A LITTLE PRINCESS By Frances Hodgson Burnet

The Story

Sara Crewe is the "Princess" of the title. She is the only daughter of Ralph Crewe,a captain in the British army. Her French mother died at Sara's birth. Sara is born and grows up in India. She speaks Hindi, English and French. She is exceptionally clever, kind and generous, in spite of the fact that she her father tries to spoil her with every luxury you could ask for. Sara is also a gifted storyteller and has a creative imagination. She pretends she is a princess and strives to emulate the qualities of one: generosity, compassion and politeness. Sara is seven when the story begins. Her father goes off to war and places Sarah in Ms Minchin’s School for Girls. aged eleven she loses her fortune and has to work in the school as a virtual slave. She is rescued aged 13 and saved from a life of misery. While Sara is depicted as a positive character, Burnett notes that she is "no angel". She has a quick temper; in one scene in the novel she barely restrains herself from hitting Lavinia.

The Main Characters

Captain Ralph Crewe is Sara's father. He shares a strong bond with his daughter and misses her desperately when he has to leave her at boarding sc. Captain Crewe is also young and flighty, and does not tend to be cautious with his fortune

Maria Minchin, also known as Miss Minchin, is the owner and headmistress of the Seminary. She is rigid, given to rules and order and has a cruel streak.

Becky is the child scullery maid at the school. She is severely bullied and overworked by Miss Minchin, and is occasionally used as a scapegoat by other servants. Becky becomes friends with Sara while she is still wealthy and continues to support her after she is relegated to the attic.

Emily is Sara's doll. Sara treats her as a friend and confidante, and likes to imagine she is alive. When she loses her fortune, Emily is the sole possession Sara is allowed to keep--and then, only when she refuses to surrender the doll to Miss Minchin.

Ermengarde St. John is Sara's best friend at school. Considered to be the "dunce of the school," she has major problems with her lessons and frequently draws the wrath of Miss Minchin. Sara helps her by weaving her lessons into interesting stories. Ermengarde is good-natured and loyal, and sneaks away to visit Sara when she is transformed into a servant.

Ram Dass is Mr. Carrisford's lascar. He befriends Sara when he sees her across their townhouses' skylights. Ram Dass tends a small monkey which frequently runs away.

Monsieur Dufarge is the Seminary's French teacher

The Author

FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT

Born Frances Eliza Hodgson in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, she emigrated to Knoxville, Tennessee in the United States after the death of her father in 1865. The family lived in bad circumstances, since the promised support from a maternal uncle was nonexistent. Following the death of her mother, 18 year old Frances found herself the head of a family of four younger siblings. She turned to writing to support them all, with a first story published in Godey's Lady's Book in 1868. Soon after she was being published regularly in Godey's, Scribner's Monthly, Peterson's Ladies' Magazine and Harper's Bazaar. Her main writing talent was combining realistic detail of working-class life with a romantic plot. She married Dr. Swan Burnett of Washington, D.C. in 1873. Her first novel was published in 1877; That Lass o' Lowrie's was a story of Lancashire life. In 1886 she published Little Lord Fauntleroy. It was originally intended as a children's book, but had a great appeal to mothers. It created a fashion of long curls (based on her son Vivian's) and velvet suits with lace collars (based on Oscar Wilde's attire). The book sold more than half a million copies. Her later works include Sara Crewe (1888) - later rewritten as A Little Princess (1905); The Lady of Quality (1896) - considered one of the best of her plays; and The Secret Garden (1909), the children's novel for which she is probably best known today. The Lost Prince was published in 1915. Francis Hodgson Burnett died on October 29th 1924.