Stardust

by

Neil Gaiman

Stardust: Chapter 1  Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Like so many others, this story is about “a young man who wished to gain his Heart’s Desire.” It begins in Wall, an old town in the English countryside built on a giant granite rock. It is surrounded by forests, a lake, and on the east side, a tall gray rock wall. There’s a break in the wall, and one can see a meadow through the gap. But rather than graze livestock on the meadow, Wall instead posts guards at the gap, keeping people from going through. Sometimes the guards let people through if the person has a particular “look in the eyes.” The only time people are allowed through is every nine years, on May Day.
From the very beginning, what immediately emerges is the sense that Wall is governed by some very strict rules regarding the gap in the wall. This, of course, begs the question of what’s on the other side, and why the other side is generally off-limits except to a select few. May Day—the 1st of May—is a spring holiday rooted in various traditions from the British Isles. Notably, it was traditionally believed that fairies and other magical beings are particularly active on May Day.
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This story takes place years ago, when Queen Victoria was still a flighty young woman, Charles Dickens was publishing Oliver Twist, and Mr. Morse had just invented Morse code. None of those people—perhaps save Dickens—would have taken you seriously had you brought up magic or the land of Faerie. It’s April, and people from all over the world travel to Wall. Eighteen-year-old Dunstan Thorn resents all the visitors, who have filled Mr. Bromios’s inn, the Seventh Magpie, and are now booking rooms in people’s homes.
This passage situates the story in the late 1830s; Charles Dickens serialized Oliver Twist between 1837 and 1839. Then, the narration explicitly brings up magic. It suggests that while most people would scoff at the idea that magical beings and lands exist, Wall takes it extremely seriously. Magic is both a curiosity (which is why people travel from all over ahead of May Day) and something to fear (which is why most of the time nobody can pass through the gap in the wall).
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Bridget Comfrey, the Seventh Magpie’s pot-girl, has been going out with Tommy Forester, but now, Tommy and a dark-eyed visitor to the village are fighting over her. The stranger, Alum Bey, throws Tommy down and sits on him, ending the fight. Though Alum Bey then bows to Bridget, Bridget runs to care for Tommy. Dunstan isn’t at the Seventh Magpie that evening, as he’s busy courting Daisy Hempstock. They often walk in the evenings, accompanied by Mrs. Hempstock. When they say goodbye at the Hempstock house and Dunstan heads home, Daisy laments to her mother that he hasn’t proposed yet.
For Wall’s young people, love is in the air as May Day approaches. Historically, some pagan May Day festivals celebrated fertility, something readers should keep in mind for later. For now, though, the main takeaway from this passage is that the young couples are young and inexperienced. The fight between Tommy and Alum Bey seems more for show than anything else, and Dunstan is either too shy to propose or unaware of exactly what Daisy expects of him, causing some underlying strife in their relationship.
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Visitors continue to arrive in Wall. It’s now the 29th of April, and Dunstan and Tommy stand guard at the wall. They feel important as they shoo away curious visitors. Two other men come to relieve them at twilight, and they head for the Seventh Magpie. There, Dunstan can’t help but feel excited by all the strange smells, languages, and people in the room. He stares at a tall Black man with a top hat, who invites Dunstan to share his dessert. The man reveals that he can’t find a room, and eventually, Dunstan agrees to rent the man his cottage. The man offers money, but Dunstan suggests that’s insufficient as tomorrow at the market, the man will trade in “miracles and wonders.” Annoyed, the man says that Dunstan will get his “Heart’s Desire” tomorrow, and he also hands over the coins.
Dunstan and Tommy are currently between being boys and being men. They stand guard at the gap like men—and feel extremely important doing so—but Dunstan’s excitement by all the goings-on in the Seventh Magpie read as charmingly childish. Additionally, Dunstan’s insistence that the man pay him more than money suggests youthful dreaming—Dunstan dreams of magic—but also that Dunstan is keenly aware that, at least during this special time every nine years, odd things happen and that’s normal. That Dunstan will be paid his “Heart’s Desire” also raises the question of what exactly that is.
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Dunstan sleeps in the cow barn that night. It’s stormy, and in the middle of the night someone steps on his feet. The voice explains that he was sleeping in a tree, but lightning hit the tree, and he was getting wet. It asks if he might sleep here. As Dunstan agrees, lightning flashes, and Dunstan can see that the voice is coming from someone small and hairy, wearing a big hat. Dunstan falls back to sleep, dreaming of going with Daisy, a tall man, and a furry creature to see his Heart’s Desire.
The small and hairy man seems questionably human, adding to the air of mystery and magic building in the days before May Day. Dunstan himself exhibits a generous nature here, letting this man sleep in the cow barn despite having no idea who he is, seemingly for no compensation.
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When Dunstan wakes up in the morning, he’s alone. He dresses in his best clothes, grabs breakfast from his mother, and takes his money to the gap. When he finally walks through the gap in the wall, he feels like he’s “breaking the greatest of taboos.” He walks with the man in the top hat renting his cottage, explaining that he was a child the last time the market came. The man reminds him to be polite and to not accept gifts. He also says it’s time to pay the last of his rent, Dunstan’s “Heart’s Desire.”
Again, the fact that there are strict rules governing how Wall’s residents interact with the gap in the wall looms large over this passage. Dunstan feels like he’s breaking the rules by entering the meadow, even at the one time it’s acceptable to go through the gap. The man then lists other specific rules. While being polite makes sense, for now, it’s unclear why exactly Dunstan shouldn’t accept any gifts.
