Expert: Clare Washbrook - 6/9/2006

Question

about the story of 'A Little Princess',how Sara affected Ermengarde,lottie and becky 's attitude?

Answer
Jan,

From Chapter "Ermengarde":
"If Sara had been a boy and lived a few centuries ago," her father used to say, "she would have gone about the country with her sword drawn, rescuing and defending everyone in distress. She always wants to fight when she sees people in trouble."
She saves people.  Saving people has one of three effects, either they resent you or they feel beholden to you as thought they are forced to owe you something or they admire you and place you above others.

Lottie;

From Chapter "Lottie":
"Lottie Legh worshipped her to such an extent that if Sara had not been a motherly person, she would have found her tiresome."

This is the first quote that tells us of the relationship between Lottie and Sara.  It shows us that the relationship is one of admiration (on Lottie's side) from the start.  So all influence comes from this perspective.

"I will be your mamma," she said. "We will play that you are my little girl. And Emily shall be your sister."

We have been told twice in the same chapter that Lottie relates to Sara as a mother figure.  In the first quote we are told that Sara is a motherly person and then Sara offers this relationship in order to stop Lottie desiring to be in heaven with her mother.  "And from that time Sara was an adopted mother."

Lottie was a manipulative child who tried to gain attention by throwing tantrums and whining.  Sara refused to pander to this attention seeking and just sat by her, unaffected by her wailing.  This caught Lottie's attention and she was then able to distract her.

Ermengarde:

Ermengarde looks up to Sara because she sees her as clever.  She can make up stories AND speak French and her status obviously impresses the child.  Ermengarde's father is clever and speaks languages so Sara is everything that Ermengarde would want to be to impress her father.

Ermengarde was lonely and unaccepted, both by her father and by the other pupils.  Sara gave her confidence by treating her normally and choosing to be her friend, by involving her in what could be termed secrets.  She tells Ermengarde that she has her own room because she doesn't want people to hear her making up stories, but despite this alleged desire to keep the story making a secret, she tells Ermengarde.  She also offers to help her with French, which is the lesson causing her the biggest problems.

Becky:

Again, it is by treating her normally that she gains influence over her, not that influence is her aim.  She treats her as she would any other child, she does not distinguish between Becky and other children on the basis of class.  One time where we see Sara distinguish between children is when she responds to Lavinia attacking her for telling  stories about heaven and tells Lavinia that she will never find out about heaven if she isn't kinder to people.  So, as with everything in the book about Sara it comes down to behaviour and not status.

Sara gives Becky a break from her chores, to play like a child, to eat cake that she would not normally be allowed, to be with another child and find herself outside of the "becky do this, becky do that".

From Chapter "Becky": "When Becky went down-stairs, she was not the same Becky who had staggered up, loaded down by the weight of the coal-scuttle. She had an extra piece of cake in her pocket, and she had been fed and warmed, but not only by cake and fire. Something else had warmed and fed her, and the something else was Sara."

Sara's feeding of Becky does also have a physical effect though.  She passes her all kinds of treats and "In time, Becky began to lose her hungry, tired feeling, and the coal-box did not seem so unbearably heavy."  

The biggest impact was to give Becky things to look forward to, even if that was just seeing Sara.  Hope is powerful and Sara is the source of Becky's hope but just as Sara does not seek anything from her kindness other than to be kind, Becky does not seek anything (like hope that Sara will give her money or emply her when she is older) beyond Sara's company.

Upon hearing that Sara is orphaned and a pauper, Becky's first thought is to offer to be her maid.  Her status has been set in Becky's mind by her behaviour (the point of everything in this story) and she merely wants to make sure that Sara is cared for as she believes that she should be.  the fact that she has no money doesn't come into the equation.  For a child brought up to be a servant, where the focus must be money and what one has and does not have, this is significant.  Her last words in the Chapter "The Diamond Mines Again" show that she still sees Sara as a Princess.

General:

She affects all of these children and their attitudes by treating them perfectly normally and all the same.  She allows them to be whatever they are and makes them feel good about themselves.  They begin to become more than they were before because she tends to them like a garden.  In her pretence of being a Princess she finds "little things to do for people".  "I've scattered largess." - she wants to be benevolent and help people and she has no ulterior motives for it, she merely wants to be a good person and this inspires others to be good people.

She is mother to Lottie, best friend to Ermengarde (whom she confides in at times) and benefactor to Becky.

Most importantly, she leads by example.  She shows these three girls how to behave and by focusing on behaviour all of the barriers that exist over money, class and status became irrelevant, even when situations changed.  The three were bound to Sara and they and their lives were changed and made better by her influence.