads to the loss of three teeth and the lower jaw of the toy to sag. Marie hides the patient from Fritz in her handkerchief. The father forbids the boy to touch the Nutcracker. The girl ties up the Nutcracker's injured jaw with a white ribbon from her dress and cradles the wounded man all evening.

Miracles

In the doll's room, on the bottom shelf of the glass cabinet in the living room, Marie is having a tea party with a new doll named Clerchen. When her parents and Fritz go to bed, she asks the new toy to give way in bed to the sick Nutcracker. At twelve, quiet whispering begins in the living room. The wall clock wheezes. Marie sees godfather Drosselmeyer instead of an owl. Mice appear in the room. The Mouse King emerges from under the floor - a huge mouse with seven heads, each of which is decorated with a small luminous crown. The mouse army is moving towards the girl clinging to the glass cabinet. Marie breaks the door with her left elbow. Mice run into holes. The closet begins to glow. Vanity begins in it. The Nutcracker calls on his faithful followers to fight the mice. Clerchen catches him in her arms and asks him to refrain from fighting until he is completely recovered. The Nutcracker refuses the sash offered by the doll, pointing to the ribbon given to him by Marie.

Battle

The Nutcracker orders the drummer to beat the general advance. Fritz's troops set out on a campaign. Pantalone is appointed general. The mice suffer losses from sugar jelly beans and round gingerbread cookies and fire silver pills at the enemy. As they begin to gain victory, Nutcracker commands a retreat on the right flank. The left flank, consisting of surprise dolls, also begins to suffer losses over time. The reserve of gnomes quickly gives up - the mice gnaw their legs. Klerchen and Trudchen faint. When two enemy archers cling to the Nutcracker's cloak, and the Mouse King aims his seven heads at him, Marie takes off the shoe from her left foot and throws it at the latter. The mice run away. The girl loses consciousness.

Disease

Marie comes to her senses in bed. The room is flooded with bright sunshine. The girl finds surgeon Wendelstern next to her. Mom scolds Marie for her self-will and talks about how she found her, bleeding, at midnight among scattered toys, with the Nutcracker in her left hand and without one shoe. The medical adviser and surgeon Wendelstern consider the girl's story about the battle between mice and toy soldiers to be a fever caused by a wound.

Marie spends several days in bed. Mom reads fairy tales to her in the evenings. One day, godfather Drosselmeyer visits the girl. Marie accuses him of being an owl, turning off the clock and calling the Mouse King into the living room. The senior court adviser sings the watchmaker's song to the goddaughter and gives the cured Nutcracker. He asks Marie not to worry about the mice and offers to tell her a story.

The Tale of the Hard Nut

Little Princess Pirlipat was a very beautiful girl - the favorite of her parents and the entire royal court. By order of the queen, the baby's cradle was guarded by six nannies with cats, who were ordered to pet them all night long so that they would purr. Once a holiday was held in the palace with tournaments, feasts and balls, to which all the surrounding kings and princes gathered. The Queen personally began making sausages, the king’s favorite delicacy. Myshilda, who lived in the palace, asked her for some salsa. The queen agreed to treat her “sister” by rank, but the mouse brought with her numerous relatives, who almost ate all the lard. The Chief Chamberlain drove away the uninvited guests. At the sausage feast, the king, who did not find enough lard in the sausage, fell into depression. The Queen threw herself at his feet and told him about Myshilda. The king decided to take revenge: he took the queen of mice from her possessions and ordered the court wizard and watchmaker Drosselmeyer to find a way to finally expel the impudent creature from the palace. The latter came up with skillful machines, which caught Myshilda’s seven sons and numerous relatives. The mouse queen left the palace in grief, but not before threatening to bite the princess to death.

Continuation of the tale of the hard nut

One night, when all the nannies and cats fell asleep, Myshilda turned the beautiful princess into an ugly one. Drosselmeyer was ordered to return Pirlipat to its previous appearance within a month. Together with his friend, the court astrologer, he found out that this could be done using the kernel of the Krakatuk nut, which should be presented to the princess in a special way - by a young man who had never shaved or worn boots.

