History Literature / Melisande

It can be read online [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/rapunzel/shortstories/melisande.html here.]].

* AnachronismStew: Melisande, a princess in a classic fairytale setting, has read ’’Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland.’’

* AnachronismStew: Melisande, a princess in a classic fairytale setting, has read ’’Alice in Wonderland.’’

* AffectionateParody: Of "Literature/SleepingBeauty", ''Literature/{{Rapunzel}}'' and {{fairy tale}}s in general.

%% * EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses

* AnachronismStew: Melisande, a princess in a classic fairytale setting, has read ‘’Alice in Wonderland.’’

** The king is GenreSavvy enough to realize that a RevengeSVP is almost inevitable when it comes to royal christening parties and tries to avoid the problem by not having a party at all. Cue seven hundred fairies lining up to curse the baby.

** The king is GenreSavvy enough to realize that a RevengeSVP is almost inevitable when it comes to royal christening parties and avoids the problem by not having a party at all. Cue seven hundred fairies lining up to curse the baby.

''Melisande: or, Long and Short Division'' is a comedic fairy-tale by Creator/ENesbit.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses

%% Admninistrivia/ZeroContextExample * RescueRomance
* RevengeSVP: Seven hundred uninvited fairies are out to curse the princess.

* AffectionateParody: Of "Literature/SleepingBeauty", "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}" and {{fairy tale}}s in general.

* FracturedFairyTale: Nesbit has riotous fun with many a fairy tale trope, most obviously from Literature/SleepingBeauty and Literature/{{Rapunzel}}.
* GenreSavvy: Melisande has - the text itself states - read Literature/AliceInWonderland and knows to avoid crying on people when expanded to giant size.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Melisande (at her mother's bidding) wishing for her hair to grow twice as fast with every cutting.

* PapaWolf: The king, when ''seven hundred fairies'' are attempting to put curses on his daughter. He manages to stop all but one with a savage bluff.

* RapunzelHair: Duh. [[spoiler: Her hair's final length also qualifies, 5 feet 5.25 inches long, described to reach her ankles.]]
* RescueRomance
* RevengeSVP

* TheFairFolk

* Curse: Luckily, only one of the 700-odd fairies successfully delivered her curse, thanks to the King's quick thinking.

The story begins with the birth of princess Melisande on a fictional island. The GenreSavvy king and queen, deciding not to have a christening party to avoid offending any accidentally uninvited fairies, offend them all, and Melisande is cursed to be bald. Coming of age, she makes a [[SarcasmMode slightly]] ill-advised wish for fast-growing hair, which quickly makes her life hell, until her beloved Prince Florizel finds a clever solution. Said solution, however, has an even worse side-effect, which takes even more brains to solve...

* GenreSavvy: Practically everyone. For example, the king and queen deliberately refuse to hold a christening party, knowing what happened to the Literature/SleepingBeauty. When all the fairies are furious that they weren't invited, and they want to curse the princess, the king points out that traditionally, only one of them can curse the princess or they'll go out "like a candle-flame". He's more or less bluffing, but since the evil fairy Malevola already did the cursing, they decide not to risk it, thank the queen for a lovely afternoon, and leave.

* RapunzelHair: Princess Melisande is cursed at birth to be bald. When she grows up she is given a magical wish, and at the prompting of her mother requests long, lovely, ''fast-growing'' hair. The result is the Rapunzel Hair from hell.

''Melisande'' contains examples of the following tropes:

* AffectionateParody: Of Literature/SleepingBeauty, Rapunzel and fairytales in general.

''Melisande: or, Long and Short Division'' is a comedic fairy-tale by ENesbit.

* TheFairFolk

* AffectionateParody: Of SleepingBeauty, Rapunzel and fairytales in general.

* GenreSavvy: Practically everyone. For example, the king and queen deliberately refuse to hold a christening party, knowing what happened to the SleepingBeauty. When all the fairies are furious that they weren't invited, and they want to curse the princess, the king points out that traditionally, only one of them can curse the princess or they'll go out "like a candle-flame". He's more or less bluffing, but since the evil fairy Malevola already did the cursing, they decide not to risk it, thank the queen for a lovely afternoon, and leave.

* MagicPants: Lampshaded in "Melisande"; when fairy magic causes the princess to grow to enormous size, it's mentioned that things could have been quite inconvenient if her clothes hadn't grown with her.

NiceJobBreakingItHero: Melisande (at her mother's bidding) wishing for her hair to grow twice as fast with every cutting.

RapunzelHair: Princess Melisande is cursed at birth to be bald. When she grows up she is given a magical wish, and at the prompting of her mother requests long, lovely, ''fast-growing'' hair. The result is the Rapunzel Hair from hell.

BaldWomen: Melisande in her early life, thanks to Malevola's curse.
Curse: Luckily, only one of the 700-odd fairies successfully delivered her curse, thanks to the King's quick thinking.
EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses
GenreSavvy: Practically everyone. For example, the king and queen deliberately refuse to hold a christening party, knowing what happened to the SleepingBeauty. When all the fairies are furious that they weren't invited, and they want to curse the princess, the king points out that traditionally, only one of them can curse the princess or they'll go out "like a candle-flame". He's more or less bluffing, but since the evil fairy Malevola already did the cursing, they decide not to risk it, thank the queen for a lovely afternoon, and leave.
LoveAtFirstSight: Melisande and Florizel.
MagicPants: Lampshaded in "Melisande"; when fairy magic causes the princess to grow to enormous size, it's mentioned that things could have been quite inconvenient if her clothes hadn't grown with her.

RevengeSVP
TheFairFolk