The Queen Mary Doll House is the largest, most famous and beautiful doll house in the world. It was created under the direction of the leading British architect Edwin Lutyens from 1921 to 1924, and includes the work of 1500 of the best artists, artisans and manufacturers of the early 20th century.

The idea for the house came from Maria Louise, cousin of George V, Queen Mary's husband. And despite the fact that the queen was 57 years old when she received this gift, the surprise came to the court. Queen Mary was an avid collector of miniature trinkets. Buckingham Palace became the prototype of a miniature masterpiece.
Many items in Queen Mary's House are replicas of the furniture and accessories of Windsor Castle. Interior details constantly remind that this is not just a rich house, but a royal residence. In the salon there are two silver thrones standing side by side, a collection of leather boxes for documents with gold embossing "The King" on each in the library and, of course, a specially equipped safe room for storing royal jewels

Have you read Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "How Watson Learned the Trick?" In it, Dr. Watson tries to apply the deductive method. But why is the story so short? All because it was intended for the library of Queen Mary's Dollhouse.

The author wrote 500 words of his work in a miniature book with his own hand. Especially for the miniature library, short stories and poems were written by other modern authors Chesterton, Kipling, Maugham, Joseph Conrad, Wit Sackville-West and others. Only Bernard Shaw refused to make a contribution to the education of dolls - he did not like such eccentricities

Everything in this palace is real and active. There is electricity and running water with cold and hot water. Everything works from elevators to drain barrels. In one of the rooms is a specially made authentic sewing machine from Zinger; clocks from "Cartier" decorate the living room and show the exact time; there are authentic Rolls-Royces in the garage, a tiny gramophone plays records, pianos sound.

The lodge also has a dressing room for the royal dress and miniature royal regalia with real diamonds.

In the dining room, a silver dinner service made by Garrad and Webb made the glasses. Queen Mary's dollhouse even had a wine cellar. The bottles were blown by Whitefriars Glass Co. Wine bottles were filled by women, it was believed that women had a firmer hand. The bottles reached 1.25 cm in height and were sealed with cork and sealing wax, labels were pasted on them, copies of the original ones and reduced with the help of a microphoto.

Wine Vault.

The imposing wine cellar was built by Berry Bros of St James's, London, established in 1698. The business of this oldest English company began with the trade in tea, coffee and exotic spices, later it became a supplier of wine to the Royal Court and in 1903 received its first Royal Order (the company has two in total) from King Edward VII. Not surprisingly, the dollhouse's wine cellar is a unique collection of over 1,200 champagnes, wines, spirits and beers.

The house is equipped with the latest technology of the time. There is electricity, running water, operating elevators. In the garage are chic Daimler limousines, Rolls Royce, and a 1923 Silver Ghost - a chic seven-seater limousine with working engines.

The interiors of the royal house are decorated with the Royal Arms of Great Britain. One of the most luxurious is at the head of the bed in the king's bedroom.

The coat of arms of the Gothic form, girded with a garter ribbon and embroidered on it with the motto of the Order of the Garter "Honi soit y mal y pense" (French. "Shame on him who thinks badly of this“) on both sides is supported by a crowned lion, personifying Scotland and chained unicorn, the symbol of Wales.Bottom is the motto of the monarch of Great Britain: "DIEU ET MON DROIT" (French for "God and my right").

The queen's bedroom contains the famous gramophone, which can be used to play records.

bathroom.

Between the royal bedrooms is a luxurious full bathroom. The bathroom is finished with green marble. As in all 5 bathrooms of the house, there is running water with hot and cold water, toilet bowls are equipped with drain mechanisms, even miniature toilet paper is not forgotten.

Kitchen.

The Queen Mary's Dollhouse houses a unique collection of paintings and drawings. Many of the miniature paintings are by well-known artists, including Sir William Orpn, Sir Alfred Munnings, Sir William Nicholson and Ambrose Msevoy, who made a copy of the portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the Dining Room of the German artist Franz Xavier Winterhalter 1846. These ceremonial portraits decorate the Puppet Hall's Dining Room Houses.

The house was completed in 1924 - 11 weeks before the British Empire International Exhibition, where it became the main exhibit and attracted more than 1.6 million visitors. In 1925, it was shown at the Ideal Home exhibition, after which it was moved to a specially equipped room at Windsor Castle, where it is located to this day.