The end of the tale of the hard nut

Drosselmeyer and the astrologer traveled around the world for fifteen years in search of the Kratkatuk nut. Longing for their native Nuremberg, they returned home. Drosselmeyer's cousin, toy maker Christoph Zacharius, discovered the required item in his workshop. His son Handsome Nutcracker cast a spell on Princess Pirlipat, but on the seventh step he tripped over Myshilda and turned into an ugly toy. Pirlipat refused to marry the Nutcracker. Drosselmeyer and the astrologer were expelled from Nuremberg.

Uncle and nephew

Marie takes the tale told by her godfather seriously.

Victory

The Mouse King blackmails Marie. First, the girl gives him her jelly beans and marzipan, then some pretty sugar dolls. Fritz offers to take the baker's cat for the night, and his father suggests setting up a mousetrap. The Mouse King demands picture books and a new Christmas dress from Marie. The girl complains to the Nutcracker that soon she will have nothing to give to the blackmailer except herself. The toy comes to life, asks you to get her a saber and not worry about anything. The next night, the Nutcracker kills the Mouse King and presents Marie with seven golden crowns.

Puppet kingdom

The Nutcracker promises to show Marie many wonders. He leads the girl to an old wardrobe. Following her father's fox fur coat, she ends up in Candy Meadow. Through the Almond and Raisin Gate, through the Christmas Forest with sugar shepherdesses and shepherdesses, along the Orange Creek, which flows into the Lemonade River, flowing into the Almond Milk Lake, past the Gingerbread Village, located near the Honey River, through Confetenhausen, Marie and the Nutcracker come to the Pink Lake.

Capital

Through the Candied Grove the heroes find themselves in Confetenburg. In the Marzipan Castle, Marie is received by four beautiful princesses. The girl helps the Nutcracker's sisters pound caramels in a golden mortar and falls asleep.

Conclusion

Parents laugh at their daughter's dream. As proof of her rightness, Marie shows the seven crowns of the Mouse King. Parents scold their daughter and ask her to tell her where she got them? Godfather Drosselmeyer helps the girl out, saying that this is his gift for her second birthday. One day, Marie admits to her godfather that she would never have rejected the Nutcracker because of his ugliness. There is a crash. The girl falls from the chair. Drosselmeyer's nephew appears at the Stahlbaums' house. He proposes to Marie and a year later takes her to the Doll Kingdom.

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Analysis of Hoffmann's fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King"

The idea for "The Nutcracker" was born as a result of Hoffmann's communication with the children of his friend Yu.E.G. Hitzig - Marie and Fritz (it’s not for nothing that the fairy tale heroes bear their names). The writer often made toys for them for Christmas, and among them could well be the so-called Nubknacker.

Directly translated, the German word Nubknacker means “nut cracker.” Hence the ridiculous names of the first Russian translations of the fairy tale - “The Rodent of Nuts and the King of Mice”, or even worse - “The History of Nutcrackers”, although it is clear that for Hoffmann these are clearly not tongs at all. The Nutcracker was a popular mechanical doll of those times - a soldier with a large mouth, a curled beard and a pigtail at the back. A nut was put into the mouth, the pigtail twitched, the jaws closed - crack! - and the nut is cracked.

In The Nutcracker it is not difficult to see the duality of the plot characteristic of Hoffmann. You can believe in the wonderful events that happen in it, or you can easily attribute them to the fantasy of a girl who has been playing too much, which, in general, is what all adults do.

Speaking about composition, we note the presence of strong compositional positions, which traditionally include the beginning and ending of the text. The beginning is like an invitation to conversation, the ending is like a peak, allowing you to review what you read in a new way. Thus, the Christmas atmosphere set at the beginning of “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.T.A. Hoffmann, leaves a special imprint on the entire development of the plot. The fairy tale is built on the principle of “a story within a story”, which are connected by two characters - master Drosselmeyer and his nephew, young Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg. In the foreground, in the present tense, the story unfolds before the reader's eyes about how Marie, the daughter of the medical adviser Stahlbaum, saves the enchanted Nutcracker

young Drosselmeyer. Interspersed with this story is a story from the past about how young Drosselmeyer turned into the Nutcracker freak - the tale of the hard nut Krakatuk and Princess Pirlipat.

