Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women

Anodos’s first fairy encounter introduces the Realm of the Feminine and women as symbols of enlightenment and union with the divine. When Anodos looks into the eyes of his fairy grandmother, he thinks of the mother he never knew. From the beginning, women are absent from the real world—dead, locked away, unknown. He doesn’t know the names, much less the histories of his female ancestors. The implication is that women represent the magical/spiritual world that is a neglected part of Anodos’s history.

There are many women in the story, but none are drawn as real people. The role of women in the Hero’s Journey is to represent emotion and the spirit, while men represent reason and action. The first two women he encounters in Fairy Land are a maiden and mother, two-thirds of the maiden/mother/wise-woman triad. Later, he will meet the wise woman/crone. He will also encounter seductresses, “hags,” children, and muses. What he won’t encounter is any woman he will relate to as a person and an equal. 

The first part of Anodos’s story takes the form of the archetypal Hero’s Journey as he discovers the nature of Masculinity and Manhood. The fairy grandmother plays the role of herald, announcing the onset of Anodos’s quest. In terms of the Hero’s Journey, this is the Call to Adventure. Anodos then crosses the First Threshold when he enters the forest; in fairy tales, the forest represents chaos, change, and transformation. The hero leaves the static, civilized world to change.

The author gives a beautiful and detailed description in Chapter 2 of the transformation of Anodos’s room into a fairy meadow. The description evokes the sense of wonder so critical to the Romantics in their desire to find truth through emotion. Beginning with this description and continuing with Anodos’s journey into Fairy Land, MacDonald’s narrative reveals The Power of Imagination and Storytelling, which will continue throughout the story. Imagination and storytelling are central to the fantasy genre, of which this book is a precursor.

Cottages and other constructed habitations act as waystations in the story. At each waystation, Anodos receives wisdom from a woman or women. This wisdom first helps him to understand his previous adventure or to prepare for his next trial. The woman and daughter at the cottage between the four oaks are a source of wisdom for Anodos. The daughter warns him of the danger of the Ash spirit, and the mother tells Anodos that he must have fairy blood to have come so far into the wood. His fairy blood implies that Anodos already carries the spark of the divine as his birthright. This contradicts the creed in which MacDonald grew up—in which mankind is sinful by nature and salvation is the luck of the draw. MacDonald saw the potential for union with the divine in everyone.

MacDonald makes little of Anodos’s eating in Fairy Land. In folk tradition, visitors to Fairy Land are warned not to eat or drink anything while they are in the other world; when they do, they find that although only a short time passes in the fairy world, a year—or 100 years—may pass in the mundane world outside. Anodos voluntarily accepts food and drink, thus committing himself to his quest while he still doesn’t know exactly what he is looking for. Consequently, time does pass differently for Anodos than in the real world, but this works to his benefit. He experiences 21 years in Fairy Land and returns to find only 21 days have passed at home.

The scene in Chapter 3 with the flower fairies is in tune with the Victorian view of fairies as small and harmless. MacDonald uses this scene as an opportunity to reconcile the two views of the Fairies—the Victorian flower fairies and the older, more fearsome nature forces like Ash. The mother in the cottage describes the flowers as the children of the older, larger kind. The detail of the flower fairy scenes also creates an immersive universe. MacDonald enfolds the reader in the beauty that is the Romantic expression of truth and in the emotion that is the most authentic way to find that truth. The description of the Ash spirit is also beautiful in a strange way. MacDonald’s image is terrifying even by modern standards, and terror is another emotion—another path to the discovery of truth.

The reference to Sir Percival in the book which Anodos reads foreshadows the appearance of the knight in rusty armor, who is never named. Sir Percival’s encounter with the Alder woman is not part of the traditional Arthurian Cycle. It is particular to this novel and foreshadows Anodos’s own encounter with the Alder woman.

Anodos’s quest really begins with the release of the Marble Lady from her stone prison. Her beauty represents enlightenment and union with the divine, which Anodos has sought without knowing what he was looking for. He releases her, desiring to have her for himself, but merely releasing her is not enough. She flees from him because he must embrace and submit to enlightenment. It cannot be seized or taken.

Until now, Anodos has wandered Fairy Land, absorbing its beauty and being overcome by its terrors. His singing the lady awake is his first direct action. It is an impulse, and he hardly knows what he is doing, but his instinct toward beauty is an impulse in the right direction. His spontaneous song is the first indication that Anodos has some inborn power in this world. Music and imagination are both acts of creation that reflect the power of God inherent in his human creations.