The Last Unicorn (novel): Difference between revisions

{{work|wppage=The Last Unicorn}}

In a certain lilac wood, the leaves and snow never fall. This eternal springtime is watched over, and caused by, its magical resident--a unicorn. Having never left her forest, the unicorn is surprised to overhear two hunters speaking about the disappearance of the unicorns. In fact, they believe her to be the very last.

Unwilling to accept this, the unicorn leaves the safety of her forest and sets out to find others of her kind, following the information given to her by a philosophical butterfly. Along the way, she learns through bitter experience of human cruelty, ignorance and greed. She is mistaken for a horse (much to her displeasure), captured and placed in a circus sideshow, and pursued by a demonic being--the Red Bull, which, according to local legend, is responsible for the disappearance of the other unicorns. She also meets allies who join her in her journey; the incompetent but sweet-natured wizard Schmendrick and Molly Grue, a middle-aged bandit woman with a purer heart than most virgins.

Their quest takes them to the barren lands of the embittered King Haggard, master of the Red Bull, and his naive foster son Prince Lír. It is here that the unicorn, superior and aloof to all mortals, is [[Humanity Ensues|transformed into a mere human]], taking the name "Lady Amalthea", forced to see and suffer human weakness and emotion firsthand.

[[The Last Unicorn (Animationanimation)|An animated film adaptation]], with a script by the author, was produced by [[Rankin/Bass Productions]] in the 1980s.

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: {{spoiler|The Last Unicorn finds and frees her fellows, but at a price. As a human, the Lady Amalthea falls in love with Prince Lír. Returned to her immortal form, she can no longer stay with him (or even feel love anymore), so she leaves both her love and her two human friends behind to return to her home in the lilac wood. Even sadder, however, because she has experienced love, aging, and regret--experiences foreign to "pure" unicorns--[[Blessed Withwith Suck|she is no longer as innocent and aloof as others of her kind, separating her even from her own species]].}} And yet, as sad as these things may be, she thanks Schmendrick for them. It is a good thing {{spoiler|to have known love}}.

* [[Blessed Withwith Suck]]:

{{quote| '''Nikos''', Schmendrick's teacher: "Therefore I grant that from this day forth you shall not grow old, but will travel the world round and round, eternally inefficient, until at last you come to yourself and know what you are. Don't thank me. I tremble at your doom."}}

{{quote| "Cruel? How can I be cruel? That is for mortals. So is kindness."}}

* [[Born Asas an Adult]]: Lady Amalthea.

* [[By the Eyes of Thethe Blind]]: The skull.

{{quote| '''Cat:''' I am sorry. I would tell you what you want to know if I could, for you have been kind to me. But I am a cat, and no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer.}}

* [[Does Not Like Shoes]]: Molly Grue goes barefoot.

** "The last! I '''knew''' you were the last!"

* [[Genre Savvy]]: Several characters, particularly Lír, who makes a much-quoted speech about the proper order of things during the climax of the story.

{{quote| '''Schmendrick:''' With a word and a wave, he [Nikos] transformed the unicorn into a handsome young man, who woke, and seeing the astonished bowmen gaping there, charged upon them and killed them all. His sword was of a twisted, tapering design, and [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|he trampled the bodies when the men were dead]].}}

* [[Harping Onon About Harpies]]

{{quote| '''Haggard:''' "I ''know'' you! I almost knew you as soon as I saw you on the road coming to my door. Since then, there is no movement of yours that has not betrayed you! A pace, a glance, a turn of the head, the flash of your throat as you breathe... even your way of standing perfectly still--they were all my spies!"}}

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|That would be Lír.}}

* [[The Hero's Journey]]

** The unicorn is transformed by Schmendrick into a human woman, against her will.

* [[Mayfly-December Romance]]: Prince Lír and the unicorn as Lady Amalthea.

** The Harpy is called "Celaeno"<ref>(literally, "The Dark One")</ref> both as a [[Shout -Out]] to the harpy of the same name from Greek mythology, and because she is the dark and twisted yang to the Unicorn's light and pure yin.

* [[The Mind Is a Plaything of Thethe Body]]: The unicorn's frightening personality change following her transformation.

* [[Naked Onon Arrival]]: Due to an aversion of [[Magic Pants]], this is the unicorn's human form at first sight. Copious amounts of [[Godiva Hair]] were used, naturally.

* [[Older Than They Look]]: Schmendrick. He was [[Cursed Withwith Awesome|cursed to stop aging]] by Nikos, under the condition that he find out who and what he was. [[Captain Obvious|He's also implied to be much older than he looks.]]

* [[Quest for Thethe Rest]]

{{quote| '''Molly:''' Nay, Cully, you have it backward. There's no such person as you, or me, or any of us. Robin and Marian are real, and we are the legend!}}

{{quote| "You are losing my interest," the rustling voice interrupted him again, "and that is very dangerous. In a moment I will have forgotten you quite entirely, and will never be able to remember just what I did with you. What I forget not only ceases to exist, but never really existed in the first place." }}

{{quote| '''Molly Grue:''' Slit his wizard!}}

{{quote| '''Schmendrick:''' I was born mortal, and I have been immortal for a long, foolish time, and one day I will be mortal again--so I know something that a unicorn cannot know. Whatever can die is ''beautiful'', more beautiful than the unicorn, who lives forever, and who is the most beautiful creature in the world.}}

** Mommy Fortuna had a twisted view of immortality in regards to the Harpy:

{{quote| '''Fortuna:''' Oh, she'll kill me one day or another. But she will remember forever that I caught her; that I held her prisoner. So there's ''my'' immortality, eh?}}

* [[WorldsWorld's Most Beautiful Woman]]: Not explicitly stated, but when the most beautiful creature in the world [[Humanity Ensues|becomes human]] this seems to be the result. It's worth noting however, that as [[The Mind Is a Plaything of Thethe Body|she becomes more human]] she stays beautiful, but the mystical quality of her beauty fades away.

* [[You Can See Me?]]: Mommy Fortuna, Schmendrick, Molly, and (terrifyingly) the Red Bull all know the unicorn when they see her. Most ordinary people mistake the unicorn for a white horse, and Mommy Fortuna has to put a fake horn on the unicorn to exhibit her to the public. The cat is also able to see her, because:

{{quote| "No cat out of its first fur can ever be deceived by appearances."}}

[[Category{{DEFAULTSORT:The Last Unicorn]] (novel), The}}