From the very first chapter you are immersed in a mysterious, enigmatic, fantastic world. You read a fairy tale, and your imagination pictures a Christmas table, all filled with wonderful gifts, a festive tree, a little girl Marie, a fairy-tale lake with beautiful swans. You anxiously flip through the pages that describe the battle between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker. The main characters of the work are Marie, the Nutcracker, Drosselmeyer and the Mouse King. Marie is a little girl of about seven years old, smart, kind, brave and determined. She is the only one who understood and loved the Nutcracker, who saw an honest and noble heart behind the unsightly appearance. Marie's love is selfless. Saving the Nutcracker during the battle, she, dying of fear, threw a shoe at the mice, and then, crying, gave them her favorite sugar dolls, as long as they didn’t touch them.

The story of Marie and the Nutcracker completes and “mirrors” the story of Pirlipat and the Nutcracker. The evil fairy Myshilda turned the beautiful Pirlipat into an ugly monster. Young Drosselmeyer cracked the Krakatuk nut for the princess, eating the kernel of which, she returned to her appearance as a beauty. But the evil Myshilda turned the young man into a freak Nutcracker for this. According to the promise of the king, the princess's father, the hero who would break Pirlipat's spell was to receive her hand and the kingdom. However, when the poor young man appeared before the rescued princess in all his ugliness, “the princess covered her face with both hands and shouted:

“Get out of here, you nasty Nutcracker!”

Marie saw the Nutcracker in the form of a funny and not very foldable toy. “Looking carefully at the nice little man who fell in love with her at first sight, Marie noticed how good-natured his face shone.” Suddenly caught in a whirlpool of magical

events, Marie saved the Nutcracker and helped him defeat the Mouse King. She learned that the Nutcracker is the king of a magical doll country. Having heard her godfather's story about the Krakatuk nut, Marie realized that the Nutcracker was the enchanted young Drosselmeyer. She

continued to believe in this when everyone around was laughing at her. One day Marie burst out loud: “Oh, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer, if you really lived, I would not reject you, like Princess Pirlipat, because because of you have lost your beauty!” After this phrase, she suddenly lost consciousness, and when she woke up, she found out that Drosselmeyer’s young nephew had just come to visit the Stahlbaums from Nuremberg (that is, the Nutcracker had returned to his human appearance). He thanks Marie and asks her

hands. The tale ends with a story about their wedding a year later and that “Marie, as they say, is still the queen in a country where, if only you have eyes, you will see sparkling candied fruit groves, transparent marzipan castles everywhere - in a word, all sorts of miracles and curiosities.” In literary works, the fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” is an intricate variation on the theme of the famous fairy tale motif “Beauty and the Beast”. The Beauty and the Beast storyline typically involves three characters: the beauty heroine, the beauty's father, who brings the beauty into the story, and the monster, who turns out to be the bewitched prince and is saved by the beauty.

In The Nutcracker, the first storyline revolves around Marie, her godfather-adviser Drosselmeyer, and the Nutcracker, the enchanted young Drosselmeyer. In the second storyline - the tale of the Krakatuk nut - Princess Pirlipat, her father-king, act (because of whom the whole story begins and who shifts its development to

court wizard Drosselmeyer), Drosselmeyer (involved in the story, further occupying the position of the father and, in turn, involving his nephew, young Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg) and young Drosselmeyer in the story.

Hoffmann, with his characteristic virtuosity and humor, plays with the “beauty and the beast” scheme. The beautiful Pirlipat turns into a monster. Young Drosselmeyer (in the position of a “handsome hero”) dispels the spell of the monster Pirlipat. For this, Myshilda turns him into a freak toy (the “monster” position). Beauty Pirlipat

should have saved him in return, but she banishes him. Marie (in position

"beautiful heroine") finds the Nutcracker ("monster") and disenchantes him.