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Analysis of the fairy tale by Hoffmann E. "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King"

The idea of ​​"The Nutcracker" was born as a result of Hoffmann's communication with the children of his friend Yu.E.G. Hitzig - Marie and Fritz (no wonder the heroes of the fairy tale bear their names). The writer often made toys for them for Christmas, and among them there could well be the so-called Nubknacker.

In direct translation, the German word Nubknacker means "nut cracker". Hence the ridiculous titles of the first Russian translations of the tale - "The Rodent of Nuts and the King of Mice", or even more so - "The History of Nutcrackers", although it is clear that Hoffmann clearly does not have any tongs. The Nutcracker was a mechanical doll popular in those days - a soldier with a large mouth, a curled beard and a pigtail at the back. A nut was put into the mouth, a pigtail twitched, the jaws closed - crack! - and the nut is split.

In The Nutcracker it is easy to see the duality of the plot characteristic of Hoffmann. You can believe in the wonderful events that take place in it, or you can easily attribute them to the fantasy of a girl who has played too much, which, in general, is what all adults do.

Speaking of composition, we note the presence of strong compositional positions, which traditionally include the beginning and end of the text. The beginning is like an invitation to a conversation, the ending is like a peak that allows you to review what you have read in a new way. Thus, the Christmas atmosphere set at the beginning of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann, leaves a special imprint on the entire development of the plot. The tale is built on the principle of "a story within a story", which are connected by two characters - the master Drosselmeyer and his nephew, the young Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg. In the foreground, in the present tense, the story unfolds before the reader's eyes about how Marie, the daughter of Stahlbaum's medical adviser, saves the Nutcracker, enchanted

young Drosselmeyer. Interspersed in this story is a story from the past about how the young Drosselmeyer turned into a freak Nutcracker, a tale of the hard nut Krakatuk and Princess Pirlipat.

From the very first chapter you are immersed in a mysterious, mysterious, fantastic world. You read a fairy tale, and your imagination draws a Christmas table full of wonderful gifts, a festive tree, a little girl Marie, a fabulous lake with beautiful swans. With anxiety, you flip through the pages that describe the battle between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker. The main characters of the work are Marie, the Nutcracker, Drosselmeyer and the Mouse King. Marie is a little girl of about seven years old, smart, kind, brave and determined. She is the only one who understood and loved the Nutcracker, who saw an honest and noble heart behind her unsightly appearance. Marie's love is selfless. Saving the Nutcracker during the fight, she, dying with fear, threw a shoe at the mice, and then, crying, gave them her favorite sugar dolls, if only they would not touch them.

The story of Marie and the Nutcracker completes and mirrors the story of Pirlipat and the Nutcracker. The evil fairy Myshilda turned the beautiful Pirlipat into an ugly monster. The young Drosselmeyer split the Krakatuk nut for the princess, eating the kernel of which, she returned to her beauty. But the evil Myshilda turned the young man into a freaky Nutcracker for this. According to the promise of the king, the father of the princess, the hero who will disenchant Pirlipat was to receive her hand and kingdom. However, when the poor youth appeared before the rescued princess in all his ugliness, “the princess covered her face with both hands and shouted:

“Get out, get out of here, you nasty Nutcracker!”

Marie saw the Nutcracker as a funny and not very foldable toy. “Looking carefully at the nice little man who fell in love with her at first sight, Marie noticed how good-natured his face shone.” Suddenly caught in a whirlpool of magical

events, Marie rescued the Nutcracker and helped him defeat the Mouse King. She learned that the Nutcracker is the king of a magical doll land. Having heard the godfather's story about the Krakatuk nut, Marie realized that the Nutcracker was the bewitched young Drosselmeyer. She is

continued to believe in this when everyone around laughed at her. Once Marie burst out aloud: “Ah, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer, if you really lived, I would not me you have lost your beauty!”. After this phrase, she suddenly lost consciousness, and when she woke up, she found out that a young nephew of Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg had just come to visit the Stahlbaums (that is, his human appearance returned to the Nutcracker). He thanks Marie and asks her

arms. The tale ends with a story about their wedding a year later and that "Marie, as they say, is still the queen in a country where, if only you have eyes, you will see everywhere sparkling candied groves, transparent marzipan castles - in a word, all kinds of miracles and curiosities. ”In literary works, the fairy tale“ The Nutcracker and the Mouse King ”is an intricate variation on the theme of the famous fairy tale motif“ Beauty and the Beast ”. There are usually three characters in the "Beauty and the Beast" plot scheme: the beauty heroine, the father, who gets the beauty involved in the story, and the monster, who turns out to be an enchanted prince and is saved by the beauty.

