“The Discontented King”

“The Discontented King” was written by John Gruelle and is part of Raggedy Anns’ Fairy Stories which was written in 1928. This story is about a King who had everything he could ever imagine. In fact, he had so much that he had to ask his Wise Men to think of new things for him to wish for, because he had run out of ideas. When the Wise Men cannot think of anything, one of the Wise Men’s wives suggests that the wives take the place of the Wise Men for a while. Everyone thinks the idea is foolish, but they follow through with the plan. It turns out that the wives end up putting the king in his place, by making him work hard and eat coarse food. This opens up the king’s eyes, making him realize that he should …show more content…

I
However, the women end up being the heroes by playing a simple yet life-changing prank on the king, which turns the whole situation around. This makes it understandable why the author chose to do this, because in the end it all comes together. Also, in Gruelle’s biography it states, “Gruelle shunned violence and always depicted female protagonists in a positive light.” It is also mentioned that it is meant to poke fun at men with a feminine touch. (Zipes 281) The best part about these types of short stories is that they are appropriate for pretty much any age. Sometimes reading a fairytale that teaches a good moral lesson in a simple way is all it takes to remind us of what is important in life, because they can almost always be related to any general situation or problem that someone is facing. “The Discontented King” is a perfect example of a story that does this because it contains several different moral lessons that can be applied to everyday life, and it will never get