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At the fair, vendors sell goods like eyes, “bluebell cloth,” “Coats of night,” and various remedies. Dunstan considers purchasing a tiny crystal cat for Daisy, but he drops it when it blinks at him. Mr. Bromios is selling refreshments. Although Wall’s residents are always tempted by refreshments sold by those who live “Beyond the Wall,” generations have been warned that it isn’t acceptable to eat fairy food. Every nine years, the meadow hosts the Faerie market, and this is the only time there’s commerce between Faerie and the mortal world.
Things seem magical at the market because they genuinely are. The various rules exist to police the interactions between magical and non-magical folk. Per most legends, eating or drinking anything in Faerie means that a person won’t be able to return to the mortal world. Thus, if Dunstan plans to continue his life in rural England, it’s imperative that he follow this rule in particular.
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Quotes
Dunstan keeps his eyes out for a trinket for Daisy. Hearing lovely chimes, he follows the sound and finds a stall filled with tiny crystal flowers. The vendor, a young woman with violet eyes and cat ears, greets him and begins to describe the flowers. As she does, the man with the top hat walks past and says his rent is paid. Just then, Dunstan notices that the woman is bound to the caravan behind the stall by a thin silver chain—and that she’s extremely attractive. She explains that the witch who owns the stall kidnapped and enslaved her. She’ll be free “on the day the moon loses her daughter, if that occurs in a week when two Mondays come together.”
Dunstan is too preoccupied to notice, but recall that the man in the top hat promised to pay his rent by granting Dunstan his “Heart’s Desire”—seemingly, this young Faerie woman. The woman, however, is enslaved, and the chain emerges as a symbol of her entrapment. The conditions that must be met for her to achieve freedom seem specifically designed to never come true. In the mortal world, for instance, the moon is just a rock, not a being who can have children, and no week ever has two Mondays.
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The young woman won’t give her name—she doesn’t have one now that she’s enslaved—and they begin to haggle on a price. But Dunstan can’t help but notice her curves and her pretty eyes. He agrees to pay for a snowdrop with a kiss on her cheek, and her scent is intoxicating. She hands over the flower and tells Dunstan to come back tonight and hoot like an owl. The woman has his heart now.
Being enslaved deprives the young woman of her true identity, but it doesn’t deprive her of her ability to woo Dunstan: she retains that aspect of her humanity. The flower he purchases with the kiss, though, is for Daisy, suggesting that Dunstan has now found himself in a love triangle—and he can only have one of the women in it (Daisy), even though the young flower-selling woman is his “Heart’s Desire.”
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Dunstan approaches Daisy at Mr. Bromios’s tent, gives her the snowdrop, and kisses her cheek. Mr. Hempstock declares that Dunstan is “bespelled,” so he tells Tommy to take Dunstan to Wall. Daisy, meanwhile, cries happy tears. Mr. Hempstock and Mr. Thorn find the stall selling the flowers, which is now manned by an old woman and a beautiful, chained bird. The old woman has no idea what happened to Dunstan and is just upset that a “good-for-nothing” gave away one of her flowers.
It seems very likely that Dunstan is “bespelled,” either by actual magic or by his sudden strong feelings for the young woman. The old woman is, presumably, the witch who enslaved the young woman—and it’s implied that the old woman turned the young woman into a bird as punishment.
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Tommy settles Dunstan on a bench in the Seventh Magpie. Dunstan refuses to talk, eat, or drink, and eventually, Tommy decides that he must return to the fair to find Bridget. The afternoon and evening pass, and finally, the moon rises. Dunstan returns to the meadow, wondering what it would be like to keep going into the forest beyond. He hoots twice, and the young woman appears and teases him. They sit on the grass and discuss the stars. She explains that she wants her freedom, and that her silver chain is made of “cat’s breath and fish-scales and moonlight mixed in with the silver.” She misses home. Dunstan realizes the woman is crying, and awkwardly, he kisses her. They have passionate sex, and she doesn’t let him pull out. Then, they lie together until it’s nearly dawn. The woman kisses Dunstan and sends him back to Wall.
Dunstan keeps his word to the young woman, resulting in them having sex. The fact that she won’t let Dunstan pull out is an overt reminder that May Day festivities traditionally celebrated fertility—unprotected sex, after all, can lead to pregnancy. Both Dunstan and the young woman clearly have homes, a place where they belong. Dunstan belongs in Wall, as evidenced by the young woman sending him back despite his casual interest in continuing into Faerie. The young woman, meanwhile, belongs elsewhere, but her enslavement keeps her away from home and those who love her.
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Tommy proposes to Bridget two weeks later. A week after that, Mrs. Hempstock has tea with Mrs. Thorn. Mrs. Hempstock says that Daisy is pining because Dunstan has been ignoring her. Mrs. Thorn admits that she and her husband are worried about Dunstan, as he’s been “mooning.” They think he just needs to settle down. The women decide that Mr. Hempstock will provide a flock of sheep to the new couple, and Dunstan and Daisy marry in June. The fathers plan to build the couple a farmhouse, and the mothers lament that Dunstan wouldn’t let Daisy wear the snowdrop he gave her. Dunstan and Daisy are mostly happy, and Dunstan slowly comes back to himself.
Thanks to the mothers’ planning, Dunstan and Daisy eventually marry. Dunstan presumably won’t let Daisy wear the flower because he sees it as a reminder of his infidelity—infidelity that, at this point, Daisy seems blissfully unaware of. Marriage seems to settle Dunstan, pushing him toward greater maturity as he builds a life with Daisy and follows in his father’s footsteps as a farmer.
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At the end of February, someone pushes a basket through the gap in the wall. The guards don’t notice until the baby in the basket starts wailing. Pinned to the baby’s blankets is a name, Tristran Thorn.
Dunstan and the young woman’s romp did result in a baby—who, presumably, will now be raised by his father. The fact that Tristran is born in Faerie, though, and is half-Faerie himself, raises questions about where he fits in and which place he’ll ultimately call home.
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