Before You Meet Prince Charming: Epilogue - Part One

I noticed while preparing for this post that the chapters of the book end BEFORE the Princess and Sir Valiant begin courting.  I suppose that's a stylistic choice based on the title of book and - perhaps - a dislike of ending on Chapter 13.

Personally, I'm still freaked out by the King's interpretation that Sir Valiant was asking to marry the Princess when Sir Valiant asked what qualities the King would be looking for in a suitor for the Princess.

Anyway, the King wanders off to tell the Princess that Sir Valiant, the King, and the Queen are all in favor of the Princess dating sorry, "courting" Sir Valiant.

As always, the Princess is off doing critically important stuff!

Returning from one of her frequent trips to the various villages where she joyfully and kindly met the needs of many who were fainthearted, poor, injured, and troubled. Today she had paid a special visit to her friend Maiden Flirtelia and had given counsel and encouragement to a girl named Simplicity whom she had met along the way. She also visited a sick mother and played with her children, gave some fabric to a needy family, and delivered a personal letter from her father to a village nobleman. The princess was learning again and again that it is more blessed to give than to receive. The more she delighted in her heavenly Prince, the more she wanted to share with others the fulfillment she had in Him. (pgs. 239, 241)

To recap, the Princess visited a friend, pontificated to a random kid who she'd never met before, provided minimal help to a sick woman, gave a raw material to another family and acted as a page.

 Whoo-hoo!  She managed to do two activities that Jesus wanted his followers in one afternoon.  That's a 40% return on her afternoon activities!

More seriously,  the Princess has power as a member of the Royal Family that she is squandering.  While not as powerful as a reigning monarch or the male heir to the throne, a sole daughter of marriageable age would have access to some money as well as great influence over the activities of noble families.  The Princess could be endowing orphanages,  establishing storehouses to supply goods to needy commoners or funding hospitals.  Instead, she's puttering around doing what she likes to do (e.g., play with kids) and giving away items she's finished as a hobby (e.g., fabric) and pretending that she's doing good works.

Notice as well that the Princess spends more time around children or alone than she does around people her own age or adults.  In my mind, that's an unconscious statement about the mental and emotional maturity of the Princess.

The King and the Princess meet somewhere out in the woods and walk to the castle together.  The King is noticeably distracted while the Princess talks about her day, but he brushes off her questions and changes the subject abruptly:

" My daughter"  he said, ignoring her questions, " what shall I say when one of the young men of the kingdom cometh to me to inquire about thy hand? There will be many young men at the summer contest. I would not be surprised to receive such request."

" Father, it seems that many young men seek only that which will bring pleasure or money. Some be good men, but they have not the vision for the greater tasks, nor are they willing to make the sacrifices that such tasks demand. Also, they often be proud and seek their own Glory."  She thought for a moment then continued, " it bothers me sometimes when I observe the young men in the kingdom. Do any understand the true battles of our day? Do any fight the good fight? It is this, not noble birth, that is true nobility." (pg. 241)

In real life, random commoners do not wander up to the King and ask to marry his daughter.  No.  Not going to happen.  Neither would the Princess so quickly dismiss noble birth.

Psst!  Princess!  Let me let you in on a little secret: sole bread-winners of ginormous, ever-growing families have to seek activities that bring in money all the time.  That's their main job in life besides keeping their wife pregnant yearly and being the spiritual leaders of the family.  When approached by a suitor, make sure he can bring in cold, hard cash unless you want to take a large drop in personal living standards.

The Princess derides the vision and sacrifices of the young men of the kingdom.  That's a hoot!  She lives in the lap of luxury - hell, half of the descriptions in the book read like a blurb from a linen sale catalog - but the only good she does for the community could be accomplished by an average 8 year old.  Pick up veggies for an old woman.  Play with the kids of a sick woman and orphans.  Hand fabric to a needy family.  Be a page for her father.  That's not the vision of an adult woman - so why should the readers trust her opinion of the young men of the kingdom?  I certainly don't.

Since the Princess has signaled so clearly that she'd court someone like Sir Valiant, the King continues to creep along:

Attempting to conceal his own enthusiasm, the king proceeded with another question. " My daughter, thou knowest the knight, Sir Valiant?"

The princess felt a shiver surge through her.  " Yes, thou knowest I have met him several times."

" What thinkest thou of him?" he asked calmly, rubbing his chin.

