The Theme Of Love In Stardust By Neil Gaiman

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A man will do anything for love, even if it is not true love. He will cross the Atlantic, or jump into a canyon. In Stardust, protagonist Tristran Thorn embarks on a journey over the wall and into the world of Faeries, to please his supposed true love, Victoria Forester. While on his journey, he encounters many trails and gains wisdom of knowledge and maturation, as he learns who he truly is. Within his trials he faces numerous foes, who possess the power of magic Neil Gaiman bases Stardust on a bildungsroman style of writing, which focuses on the transition from youth to adulthood and follows a strict pattern of the monomyth of a hero's journey. In Neil Gaiman’s “Stardust”, the concept of love, magic and youth to adulthood, develop …show more content…
In life, there are two kinds of love, fake love and true love. In Stardust, Tristran Thorn faces the obstacle, of identifying, which kind of love he so fondly attempts to obtain. At first Tristran falls in love with Victoria Forester, “the most beautiful girl for a hundred miles around” (Gaiman 57). One day, with the gust of Faerie wind, Tristran gains a sense of confidence to walk Victoria home and to plead his love, “I would go to America-all the way to San Francisco, to the gold-fields, and I would not come back until I had your weight in gold. Then I would carry it back here, and lay it at your feet……” (Gaiman 46). Luring Tristran on, Victoria jokingly offers his wishes, but under one circumstance, “‘If you bring me that star,’ said Victoria, “the one that just fell, not another star, then I’ll kiss you. Who knows what else I might do. There: now you need not to go to Australia, nor to Africa, nor to far Cathay’..... ‘And if I brought you the fallen star?’ asked Tristran lightly. ‘What would you give me? A kiss? Your hand in marriage?’ ‘Anything you desire,’ said Victoria, amused” (Gaiman 47-48). Unknowingly to Victoria, Tristran embarks on his journey, where he learns the difference between true and fake love. Through his travels, before halfway through the book, during rough times, Tristran relies on his determination …show more content…
Offspring of Dunstan Thorn, Tristran Thorn lives a simple lifestyle similar to his father. Tristran shy as his father, struggles to fit in, not just due to his personality, but also his appearance, as his right ear was flat against his head and in a pointed shape. There has always been a part of him different from the rest of the folks of Wall and as Stardust’s bildungsroman style of writing, sought to expand on. Subtle hints have shed light on Tristan's two face, such as Tristran's kitten, “Shortly afterword, the farm cat had three kittens: two black-and-white ones like herself, and a tiny kitten with a dusty blue sheen to her coat, and eyes that changed color depending on her mood, from green and gold to salmon, scarlet and vermilion…… The guards on the wall were for people, not cats; and Tristran, who was twelve by this time, never saw the blue cat again…. ‘She’ll be happier, over the wall. With her own kind. Don’t you fret now, lad’” (Gaiman 35). This subtle hint exemplifies foreshadowing. While it may not be clear at the time, as Dustan describes the cat, “happier”, references later Tristran’s feeling, that he feels more at home in the world of Faeries than he ever did in Wall, as a laughing stock. Slowly, the foreshadow develops into a truth, as Tristran experiences a call of

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