The beauty of Pirlipat is external. The first thing that is told about the princess in the fairy tale is that the king gave birth to a beautiful daughter, and then her lily-white face, azure eyes and golden hair are described. The fairy tale shows that external beauty is unreliable and ungrateful.

There is no description of Marie’s appearance during the tale, almost until the very end, because it doesn’t matter. The beauty of Marie and young Drosselmeyer is internal, the beauty of the heart, which is saving and capable of working miracles. Shchelkinchik is described in the text"The large head looked ridiculous compared to the thin legs, and the cloak on the Nutcracker was narrow and funny, sticking out like it was made of wood, and on his head was a miner’s cap.” But the main thing in the Nutcracker is not his ugliness, but his inner world and his soul.

In the story of The Nutcracker, three different worlds come into contact and interact - the world of people, the world of mice and the world of dolls. The events of the tale take place at a specially designated time. The fairy tale begins with the words: “The twenty-fourth of December...”. Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve, is associated with the time of waiting for a miracle in the Christian tradition, and

Christmas itself is a time of miracles. The battle between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King takes place after the clock has struck 12, a time symbol associated with tasks, often twelve, that must be completed before the hero can be freed (similar to the twelve labors of Hercules,

For example).

The past (the story of Pirlipat and the Nutcracker) must be completed and resolved “when the time comes” - in the present (the time of the story of Marie and the Nutcracker). And in the present itself, two different times also coexist: day (the world of everyday life of the family of medical adviser Stahlbaum) and night (when mice and dolls act, witness and

in which Marie becomes a participant). All these worlds and times are connected by Christian Elias Drosselmeyer. In the past, he was a court watchmaker and wizard at the court of Princess Pirlipat's father. In the present, he is Marie's godfather, a senior court advisor, and a "great craftsman" who can repair watches and create amazing mechanical gifts for his friends. Both in the past and in the present, and among people and among dolls, Drosselmeyer acts as a master of time and miracles.

The image of Drosselmeyer manifests itself as both a good and an evil principle. Often he is embodied in the guise of a person - a wizard, an old man, a storyteller, sometimes in the form of supernatural creatures - for example, gnomes, elves, goblin, etc., in a number of fairy tales - in the guise of a magical animal that behaves and talks like a person .

Usually the “spirit” appears when the hero is in a desperate situation and could not get out of it without some additional knowledge or idea (which, according to Jung, are “spiritual functions”).

In full accordance with this, Master Drosselmeyer first appears in The Nutcracker as “a little dark man with a large box under his arm,” slipping through the Stahlbaums’ hallway on Christmas Eve. In the form of a small doll man, Drosselmeyer appears and disappears through the doors of the doll castle he made for Marie and Fritz. It is he who Marie unexpectedly sees sitting on the clock instead of an owl before the battle of dolls and mice. Drosselmeyer tells Marie a fairy tale about Princess Pirlipat and, as it were, “leads” her through the events: “Ah, dear Marie, you have been given more than me and all of us. You, like Pirlipat, are a born princess: you rule a beautiful, bright kingdom. But you will have to endure a lot if you take the poor freak Nutcracker under your protection! After all, the mouse king guards him on all paths and roads.

Know: not me, but you, you alone can save the Nutcracker. Be steadfast and faithful."

There are also magical objects in Hoffmann's tale: Marie's slipper and the Nutcracker's saber. Hoffmann disposes of them in his own way. The heroine is associated with magical objects. At the tragic moment of the battle, Marie, in order to save the Nutcracker, throws her shoe into the thick of the mice, right at the king, and this decides the outcome of the battle. When asked by Fritz, Marie's brother, about

As to why the Nutcracker, whom Drosselmeyer repaired, does not have a saber, he grumbled angrily: “The Nutcracker’s saber does not concern me. I cured him - let him get himself a saber wherever he wants.” The Nutcracker will ask Marie for a saber, and she will find him a saber, with which he will then kill the Mouse King.