In The Nutcracker, the first storyline revolves around Marie, her godfather Drosselmeyer, and the Nutcracker, the bewitched young Drosselmeyer. In the second storyline - the tale of the Krakatuk nut - Princess Pirlipat, her father-king (because of whom the whole story is tied up and who shifts its development to

court magician Drosselmeyer), Drosselmeyer (involved in history, further occupying the position of father and, in turn, involving his nephew, the young Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg), and young Drosselmeyer.

Hoffmann, with his characteristic virtuosity and humor, plays with the "beauty and the beast" scheme. Beauty Pirlipat turns into a monster. Young Drosselmeyer (in the position of "handsome hero") disenchants the monster Pirlipat. For this, Myshilda turns him into a freak toy (the “monster” position). Beauty Pirlipat

should have saved him in return, but she banishes him. Marie (in position

"beautiful heroine") finds the Nutcracker ("monster") and disenchants him.

The beauty of Pirlipat is external. The first thing that is told about the princess in the fairy tale is that a beautiful daughter was born to the king, and then her lily-white face, azure eyes and golden hair are described. The tale shows that external beauty is unreliable and ungrateful.

Description of Marie's appearance in the course of the tale, almost to its very end, is not given at all, because it does not matter. The beauty of Marie and the young Drosselmeyer is internal, the beauty of the heart, which is saving and capable of working miracles. The clicker is described in the text "The large head looked ridiculous compared to the thin legs, and the cloak on the Nutcracker was narrow and funny, sticking out like a wooden one, and a miner’s cap was on his head. ”But the main thing in the Nutcracker is not his ugliness, but his inner world and his soul.

In the story of the Nutcracker, three different worlds come into contact and interact - the world of people, the world of mice and the world of dolls. The events of the tale take place at a specially designated time. The tale begins with the words: "December twenty-fourth ...". Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve, is associated with the time of waiting for a miracle in the Christian tradition, and

Christmas itself - with the time of the miracle. The fight between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King takes place after the clock has struck 12, the time symbol associated with tasks, often also twelve, that must be completed before the hero can be freed (similar to the twelve labors of Hercules,

For example).

The past (the story of Pirlipat and the Nutcracker) must end and be resolved "when the time comes" - in the present (the time of the story of Marie and the Nutcracker). And in the present itself, two different times also coexist: day (the world of everyday life of the Stahlbaum family of medical adviser) and night (when mice and dolls act, witness and

Marie becomes a participant). All these worlds and times are connected by Christian Elias Drosselmeyer. In the past, he was a court watchmaker and a miracle worker at the court of Princess Pirlipat's father. In the present, he is Marie's godfather, senior councilor of the court and a "great craftsman" who can fix watches and create amazing mechanical gifts for his friends. And in the past, and in the present, and among people, and among dolls, Drosselmeyer acts as a master of time and miracles.

The image of Drosselmeyer manifests itself as both a good and an evil beginning. Often he is embodied in the guise of a man - a wizard, an old man, a storyteller, sometimes in the form of supernatural beings - for example, gnomes, elves, goblin, etc., in a number of fairy tales - in the guise of a magical animal that behaves and talks like a person .

Usually the "spirit" appears when the hero is in a desperate situation and he himself could not get out of it without some additional knowledge or idea (which are, according to Jung, "spiritual functions").

In full accordance with this, Master Drosselmeyer first appears in The Nutcracker as "a little dark man with a large box under his arm," sneaking through the hallway of the Stahlbaums on Christmas Eve. In the form of a little puppet man, Drosselmeyer appears and disappears at the door of the puppet castle he made for Marie and Fritz. It is him that Marie unexpectedly sees sitting on the clock instead of an owl before the battle of dolls and mice. Drosselmeyer tells Marie a fairy tale about Princess Pirlipat and, as it were, “leads” her through the events: “Ah, dear Marie, you have been given more than me and all of us. You, like Pirlipat, are a born princess: you rule a beautiful, bright kingdom. But you will have to endure a lot if you take under your protection the poor freak Nutcracker! After all, the mouse king guards him on all paths and roads.

Know: not me, but you, you alone can save the Nutcracker. Be steadfast and dedicated."

