Reading Notes: Puss and Boots, Part B

For week 14, the source of my reading notes is based on the two-part story The Master Cat, or Puss and Boots. I’ve always liked the confidence and skill the character Puss portrayed. He was always a few steps ahead of the game and had a charm about him that had a possessive pull so that his prey would be somewhat hypnotized. Based on my previous knowledge of the cat Puss in the movies Shrek I was shocked to see that this cat ended up eating the ogre in the story rather than working with him in the movie. In the story, Puss’ intention all along was to woo the king and his princess so that he could gain more wealth and power. This gave me the idea to create a storyline so that Puss’ actual intention is to steal the princess’ crown so that he could sell it and run away with all of the riches.

His malicious plan is to gain the princess’ interest and claim her heart so that she will take him home back to the castle. Once there, he pretends to be a regular domestic house-cat so that he goes unnoticed when trying to sneak around the castle and find the best moment to rob the royal family and disappear with the wind. Little does he know that the royal family also has a guard dog that roams around the castle making sure there is no activity of any mischievous behavior.

The presence of this guard dog evokes a bit of a challenge for Puss being that he did not already know that there would be a dog, let alone a guard dog, in the castle. In result, the dog does began to catch on to Puss’ rebellious plan and in doing so attempts to stop him and kicking him out of the castle. With Puss’ set of skills and the guard dog’s strong experience it is a brawl between the two animals to see who will leave empty handed.

Puss and Boots 

Link to picture

Bibliography: This story is part of the Lang's European Fairy Tales I unit. Story source: The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1889). 

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