{"id":76851,"date":"2014-09-16T16:03:18","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T20:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=76851"},"modified":"2014-09-16T16:03:18","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T20:03:18","slug":"as-dolls-to-wanton-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/16\/as-dolls-to-wanton-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"As Dolls to Wanton Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"thedollshouse\"<\/a>

Detail from the cover of The Doll\u2019s House<\/em>.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

It is an anxious, sometimes a dangerous thing to be a doll. Dolls cannot choose; they can only be chosen; they cannot \u2018do\u2019; they can only be done by. Children who do not understand this often do wrong things, and then the dolls are hurt and abused and lost; and when this happens dolls cannot speak, nor do anything except be hurt and abused and lost. \u2015Rumer Godden, The Doll\u2019s House <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rumer Godden was preoccupied with dolls. In her many stories about dolls\u2014including\u00a0Miss Happiness and Miss Flower<\/em>, Little Plum<\/em>, Home Is the Sailor<\/em>, and, of course, The Doll\u2019s House<\/em>—we are presented with a cast of characters who are at the mercy of children. Some children are rough and wild; others are conscientious and intuitive. They are little gods, and the dolls are their playthings, and when they feel powerless in their own lives, it is the dolls who bear the brunt of this powerlessness. Godden wasn\u2019t the only author to recognize this essential dynamic\u2014The Velveteen Rabbit<\/em>, Hitty<\/em>, and later Toy Story<\/em> truck in the same themes\u2014but no one makes that reality as scary and lonely as she does.<\/p>\n

Of all\u00a0the books, The Doll\u2019s House<\/em> is perhaps the most sinister. We have Tottie, the stable peg doll; the doll father, who seems to suffer the aftereffects of a rough owner; the mother, who is made of celluloid and so somewhat dotty and scattered. And there is the evil, beautiful Marchpane\u2014more financially valuable in the real world than the others. The dolls are survivors who have found each other\u2014their relationships are resolutely asexual, by the way\u2014but their peace can be shattered by a gust of wind, a candle flame, a child\u2019s whim. It is scary stuff, and compelling, too. There is tragedy here, but even before the tragedy, there is menace.<\/p>\n

Of course this appeals to a child. Children are both dolls and masters; they know their powerlessness and need to understand their power. While the subject matter sounds sweet, it becomes a stage for something far darker.<\/p>\n

They made a film of The Doll\u2019s House<\/em>, and while I don\u2019t think it captures the charm of the book completely\u2014Tasha Tudor illustrated one version\u2014it is strange and forceful in its own right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is an anxious, sometimes a dangerous thing to be a doll. Dolls cannot choose; they can only be chosen; they cannot \u2018do\u2019; they can only be done by. Children who do not understand this often do wrong things, and then the dolls are hurt and abused and lost; and when this happens dolls cannot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[3618,12555,10828,15327,2368,15328],"class_list":["post-76851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-childrens-books","tag-childrens-literature","tag-dolls","tag-rummer-godden","tag-tasha-tudor","tag-the-dolls-house"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAs Dolls to Wanton Kids<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sadie Stein on author Rumer Godden and her preoccupation with dolls.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/16\/as-dolls-to-wanton-kids\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As Dolls to Wanton Kids by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 16, 2014 \u2013 It is an anxious, sometimes a dangerous thing to be a doll. 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