The beauty is a person from the real world, the monster is a creature from the conventional, fairy-tale world, who, thanks to the beauty, will return to the real world. In a state of "monster"

his gender can generally be defined as “it”. When the beauty takes pity on the monster, accepts him in his ugly form and voluntarily admits out loud her affection and love for him and they are united in marriage, the circle is closed - the two are united into one. This is precisely the traditional ending of many fairy tales. And that is why humanity loves “happy endings” so much, stories with a happy ending that returns us to our origin, to integrity.

There is another couple in Hoffmann's fairy tale - the Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

In the fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” Hoffmann, like his character Drosselmeyer, clearly enjoyed talking about imaginary and real beauty, about how sheer nonsense (like throwing a shoe at mice) can have great consequences, and about How

Worlds and times coexist and intersect very close together. Accordingly, romance and parody are intertwined in Hoffmann’s text, creating a story intended for those who “have eyes” and who are able to see “...all sorts of wonders and wonders.”

The fairy tale ends with the victory of good over evil, hope over unbelief, patience over indifference. As a reward for everything, Marie not only becomes a friend of the Nutcracker, but also in real life meets the nephew of Councilor Drosselmeyer - her love. Thus, Goffman tells us that kindness, patience, care, sensitivity, courage, faith can defeat any evil and make a person truly happy.

Description of work

The idea for "The Nutcracker" was born as a result of Hoffmann's communication with the children of his friend Yu.E.G. Hitzig - Marie and Fritz (it’s not for nothing that the fairy tale heroes bear their names). The writer often made toys for them for Christmas, and among them could well be the so-called Nubknacker.
Directly translated, the German word Nubknacker means “nut cracker.” Hence the ridiculous names of the first Russian translations of the fairy tale - “The Rodent of Nuts and the King of Mice”, or even worse - “The History of Nutcrackers”, although it is clear that for Hoffmann these are clearly not tongs at all. The Nutcracker was a popular mechanical doll of those times - a soldier with a large mouth, a curled beard and a pigtail at the back. A nut was put into the mouth, the pigtail twitched, the jaws closed - crack! - and the nut is cracked.

It is difficult to find a more controversial artist in German romanticism than Hoffmann. Lawyer, composer, music critic, cartoonist, writer, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann is known for his romantic, fantastic and fairy-tale, often scary stories. Hoffmann's fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", published in 1816, is bright and festive.

Christmas tree

On December 24, before Christmas, the children of Councilor Stahlbaum - Marie and Fritz - were strictly forbidden to enter the room with the Christmas tree. Fritz, when it was completely dark, saw a small man running secretly into the rooms, holding a large box. Marie clapped her hands, and the children began to speculate what godfather Drosselmeyer would give them this time. Fritz dreamed of soldiers, and Marie dreamed of a beautiful lake with swans. But Fritz practically said that he liked his parents’ toys better because he could play with them, and adults put away his godfather’s gifts so that children wouldn’t break them. This is how Hoffmann begins the tale. “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, a brief summary of which will show that events will not go quite smoothly, will be considered by us further.

Present

In the evening, the doors opened for the children, and a Christmas tree, all hung with toys, shone in front of them.

There were dolls, hussars and a new dress that Marie definitely wanted to wear, and a horse on which Fritz was already galloping. But the children were solemnly brought to the table on which stood a castle made by Drosselmeyer. And the children quickly became bored: the dolls repeated the same movements all the time. They returned to their gifts. And then Marie saw the Nutcracker, who seemed simply wonderful to her.

Her father explained to her that the little man was cracking nuts. Marie began to choose the smallest ones so as not to break him, but Fritz chose the strongest and largest nut - krak, and three of the Nutcracker's teeth broke. Marie wrapped the poor man in a scarf and began to cradle him.

This is how Hoffman continues his story. “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (summary) tells the story that you just need to be able to love and care and not offend anyone.

