Dealing with Dragons

Kazul is a large green-and-gray dragon with three horns. She accepts Cimorene’s voluntary offer to be her princess and do chores around her caves, and at the end of the novel, she becomes the new King of Dragons. Through Kazul, Cimorene learns about the dragons’ habits and society. In many ways, Kazul is Cimorene’s parallel in dragon society. Both Kazul and Cimorene are practical, outspoken, and somewhat different from the rest of their kind. When Kazul agrees to take on Cimorene as an assistant in her household, an elder dragon named Roxim says that Cimorene has “[g]ot sense. Be good for you, Kazul” (19). This sentiment suggests that both Cimorene and Kazul are complementary forces. Kazul is the only dragon who actively wants to take on an “improper princess,” while Cimorene notices that Kazul is “still watching Cimorene” (19) closely, using Cleverness and Wit as Forms of Power and taking Cimorene’s measure.

Much of Kazul’s character can be inferred from her reactions to Cimorene’s unorthodox behavior. When Cimorene gives Kazul a list of items that she needs in order to clean and cook comfortably, “Kazul seemed pleased by the request” (22) and provides Cimorene with everything she needs. This response shows that Kazul values Cimorene’s proactive attitude. Though Cimorene technically works for Kazul, the two establish a reciprocal relationship. This mutually respectful dynamic continues through the novel; Kazul believes and advocates for Cimorene among the other dragons, and she also trusts Cimorene’s observations and takes her suspicions about Woraug seriously.

Morwen, a witch, is an important side character who lives in the Enchanted Forest. She has wavy ginger hair, wears loose black robes and rectangular glasses, and carries a twiggy broom. Ironically, when Cimorene first sees Morwen arrayed this way, she decides that Morwen has an “unusual appearance” (32), even though Morwen’s physical characteristics fit the standard stereotypes of “witchy” physical attributes. This is one of the only moments in which Cimorene remains unaware of the stereotypical fairy-tale tropes that structure her society.

Morwen is calm, practical, and knowledgeable. When Cimorene explains that the knights are coming to rescue her, Morwen comments that if “this continues, [Cimorene will] never get anything done” (33). Morwen immediately understands Cimorene’s annoyance at the necessity of persuading her would-be rescuers that she does not need to be rescued. Like Cimorene, Morwen is extremely practical and values hard work. A sign outside Morwen’s door reads, “NONE OF THIS NONSENSE, PLEASE” (101), and the peremptory tone of the message emphasizes her matter-of-fact approach to life. The two women’s mutual commitment to practicality and hard work creates a strong bond and contributes to the novel’s focus on The Positive Impact of Friendship and Loyalty. Even though Morwen is a witch and specializes in magic, she praises Cimorene for her work on the fireproofing spell and asks for a copy. This moment proves that Cimorene’s competence has earned Morwen’s aid and loyalty. Based on this rapport, Morwen decides to help Cimorene to find the wizards at the end of the novel, and her trust in Cimorene’s word demonstrates the strength of their reciprocal relationship.

As Cimorene’s best friend and ally and the stone prince’s love interest, Alianora is an important side character. Although Cimorene initially assumes Alianora to be a typically “silly” princess based on her appearance, Alianora soon proves that she too is unorthodox among princesses, if for a different reason than Cimorene’s. Alianora is “blond and blue-eyed and slender, and several inches shorter than Cimorene,” with hair “the color of ripe apricots” (62). She was also unwillingly abducted by a dragon, just like a “proper” princess, but she confesses to Cimorene that her aunt arranged her abduction because Alianora continuously failed to embody the typical fairy-tale tropes. Unlike Cimorene, who actively subverts and avoids such tropes, Alianora subverts them only accidentally. For instance, when her aunt tries to get her to spin straw into gold thread—an allusion to the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin—she tries but spins linen thread instead. This incident makes Alianora feel like a failure, and part of her character growth can be seen in her attempts to embrace her accidental habit of subverting typical princess tropes.

Near the end of the novel, Alianora attacks Antorell in order to save the stone prince, thereby engaging in an accidental reversal of gender roles. Although the two end up engaged at the end of the novel, as is typical of a fairy tale, Alianora has a more active role in their dynamic (and in the events of the plot) than a stereotypical princess would.

Woraug is Alianora’s dragon and a secret antagonist. Woraug shows up three times in the narrative, and each time, he is subtly trying to work against Cimorene’s interests. The first time they meet, he tries to dissuade Kazul from taking Cimorene on as an assistant. The second time they meet, he tries to persuade the other dragons that the wizard Cimorene saw on the Pass of Silver Ice wasn’t Zemenar. (At this point, it is unclear whether Woraug is already working with Zemenar or is only being contrary.) The third time they meet is during the kingship trial, and Woraug attacks the stone prince.

Even in the novel’s earlier scenes, Cimorene senses that something strange is happening with Woraug based on how other people talk about him. For example, Alianora claims that he is getting “unpredictable” and repeatedly casts the fireproofing spell in the fear that he might set her on fire. Likewise, in the dragonsbane clearing, Antorell seems relieved to learn that Alianora is Woraug’s princess, a reaction that indicates that the wizards and Woraug are working together by then.

Woraug is also willing to give the wizards a sacred object called the King’s Crystal in order to gain the title of king for himself. Because the wizards melt and there is no evidence of their involvement in the plot to kill King Tokoz and manipulate Colin’s Stone, only Woraug is punished. Alianora testifies that although Antorell picked the dragonsbane and the wizards put it in a giant tea bag, Woraug was the one who used the tea bag to poison and kill King Tokoz, making him responsible for the murder.

Though the stone prince does not enter the novel until its last third, he is an important ally to Cimorene and also serves as Alianora’s love interest. Like many princes before him, the stone prince tried to use the gold dipper at the Waters of Healing rather than the tin one. However, when he utilized the Waters of Healing to void being turned completely inert, his actions reflect his own use of Cleverness and Wit as Forms of Power. Now, he can still walk and talk even though he is made of stone.

Though he fell victim to the same trap that claimed many princes before him, the stone prince does not exhibit blind allegiance to social stereotypes. He never doubts Cimorene and Alianora’s abilities to succeed in their goals; instead, he assists them, proving himself to be a vital ally—as when he defeats Zemenar by deducing that Morwen, unlike the wizard, won’t melt in water. While Cimorene is the main person who drives the theme of Challenging the Status Quo, the stone prince contributes to this theme by fleeing from the social pressures that resulted from a soothsayer’s prophecy that he would grow up to do a great service to a king. Only after he leaves does he realize “that even if nobody around [him] expected [him] to do anything special in the service of a king, [he] expected [himself] to do something” (156). The stone prince is still driven to accomplish a great task, which ostensibly accords with the stereotype of a prince who is on a quest to fulfill a prophecy. However, rather than being extrinsically motivated by the expectations of those around him, he becomes intrinsically motivated to accomplish the same task for his own sake. This shows that Challenging the Status Quo doesn’t necessarily involve a total rejection of society’s expectations, as long as those goals are chosen for personal reasons rather than to meet the demands of external pressures.