KidLit Forum

From the preface we find that the "undersigned" author and Miss Bunch, the governess, "a lady of great fancy and droll imagination" composed together the story "The rose and the Ring" to serve as a "Fireside Pantomime" for the children.

I think this pantomime has a very complex plot, with a lot of very defined characters; we also deal here with a intrusive and ironical narrator that wields a very fine vocabulary, especially in describing the characters (like in "Vanity Fair").
Here the narrator shows the king in a very human way: the king kind of liked the booze, and was very fond of material things, but he also had perfectly normal flaws: "'Where are my spectacles?" the Monarch exclaimed'. The portraits of Angelica, the king, the queen, Gruffanuff, are also very comical.
Another way to describe the characters, or their roles in the pantomime, at least for some of them, are their names: Captain Hedzoff, Lady Gruffanuff, etc. But some names represent flowers, vegetables or objects (mainly from Italian) maybe because they sound sophisticated.
The title represent two magical items that gave beauty and charm to the one who had them, given by the fairy Blackstick.
The motifs of the story are: The usurper king, the child lost in the woods, the uninvited fairy.
I found also a harmless discriminative remark "Count Hoggiarmo, whose helmet it took two strong negroes to carry"

What is very interesting in this pantomime is the ring which have magical power and all persons who wear it beautiful to everyone. First, the ring belonged to Prince Giglio’s mother and he gives the ring to Princess Angelica. But Angelica throws the ring out of the window and maid Rosalba finds it. He wears it and this fact makes Prince Bulbo and Giglio fall in love with her along with King Valoroso.
We observe that all the name are Italian and suggestive : Valoroso- clever, Angelica-angel, pure etc.