Miracles

Before going to bed, as midnight was already approaching, the children put their toys in a closet with glass doors. Fritz quickly went to bed, and Marie asked permission to stay a little longer. She carefully put the Nutcracker in the crib and moved it to Fritz's shelf, with the hussars. And suddenly a quiet rustling and whispering began throughout the room. The clock came to life and struck twelve strokes dully and hoarsely. Marie chickened out when she saw that Drosselmeyer was sitting on the clock next to the owl. And giggling, running and stomping were heard from everywhere, and mice with glowing eyes crawled out from under the floor from all the cracks. These were countless hordes that lined up in strict order. And at Marie’s feet, breaking through the floor, a huge mouse with seven heads, on which were golden crowns, crawled out. This continues Hoffmann's tale. “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (we are reviewing a summary) is becoming more and more intense in terms of plot. Marie was very scared, but behind her she heard an order to form a platoon.

At the command of the Nutcracker, who was very handsome and sparkling all over, all the dolls went into battle for victory.

Battle

All the regiments stepped forward, the gunners fired. Jelly beans and gingerbread were flying at the mice. But the mice kept coming. Both armies fought fiercely. The mice began to gain more and more strength. The Nutcracker army retreated to the sofa. Mice clung to his cloak, and the mouse king jumped up to him. The situation was critical. Marie hit the mouse king by throwing her shoe at him and fainted. The fairy tale (Hoffmann) “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, a brief summary of it is presented here, makes you wonder what it is about?

Disease

In the morning, Marie woke up in her crib, and all her stories about the great battle between dolls and mice were taken for nonsense and illness.

Her godfather visited her and brought the Nutcracker, which he corrected, and told a fairy tale about how a lovely princess named Pirlipat was born, who was guarded by many nannies. In honor of the birth of the princess, a feast was held, to which Queen Myshilda appeared uninvited and ate all the lard intended for making sausages. Drosselmeyer, using the machines, promised to expel Myshilda from the palace forever. Many of the mouse queen's relatives died in them, and she promised to avenge them. Myshilda snuck into the princess's crib and - oh horror! - disfigured the beauty. On top of everything else, her mouth became huge, and she was cracking nuts all the time. To return it to its former appearance, it was necessary to chew and eat the Krakatuk nut.

But first he had to be found. Drosselmeyer's nephew not only found this nut, but also cracked it, and the princess, having eaten the kernel, became a beauty. But the young man himself turned into the Nutcracker. Myshilda died, but she was left with a seven-headed son. If the Nutcracker destroys it and a beautiful lady falls in love with him, then he will again become a handsome young man. The content of the book “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” encourages you to think about the many obstacles on the path of someone who wants to become a human.

Victory

And the mice behaved impudently at night. They chewed on Marie's toys and books. One night the mouse king climbed onto the girl's shoulder. But the Nutcracker, with the help of Marie, got hold of a saber, with which he destroyed the evil mouse king, and presented Marie with all his crowns. The Nutcracker led Marie through a doll's closet and a fox fur coat to the magical Land of Sweets. There was the Candy Meadow, the Orange Creek, and the Pink Lake, through which the dolphins brought Marie and the Nutcracker to the capital - Confetenburg. This is a truly magical good story - the content of the fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by Hoffmann.

Morning

Nobody believed that Marie had visited the Marzipan Castle and seen all sorts of miracles. About the crowns, the godfather said that this was his long-standing gift to Marie. And then the godfather’s handsome and pleasant nephew appeared, who presented Fritz with a new saber and Marie with a prick. He admitted to Marie that he was no longer the Nutcracker and invited her to leave for his country. A year later, he took her to a state full of miracles and wonders.

This ends the tale and its brief retelling. “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” written by Hoffmann, asks us many questions, for example, about why, as children, everyone rejoices and grieves directly and where does it all then disappear.

Queen Mary: lover of jewelry, not children

Queen Consort Mary, née Princess of Teck, was the wife of King George V, mother of Kings Edward VIII and George VI, and grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. She became a real personification of royal dignity and chic. In England there is something like a saying - “Love people and use things.” But Queen Mary understood it a little differently - she passionately loved beautiful things and used people. She always felt inspired when she saw a beautiful thing. At the same time, Mary was quite stingy.

