The king was so adamant about the story of her wife. He could not allow the queen to know about her. This is because he himself was pretending to be unsure about the existence of his wife. However, through the trout the queen had information about the existence of the first wife. The king’s denial of the whereabouts of his wife was a lie. This is because he used to meet her privately. Through refusal, he did not want the queen to meet his first wife. However, with the information from the trout, the queen was satisfied of the king had another wife. Thus, she set up a plan that would enable her meet the daughter. In this context, the challenge from the trout inspired the queen to create a strategy that would assist her discover the whereabouts of the king’s daughter. The trout insisted that the queen has tried so many times to meet the king’s fits wife but she has never succeed. This move signify the convincing power of a boy. Despite being a trout, he influenced the queen to pursue the existence of the first wife.
Similarly, the king’s secret about the whereabouts of her wife is a representation of a man’s unfaithfulness. Despite the queen being sure the wife was alive, he could not challenge the king about his decisions. He continually insisted that he had no idea about the wife. However, what would make a king hide his daughter from the queen? Furthermore, why was the queen so much eager to meet the wife? Similarly, how did the trout know about the location of the wife? In answering these questions, the king was trying to preserve his identity and ego as a man. He did not want the queen to beware about his prior marriage life. The king seemed to very conservative and thus he couldn’t allow the queen to meet the daughter.
Despite all the efforts the king had employed to bar the queen from seeing the wife, she finally developed a plan. She send her maids through the kings’ banner to deliver a box to the first wife (Tartar 297). In this context, the article shows the power of the king. The queen had no channel to reach the wife except through the king himself or his banner. Furthermore, the influence of the king is evident as the queen had to use a secret way to reach the daughter. However, the behavior or character of the daughter reveals the happiness in her when recognizes the king’s banner approaching home. This behavior shows how much the wife loved the king. She wanted to jump through the window or door so as to meet him quickly. The act shows that the king was a protector and he loved the wife. Besides, the act also exposes the king as a responsible husband. This is why the wife was happy in her presence and could do anything just to meet him.
The queen’s plan was successful since the box was delivered safely to the wife. However, his entire plan of capturing both king’s wife and all his three children failed. The wife opened the box while alone and fell dead and cold. Interestingly, the king was a wise man. He never buried the wife and decided to keep her in a coffin locked in a room. This presents the kings understanding and knowledge about his wife. It shows that he understood the wife better. The queen’s plan to meet the wife failed because she was locked in a room. The king was did not give the queen the key to the room where the wife was locked. This shows that king was dishonest. However, finally the queen discovers the wife and presents her to the king.
This article exposes the men or boys as dishonest and unfaithful. The king had a private relationship with the first wife but lied to the queen the she had died (Tartar 265). Besides, the king was not ready for the queen to meet the first wife. Thus, being a boy means being unfaithful, secretive, powerful, influential, dishonest and wise. Furthermore the act of the boy in stealing the key shows that being a boy is to be clever and intelligent.
Works Cited
Tatar, Maria. The classic fairy tales. New York: Norton, 1999.
