text:
The Magic Toyshop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This book should not be confused with Edmund Crispin's novel The Moving Toyshop.
The Magic Toyshop
First edition
Author
Angela Carter
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Genre
Literary fiction
Publisher
Heinemann
Publication date
1967
Media type
Print (hardback)
Pages
vi, 200 pp
ISBN
978-0-434-10950-0
The Magic Toyshop (1967) is a British novel by Angela Carter. It follows the development of the heroine, Melanie, as she becomes aware of herself, her environment, and her own sexuality.
Contents
[hide]
1 Plot summary
2 Film adaptation
3 Theatre
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Plot summary[edit]
The novel starts with Melanie stealing her mother's wedding dress and venturing out in the night into her family's property. However, on her way home, she realises she forgot the door key and is forced to climb up a tree to get back into her room, destroying the dress in the process. The next morning, Melanie learns of the unexpected deaths of her parents in a plane crash over the Grand Canyon, and she and her two siblings – Victoria and Jonathon – are moved to South London, to the care of her tyrannical uncle Philip, a bullish and eccentric maker of life-sized puppets and fantastical old fashioned toys. There, she meets her mute aunt Margaret, who is mistreated by and terrified of her husband and only converses through notes. She also meets Margaret's younger brothers Francie, a fiddler, and the rakish Finn. At first, Uncle Philip ignores Melanie and her siblings as they are introduced to his bizarre puppet shows and she is made to work selling toys in the toyshop. Meanwhile, Finn and Melanie grow closer until he takes her to a park which is the ruins of the National Exhibition of 1852. There, after seeing a worn, fallen statue of Queen Victoria and walking across a chess board (only on the white squares), Finn kisses Melanie. She feels intruded on by the gesture, imagining it to be romantic only as an observer from far away. The kiss begins Melanie's conflicted feelings of attraction toward Finn.
At another puppet show, Finn fails to control his puppet and is thrown to the floor by Uncle Philip, who despises him. Satisfied that Finn shall never be adept at working the puppets, Uncle Philip devises a new plan, drafting Melanie to perform with the puppets. Philip assigns Finn to teach Melanie how to act on stage for the future show. During this time, Melanie notices a difference in Finn's behaviour. Whereas before he had been subtly rebellious, he now seems depleted of all resistance and resigned to Philip's control. Finn also becomes even more physically dirty than before. However, Finn's opposition to Philip returns when he refuses to make love to Melanie, as he considers this to be part of Philip's machinations.
Soon the day of the puppet show arrives. Melanie appears on stage in a white dress. Philip has arranged for Melanie to play Leda as she is raped by the god Jove in the guise of a monstrous swan. However, the play is not successful, as Melanie struggles to beat off the swan. As she scrambles to escape the swan puppet, Finn calls for the end of the show. In a rage, Philip slaps Melanie and accuses her of ruining his show.
Shortly after the show, Uncle Philip goes on a business trip, taking Jonathon with him and leaving the rest of the family alone at the house. Finn decides to destroy Philip's puppet swan and buries it in the park next to the fallen Queen Victoria. He returns home and crawls into bed with Melanie. She comforts him and arrives at the realisation that they will someday marry and have children, leading a poor, constrained life together. Finn reaches a sort of epiphany about his life and decides to wash and not tolerate Uncle Philip's hegemony any more, something exemplified when Finn sits in Uncle Philip's seat at the dinner table. After a somewhat drunken evening, Melanie learns that Margaret and Francie have been having an incestuous relationship.
Suddenly Uncle Philip returns, discovering the infidelity of his wife and the rebellion of his household. In a tremendous rage, he sets the house on fire. Margaret finally speaks as she urges Finn and Melanie to escape. They do so just in time, running outside the house and turning to watch the floors of the house collapse in fire. They realise now that their old world is destroyed and, for better or worse, all they have left is each other.
Film adaptation[edit]
The novel was filmed in 1987. It was produced by Steve Morrison and directed by David Wheatley. It was adapted for the screen by the author, Angela Carter, and starred Tom Bell, Caroline Milmoe, Killian McKenna, Patricia Kerrigan, and Lorcan Cranitch. Her collection, The Curious Room: Plays, Film Scripts and an Opera, contains Carter's script for the adaptation. The script and the film are discussed in Charlotte Crofts' book, Anagrams of Desire, drawing on an interview with director, David Wheatley.
Theatre[edit]
The World Premiere of The Magic Toyshop was in Cardiff, UK. An adaption for the stage was written by Alan Harris and directed by Sita Calertt-Ennals. This risky, edgy piece conveyed the same story as the novel.
See also[edit]
British literature
Magical realism
References[edit]
Charlotte Crofts (2003), Anagrams of Desire: Angela Carter's Writing for Radio, Film and Television (Manchester University Press)
Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 94. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.
AQA English Literature Exam (2010)
External links[edit]
The Magic Toyshop on IMDb
[show]
v
t
e
Works by Angela Carter
Novels
Shadow Dance
The Magic Toyshop
Several Perceptions
Heroes and Villains
Love
The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman
The Passion of New Eve
Nights at the Circus
Wise Children
Short fiction
Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces
The Bloody Chamber
The Bridegroom
Black Venus
American Ghosts and Old World Wonders
Burning Your Boats
Dramatic works
The Curious Room
The Holy Family Album
Children's books
The Donkey Prince
Comic and Curious Cats
Non-fiction
The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography
Film adaptations
The Company of Wolves
The Magic Toyshop
Related
Anagrams of Desire
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Magic_Toyshop&oldid=807414218"
Categories:
1967 British novels
Novels by Angela Carter
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize-winning works
British magic realism novels
Heinemann (publisher) books
British novels adapted into films
Hidden categories:
EngvarB from September 2013
Use dmy dates from September 2013
Pages to import images to Wikidata
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Italiano
Edit links
This page was last edited on 27 October 2017, at 19:59.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

value: dd

value: dl

value: caption

attrs: colspan style

value: th

values:
/wiki/Heinemann_(book_publisher)
mw-redirect
Heinemann (book publisher)

values:
/wiki/Female_sexuality
mw-redirect
Female sexuality

values:
/wiki/Magical_realism
mw-redirect
Magical realism

values:
/wiki/Advent_(publisher)
mw-redirect
Advent (publisher)

values:
nofollow
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097806/
external text

values:
/wiki/Love_(Angela_Carter_novel)
mw-redirect
Love (Angela Carter novel)

values:
/wiki/Comic_and_Curious_Cats
mw-redirect
Comic and Curious Cats

values: nowraplinks collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values: Category:John Llewellyn Rhys Prize-winning works

values: Category:British novels adapted into films

values: Category:Use dmy dates from September 2013

values: Category:Pages to import images to Wikidata

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/The_Magic_Toyshop
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-The_Magic_Toyshop rootpage-The_Magic_Toyshop skin-vector action-view