She never particularly hid her passion for the beautiful and expensive; she said: “...They (beautiful things - author) always caress my eyes.”

She constantly replenished the royal collection with beautiful jewelry, furniture, items from the Faberge company, expensive watches, and boxes. The queen was not always ready to pay for numerous beauty: sometimes it all started with an insistent request, then it could turn to extortion, less often it came to theft (which, of course, was carefully hidden). It is not surprising that Queen Mary loved to visit India, where the maharajas gave her truly luxurious jewelry.

Princess Mary of Teck

The Queen often visited antique dealers and jewelers. They were truly afraid of her - and diligently hid their best things. If she especially liked some thing, she persistently hinted that she would like to receive it as a gift. Naturally, its owner had no other choice, and he gave this thing to the queen. Then the faithful driver took Mary’s next acquisition to the royal Daimler.

But there was a case when the queen met resistance. One day she stopped by for tea with Old Lady Hudson. The Queen particularly liked the old lady's chairs: they were upholstered in silk, which was hand-painted by Angelique Kauffman. Queen Mary hinted that these chairs would match a table that was in her collection. Without a shadow of a doubt, Lady Hudson smiled and continued the conversation without offering chairs to the queen. As time went. The Queen continued to drink tea; the sun had already set. But the queen gave no sign that she was going to leave. As time went. Finally, when the clock struck 9 (!) pm, Lady Hudson gave up. This is how Kauffman chairs ended up in the royal collection.

It is not known for certain, but there were rumors that if the queen did not receive the thing she liked, then she simply stole it.

Princess Mary's mother is Princess Mary, Duchess of Teck. She was nicknamed "Fat Mary" for her plumpness.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a person’s expensive belongings could easily determine his status - in this Queen Mary succeeded more than anyone else.

Mary was born into the family of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. The family was not particularly rich; Queen Victoria helped her relative, mother Mary. The family lived on their own, and when they were declared bankrupt, it infuriated Queen Victoria. The family already lived with the help of the queen - they occupied one of the apartments in Kensington Palace. To avoid scandal, the Tecks left London. Mary of Teck completed her education in Italy. Years passed and the family returned to London.

At this time, Queen Victoria was looking for a bride for her grandson, second in line to the British throne. Mary became the bride of Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence, but the groom died shortly before the wedding. Despite the opposition of Princess Alexandra of Wales, Mary married Prince George, Duke of York. They say that it was Queen Victoria who made this choice because she saw the potential of a queen in Mary. After the death of Edward VII in 1910, Mary became Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India.

Mary with her eldest children, the future kings, George VI and Edward VIII

Having become queen, Mary began to demonstrate to everyone the full potential of the queen that Victoria had once seen in her. She considered it her duty to outshine all the queens of her day. In this she tried to be so perfect that contemporaries noted that she gradually began to lose her humanity.

She always wore a tiara and jewelry to dinner every night, even if she dined exclusively with her husband. She loved decorations so passionately that she was said to look like a Christmas tree. There was even a joke about this at one time. At Lord Harewood's wedding, the short-sighted Mr. Foster bowed to a tall and lavishly decorated cake, mistaking it for Queen Mary...

King George V and Queen Mary

There is a known case when, having become a widow, Queen Alexandra did not want to give Mary the crown jewelry for her use. Her son and husband, George V, intervened and Mary received the jewelry. Her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, being Queen Consort, never managed to fully take possession of the crown jewels - even after the coronation of George VI, they remained in the use of Queen Mary...

Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary

Her stinginess even manifested itself in the fact that, in fact, while she was queen consort, the status of a lady-in-waiting at the royal court of Great Britain was practically abolished. This was done to save on the dowry for the girls, which they were supposed to receive from the royal court.

Mary was so absorbed in her royal dignity that she paid too little attention to her children. She entrusted numerous servants and governesses to take care of them. She did not kiss or hug her children, considering this a sign of weakness that diminished her dignity. The youngest child, Prince John, who was born disabled and epileptic, suffered especially from this. According to the memoirs of his governess, he was especially drawn to his mother, but was separated from his family and died at the age of 14...