A Little Princess is a work by British-American author Frances Hodgson Burnett, presented as a 1888 novella, a 1902 play and a 1905 children's novel. All three versions tell the story of Sara Crewe, a wealthy young girl and the prize student of a private London boarding school who is reduced to poverty and forced to endure the life of a servant under the school's cruel headmistress.
The story was first published as the novella Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's, which was serialized in St. Nicholas Magazine from December 1887, and published in book form in 1888. According to Burnett, after she composed the 1902 play A Little Un-fairy Princess based on this work, her publisher asked that she expand the story into a full-length novel with "the things and people that had been left out before".Wordsworth edition of A Little Princess. The novel was published by Charles Scribner's Sons (also publisher of St. Nicholas Magazine) with illustrations by Ethel Franklin Betts and the full title A Little Princess: Being the Whole Story of Sara Crewe Now Being Told for the First Time.
Plot summary
Captain Ralph Crewe, a wealthy English widower, has been raising his only child, a beautiful daughter named Sara, in India where he is stationed with the British Army. Because the Indian climate is considered too harsh for their children, British families living there traditionally send their children to boarding school back home in England.
The Captain enrolls his seven-year-old daughter at an all-girls boarding school in London and pays the haughty headmistress, Miss Minchin, for special treatment and exceptional luxuries for Sara. Miss Minchin openly fawns over Sara but secretly resents her (as she does all her rich pupils) and is eager to milk her for as much money as she can.
Intelligent, imaginative and kind, Sara sees through Miss Minchin's flattery and remains unspoiled; she embraces the status of a 'princess' accorded by the other students and lives up to it with her compassion and generosity. She befriends Ermengarde, the school dunce; Lottie, an undisciplined four-year-old student given to tantrums; and Becky, the stunted scullery maid.
Four years later, Sara's eleventh birthday is celebrated at Miss Minchin's with a lavish party. Just as it ends, Miss Minchin learns of Captain Crewe's unfortunate demise due to jungle fever. Furthermore, his estate is bankrupt due to the captain's failed investments in diamond mining. Preteen Sara is left an orphan and a pauper with nowhere to go, while Miss Minchin is left with a sizable debt for Sara's school fees and luxuries. Infuriated and pitiless, yet aware of the reputational damage to the school if she turns Sara out, the miserly headmistress strips Sara of all her possessions except for her doll Emily and her tattered old black frock and moves her into the school's dusty and unheated attic.
For the next two years Miss Minchin starves and overworks Sara, turning her into a menial servant and unpaid tutor. Most of the students take to abusing their former classmate, but Sara is consoled by her few friends and uses her imagination to cope with her bleak existence. She continues to be kind and polite to everyone, even her abusers, in the belief that conduct, not money, make a true princess. On one particular cold day, she finds a 4p coin () to buy six fresh buns but ends up giving five of them to a beggar-child because the girl is hungrier than she is. This act of generosity impresses the baker, who takes the beggar-child in.
During this time, Mr. Carrisford moves into the house next to the seminary. He is an extremely wealthy invalid from abroad and retains Mr. Carmichael, a solicitor who lives nearby. Sara has often observed Mr. Carmichael's big and loving family, whom she dubs the "Large Family" – while they are equally curious about her and call her "the little girl who is not a beggar". Mr. Carrisford is revealed to have been Captain Crewe's partner in the diamond mine venture. Thinking all was lost and while both men were suffering from severe illness, Carrisford abandoned Captain Crewe and wandered in a delirium. By the time he recovered, the captain was dead - just as the mines became profitable. Blaming himself for his friend's death, he has vowed to find Sara.
Ram Dass, Mr. Carrisford's Indian servant, climbs across the roof to retrieve a pet monkey which has taken refuge in Sara's attic. He sees the poor condition of her room and, touched by her courtesy and demeanor, sets out to discover her history. To distract his master from his own sorrows, he tells Mr. Carrisford about the "little girl in the attic". Between them they devise a scheme whereby Mr. Carrisford becomes "The Magician", a mysterious benefactor who transforms her barren existence with gifts of food and warmth and books – sneaked in by Ram Dass.
One night the monkey again visits Sara's attic, and she decides to return it to Mr. Carrisford the next morning. He learns that Sara is Captain Crewe's daughter; Sara also learns that Mr. Carrisford was her father's friend – and The Magician. Miss Minchin pays a visit to collect Sara but is informed that Sara will be living with Mr. Carrisford from now on; not only is she now his legal ward, but also a wealthy heiress after inheriting her father's stake in the mines. When Miss Minchin threatens to have Mr. Carrisford charged with kidnapping and criminal trespass, Mr. Carmichael appears and says he will expose her mistreatment of Sara in return. With her future secure, Sara visits the baker in full finery, saying she will pay for food to feed any hungry child.
