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Synopsis

The King was making his rounds around his kingdom. The King visits Lisas cottage. Lisas parentsbegan to praise Lisa and claim that she can bake the best pies in the world. In order to make himselfappear more important, Lisas father lies to the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. TheKing knows that his kingdom is poor, thus, the king called for the girl, shut her in a tower room with

straw and a spinning wheel, and demanded that she spin the straw into gold by morning or beexecuted. She had given up all hope, when a strange little man appeared in the room and spun strawinto gold for her in return for her necklace; then again the following night for her ring. But on thethird night, with nothing left, the strange creature spun straw into gold for a promise that the girlsfirst-born child would become his.

The greedy king was so impressed that he married Lisa, but when their first child was born, thestrange little man returned to claim his payment. The queen was frightened and offered him all the

wealth she had if she could keep the child. The strange little man refused but finally agreed to give uphis claim to the child if the queen could guess his name in three days. At first she failed. Later, Lisasparents follow the little man and see him dance around a small fire and they hear him say out loud,Tricks and riddles are my game, Rumpelstiltskin is my name.

Plot

(Introduction)

ExpositionThis is first stage of a fictional ordramatic plot, in which necessary

background information is provided.It introduces characters, scene, time,and situation

The King visits a cottage. The cottage belongs to Lisasparents. The King was lured by the smell of freshly bakedapple pie. Lisas parents praised Lisa in an attempt to makethe King marry their daughter. They tell the King that she

bakes the best pies in the world. To impress the King further,they also tell the King that Lisa can spin straw into gold. TheKing brings her to his palace and asks her to turn straw intogold. If she fails she will be beheaded.

(Action Starts)

Rising ActionThis is a set of conflicts and crises thatconstitute the part of a storys plotleading up to the climax.

Lisa sits and cries in the high tower. Then she hears

scratching noise. A strange little man appears and promises tospin the straw into gold in exchange of her necklace. The King

was impressed and takes her to another bigger room filledwith straw. The King asks her to turn the straw into gold. Ifshe fails she will be beheaded. That night the strange littleman appeared again and promises to spin the straw into goldin exchange for her ring. The King was impressed and takesher to another bigger room filled with straw. This time hepromises to marry her. Lisa has nothing else to offer to thelittle man. Her parents advised her to give whatever he asksfor. That night, when the strange little man appeared, shepromises her first born child.

Climax

This is the turning point of the actionin the plot of a story. The climaxrepresents the point of greatesttension in the work.

A year passed. Lisa is the queen and she has a baby boy. Thestrange little man suddenly appears and reminds her of herpromise. Lisa pleaded to the little man not to take her babyaway as she is willing to give him all her money. The little manrefuses but finally agrees to give her three days to guess hisname. She fails to guess his name on the first and second day.Lisas parents follow the little man and find out his name.

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Falling ActionIn the plot of a story, the actionfollowing the climax of the work thatmoves it towards its denouement orresolution.

On the third day, the little man comes to the nursery. Lisaguesses his name as Rumpelstiltskin.

The strange little man gets angry and stamps his feet hard on

the floor and disappears in a puff of smoke.

ResolutionThe ending of the story, the final stageor unraveling of the plot; usually very

brief. Here the tension is over, andunanswered questions may beexplained. The resolution is reachedfollowing a major crisis and climax.

Lisas baby boy is now safe. Lisas parents promises that theywill never boast again.

Setting

Place:

Cottage where Lisa lives with her parents. Castle where the King lives Nursery where Queen Lisa looked after the baby and where the strange little man appeared. Woods where the strange little man lives.Time:

Medieval Times The story is set at a time when people talked about magical creatures.

Characters:

Lisa: She is a young, sweet girl. She lives with her parents in a cottage. She loves to do householdchores such as baking. She is very obedient as she listens to her parents.

Rumpelstiltskin: A strange little man. He has magical powers. He is able to help Lisa by spinning thestraw into gold. He likes riddles. Rumpelstiltskin is a fairy tale character, not a real person.

The King: He is an opportunist. He uses Lisa to get him gold. He is rather cruel as he keep Lisa alonein a tower and he threatens to kill her if she cannot spin the straw into gold. However he is verygullible as he believes that straw can be turned into gold.

Lisas Father : He is rather foolish as he goes to far to boast about his daughter. He is also greedy ashe is willing to sacrifice Lisas life in order to get wealth. He was remorseful when he promised Lisathat he will not make the same mistake. Nevertheless, he is a loving father as he tries to solve theriddle for Lisa.

Lisas Mother: She is very proud of her daughter. She is kind hearted as she invites the King into herhouse and offers food. She is rather silly as she agrees with her husband that Lisa can spin straw intogold. She is also remorseful and promised never to boast again. It cannot be denied that she is aloving mother as she helps Lisa to solve the riddle.

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Themes

Telling lies

When people lie they are often trapped by their own deceit. In this story, claiming to be able to weavegold from straw got Lisa the attention of the king but also got her locked in a dungeon with a

haystack and a spinning wheel.

Using ones survival skills

Persistence pays off in the long run and to never give up. Lisa tried her best to find the answer to thestrange mans riddle. She did not give up.

Moral Values

We must be more careful of what we say, and think of the consequences.

Lisas father lied to the king, just to impress him. Lisa lost her head and promised something without realising the implications of her promise,

just to save herself. Rumpelstiltskin is so confident that the queen will not guess his name that he makes the

terrible mistake of saying it out loud.

Honesty and Integrity

We must always keep our promises. It is when we are able to keep our promises that people willrespect us. Although the King was greedy, he kept his promise to marry Lisa once she was able tospin the straw into gold. Even the strange little man kept his promise to Lisa when she was able toguess his name. He did not try to cheat her.

Point of view

Since this is a drama, the author uses the third person point of view. He is omniscient- this meansthat he knows everything in the story. However, the characters do think aloud when they arethinking. Thus, the readers are able to understand what the characters are doing.

Language and Style

The style of writing is very simple, uncomplicated and straightforward. The language is simplereflecting the lifestyle of the village people.

Literary Devices

Repetition Spin straw into gold

These words are repeated constantly throughoutthe story.

The writer wants to highlight the idea of spinningstraw into gold

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Cut off your head These words are also used with spin straw intogold. The King reminds Lisa that if she cannot spinstraw into gold, he will cut off her head.

Rhyme Page 81-

the rhyme scheme

is aa,bb

Sit and cuddle your darling son,

For tomorrow youll have none.

Riddles and tricks are my game.

You wont ever guess my name.

Page 83-

the rhyme scheme

is also aa,bb

Wife and family I have none.

But tomorrowIll have the Kings own son.

Tricks and riddles are my game,

Rumpelstiltskin is my name.

Tone and Mood

There are two contrasting tones. Firstly, there is an ordinary tone when the writer shows theordinary lifestyle of Lisas family. The second tone is the extraordinary tone. It is used whendescribing the events related to the King. It shows things that are magical. It shows the readers thatstraw can be spun into gold. It shows a mood of fantasy. The drama ends with a positive note that isalls well that ends well.