Not all fairy tales are for children (as Stephen King aptly demonstrated in Fairy Tale!). George MacDonald, that Scottish storyteller from the Victorian era, used the genre to explore the nuances of virtue and vice. Written in 1858, Phantastes is MacDonald’s first published work of prose. It tells the dream-like story of Anados who wanders into fairyland where he experiences many adventures before his eventual return home. If you’re on the fence about reading fairy stories, know that this is the book that inspired C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, among others. It’s worth it.

Here’s a taste. To set the scene, Anados was in pursuit of the beautiful figure he set free from a marble tomb. Disregarding the caution of others (a classic trope of fairy tales), he pursues a counterfeit.

It was strange to see how many gorgeous colours, so many curving lines, and such beautiful things as wings and hair and scales, combined to form the horrible creature, intense in ugliness. (loc. 3771)

The truth of that sentence is incisive. If vice were purely ugly, it wouldn’t attract. MacDonald reminds us that beautiful things can be tragically shaped into ugliness. Further, it’s easy to be sidetracked in the pursuit of true beauty. This is the sort of insight that runs throughout Phantastes.

It’s surprising to realize that MacDonald wrote this in his early 30s. His spiritual acuity is deep, despite his age. His writing conveys a gravity that’s rare to find today. Consider his thoughts on optimism.

Yet I know that good is coming to me—that good is always coming; though few have at all times the simplicity and the courage to believe it. (loc. 4083)

Having suffered the loss of many family members including some of his own children to tuberculosis, he does not pen those words lightly. His courage is real. Also, who else conjoins simplicity and courage?

The fairy tale genre is (ironically) the most direct way for MacDonald to explore reality. MacDonald writes:

Why are all reflections lovelier than what we call the reality? — not so grand or so strong, it may be, but always lovelier? (loc. 1507)

My mind goes to impressionistic paintings of water that somehow tells the story of what lies above in a more ethereal light. While not so “strong” as reality, the reflection that is Phantastes is certainly lovely.

MacDonald, George. Phantastes: A Fairie Romance for Men and Women. 1858. In The Complete Works of George MacDonald. E-book ed., Delphi Classics, 2015. EPUB.