" Father, I have tried not to think of him --not because he is undesirable, but maybe because he is too desirable. I do not want to be distracted or consumed with that which is simply a dream." (pgs. 241-242)

The King has rough-rode over the Princess' thoughts, dreams and feelings through the entire book when he wasn't gaslighting her - but we are supposed to believe that he's suddenly concerned that he's unduly influencing the Princess towards Sir Valiant.  Nope, that's completely unbelievable based on everything we've seen so far in the book.

The Princess use of the word "several" should be changed to "twice in a few years plus that time I saw him announce a proclamation six years ago".   The Princess and Sir Valiant are strangers; it's way too late to try and white-wash that.

The last two paragraphs shows another insidious problem in Emo-Pure: single adults have been conditioned for years to "guard their hearts" and "keep every thought captive".  They can't instantly change that pattern of behavior even if the long-awaited suitor appears and passes inspection.

The next quote is one of the most telling in the book:

"But what thinkest thou of him?"  the king asked again.

"Of what I know he is true, he is kind-hearted, and... and he is becoming."  The princess tried to read the expression on her father's face, yet continued, " I have been impressed with everything I have seen of him. I have never talked with him at length, Father, but I have wanted to... How well do you know him?"

" Well, my fair one, your mother and I have been observing him and discussing his character. He indeed has conviction and is steadfast. He knows the battles we face and is the most zealous and faithful subject." (pg. 242)

The Princess has finally learned to parrot her father's beliefs and feelings about others back to him.

 That's the only conclusion possible for why the Princess is trying to read her father's expression while talking about the fact that she finds Sir Valiant attractive - and it's quite telling that she's mastered that immediately before she gets the reward of courtship/marriage.  Good girls who do not rock the boat by thinking, expressing unpopular opinions or having feelings get married; bad girls who do any of those things sit at home as old maids.

The main trait that the Princess knows about Sir Valiant is that he's hot.  The Princess has no way of judging Sir Valiant's "truth" or "kindness of heart" when they've met for less than two hours and have only ever exchanged small talk.   The King, on the other hand, knows that Sir Valiant says exactly what the King wants to hear.   Sir Valiant hasn't made any inroads against the Dragon or Giant that are "terrorizing" the country; I'm sure we'd have heard about that.  No, he's a good toady to the King.

Perhaps I'm being too hard on Sir Valiant.  After all, he's well on his way to moving from a random, nobody knight to heir apparent of the Kingdom.  Maybe he does have more vision than the King or the Princess.  I think Sir Valiant can see himself on the throne of the Kingdom quite clearly and gaining a conventionally beautiful, subservient, childish wife is a perk.   Most disturbingly, there's no one in the story who'd be able to see clearly enough to discern the difference between an ambitious, power-hungry usurper and a humble knight who wants to serve the Kingdom - except the Alligator who is kept on the edge of things.

After all of this, the Princess and Sir Valiant are officially courting - and I use the word officially because the King announces their courtship - or is it their engagement...Ms. Mally is very unclear about these things - at the end of the Ren-State Fair:

"Finally, he announced the news everyone was waiting to hear. Sir Valiant had won the heart of the princess! Not with talent or skill, not with words or money, not with bravery or nobility, but with a heart that was pure and a life that was true. The King was careful not to offend the other knights as he applauded the character and strength of Sir Valiant. Rather, he challenged and encourage everyone to follow the way of Truth, reminding them that God is always faithful to reward the righteous." (pg. 244)

*giggles*

 Nothing like damning by faint praise, King! Let us know how you really feel about Sir Valiant.  "He's unskilled, poor, cowardly and low-born, but hey, he's not given a hunk of his heart to anyone else, so I'm marrying him off to my daughter!"

Honestly, that's poor writing construction.  The purpose of that section is to demonstrate that Sir Valiant's most important quality is his pure heart and clean, brave living.  Stacking his skills first - "He guards the Kingdom from..... His bravery during.... His service to the Crown...." followed by "Above all of these things, his heart and life shines as an example (blah, blah, blah)".  Now, the same point is made - without making Sir Valiant sound like the town idiot.

In historical terms, this would be marked as the watershed moment that lead up to the fall of the house of the King.  The King has chosen his heir apparent to be a young, unconnected commoner who has accomplished nothing in defense of the Kingdom.  It doesn't matter how carefully the King tries not to offend the other knights; his actions speak far louder than his words - and implying that Sir Valiant is God's chosen due to his righteousness isn't going to go over well, either.

There is one last section in the book - a stilted conversation between the Princess and her husband SirValiant when they return from their honeymoon.  This is supposed to be inspiring - but I found it insipid, depressing and unnerving instead.