Characters
Sara Crewe: The "little princess" of the title, the only daughter of Captain Ralph Crewe. Although she considers herself ugly, she is described as quite charming and beautiful, being tall and slim for her age, with thick, short black hair curled at the tips, and big greenish gray eyes framed by long lashes. Orphaned of her mother, who died giving birth to her, Sara was born in India and lived there for seven years, learning Hindi, English, and French, her mother’s language. At seven, her father brings her to England to attend Miss Minchin’s boarding school for girls. Despite her wealth, Sara shows great generosity and kindness toward all social ranks. She is also very intelligent and a talented storyteller with a vivid imagination. On her eleventh birthday, she learns of her father’s death and is forced to work as a servant in the school. She maintains a strong and resilient attitude, even after those around her treat her coldly following her father’s death, never losing her dignity. She is thirteen years old by the end of the story. Although Sara is a very positive character, Burnett notes that she is not perfect. Sometimes she is impulsive, occasionally talks back to Miss Minchin, and at one point struggles to hold herself back from hitting Lavinia after being provoked. Ralph Crewe: Sara’s father. A British Army officer, described as young, handsome and rich. He is very close to his only daughter and never tires of listening to her quirky talks. He leaves Sara at boarding school in England because the climate in India is bad for children. Still young and adventurous, Captain Crewe is not very careful with his fortune. He has always given everything to his daughter, spoiling her in many ways. He dies of tropical fever on a mountain in India. At that point, his business appears to have failed, and he is said to be penniless, but after his death, the enterprise becomes successful. Miss Maria Minchin: The headmistress of the eponymous boarding school: Miss Minchin, Select Seminary for Young Ladies. Described as tall, slender, and cold, she is a very harsh, strict and tyrannical woman. However, she can be kind to those who may bring money or prestige to her school. In fact, she is a very greedy and opportunist person, that relies entirely on the donations made to the school by the students’ parents. She becomes very cruel to Sara after she loses her fortune. She only realizes her wrongdoings toward the end of the novel, understanding that it was her own cruelty and actions toward Sara (and not Sara herself) that drove the child to leave the school for good. Miss Amelia Minchin: Maria Minchin’s younger sister. She is described as slightly overweight. More pleasant than the latter but much weaker in temperament, Miss Amelia does not dare oppose the headmistress, who clearly dominates her in both personality and intelligence. However, Amelia vents her anger against her sister after learning of their downfall following Sara’s final departure. During a violent nervous breakdown, she finally manages to rebuke Miss Minchin for her cruelty toward the young orphan. From that moment on, Miss Minchin begins to show more respect and consideration for her younger sister, who turns out not to be as foolish as she seemed. Becky: The 14-year-old scullery maid of the school. She is very timid and fearful, and is described as being so small that she looks no older than twelve. Miss Minchin mistreats her and overworks her, and the other servants sometimes use her as a scapegoat. Sara first met her when Becky accidentally fell asleep by the fireplace in her room; unlike the older girls, she welcomed the young maid with kindness. She speaks with a Cockney accent and initially had difficulty reading and writing. She is five years older than Sara and admires her intelligence. Becky becomes friends with Sara while she is still wealthy and supports her when she is relegated to the attic. By the end of the novel, Becky also leaves the school to become Sara’s attendant. Becky is short for Rebecca.
Students Ermengarde St. John: Sara's best friend at the school, a timid and slightly plump girl. Considered the dunce of the seminary, she struggles with French and often draws the ire of Miss Minchin. Sara helps her by turning her lessons into captivating stories. The two are close friends and are the same age. Ermengarde is kind and loyal, showing deep care for Sara, whether she is rich or poor. She visits Sara in the attic even though it is forbidden when Sara becomes a servant. Her father is an intellectual who expects a lot from his daughter. Ermengarde has an aunt named Eliza who resembles her in personality. Lottie Legh: A four-year-old girl who has lost her mother. She was spoiled at home and often throws tantrums. Sara becomes her "adoptive mother" and is often the only one who can calm her down. Lottie is very attached to Sara and frequently visits her in the attic once Sara becomes a servant. Three years younger than Sara, she is four at the beginning of the story, and therefore ten by the end. Lavinia Herbert: One of the older girls. Described as very pretty and well-dressed, she is full of herself and bullies the younger girls. She was one of the top students before Sara arrived at the boarding school, as well as the richest, and Miss Minchin’s favorite; therefore, she is very jealous of Sara. Lavinia is the only student with whom Sara argues. When Sara loses her fortune, Lavinia mocks her and even tries to get her into trouble—such as when she informs Miss Minchin about Ermengarde’s visits to the attic. She is thirteen at the beginning of the story, and therefore nineteen by the end. Jessie: Lavinia’s best friend and confidante. Although she is described as silly, she has a better character than Lavinia and sometimes disapproves of the way Sara is treated by Miss Minchin and Lavinia.
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