There are magical objects in Hoffmann's tale: Marie's shoe and the Nutcracker's saber. Hoffmann disposes of them in his own way. The heroine is associated with magical objects. At the tragic moment of the battle, Marie, in order to save the Nutcracker, throws her shoe into the midst of mice, right at the king, and this decides the outcome of the battle. To the question of Fritz, Marie's brother, about

about why the Nutcracker, whom Drosselmeyer had repaired, did not have a saber, he grumbled angrily: “The Nutcracker's saber does not concern me. I cured him - let him get himself a saber wherever he wants. The Nutcracker will ask for Marie's saber, and she will find him a saber, with which he will then kill the Mouse King.

The beauty is a person from the real world, the monster is a creature from the conventional, fairy-tale world, which, thanks to the beauty, will return to the real world. In a monster state

his gender can generally be defined as “it.” When a beauty pities the monster, accepts him in his ugly form and voluntarily aloud confesses her affection and love for him, and they are married, the circle closes - the two are united into one. This is the traditional ending of many fairy tales. And that is why humanity loves “happy endings” so much, stories with a happy ending that returns us to our source, to wholeness.

There is another couple in Hoffmann's tale - the Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

In the fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" Hoffmann, like his character Drosselmeyer, clearly enjoyed talking about imaginary and real beauty, about how sheer nonsense (like throwing a shoe at mice) can have great consequences, and about how as

worlds and times coexist and intersect very close. Accordingly, romance and parody intertwined in Hoffmann's text, creating a story intended for those who "have eyes" and who are able to see "... all sorts of miracles and curiosities."

The tale ends with the victory of good against evil, hope over unbelief, patience over indifference. As a reward for everything, Marie not only becomes a friend of the Nutcracker, but also in real life meets the nephew of Councilor Drosselmeyer - her love. Thus, Hoffmann tells us that kindness, patience, care, sensitivity, courage, and faith can overcome any evil and make a person truly happy.

Description of work

The idea of ​​"The Nutcracker" was born as a result of Hoffmann's communication with the children of his friend Yu.E.G. Hitzig - Marie and Fritz (no wonder the heroes of the fairy tale bear their names). The writer often made toys for them for Christmas, and among them there could well be the so-called Nubknacker.
In direct translation, the German word Nubknacker means "nut cracker". Hence the ridiculous titles of the first Russian translations of the tale - "The Rodent of Nuts and the King of Mice", or even more so - "The History of Nutcrackers", although it is clear that Hoffmann clearly does not have any tongs. The Nutcracker was a mechanical doll popular in those days - a soldier with a large mouth, a curled beard and a pigtail at the back. A nut was put into the mouth, a pigtail twitched, the jaws closed - crack! - and the nut is split.

In German romanticism, it is difficult to find a more controversial artist than Hoffmann. Lawyer, composer, music critic, cartoonist, writer, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann is known for his romantic, fantastical and fabulous, often scary stories. Hoffmann's tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", published in 1816, is bright and festive.

Christmas tree

On December 24, around Christmas, the children of Stahlbaum's adviser - Marie and Fritz - were strictly forbidden to enter the room with the Christmas tree. Fritz, when it was completely dark, saw a small man secretly running into the rooms, who was holding a large box. Marie clapped her hands, and the children began to speculate what their godfather Drosselmeyer would give them this time. Fritz dreamed of soldiers, and Marie dreamed of a beautiful lake with swans. But Fritz practically said that he liked his parents' toys better because they were playable, and the godfather's gifts were put away by the adults so that the children wouldn't break them. This is how Hoffmann begins the tale. "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", a brief summary of which will show that events will go completely serene, will be considered by us further.

Gifts

In the evening, the doors opened for the children, and a Christmas tree shone in front of them, all hung with toys.

There were dolls, hussars and a new dress, which Marie certainly wanted to wear, and a horse on which Fritz was already galloping. But then the children were solemnly led to the table, on which stood the castle, made by Drosselmeyer. And the children quickly became bored: the dolls repeated the same movements all the time. They returned to their gifts. And then Marie saw the Nutcracker, which seemed to her just wonderful.

Her father explained to her that the little man was cracking nuts. Marie began to choose the smallest ones so as not to break it, but Fritz chose the strongest and largest nut - krak, and three of Nutcracker's teeth broke. Marie wrapped the poor fellow in a scarf and began to cradle.

This is how Hoffmann continues the story. "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (summary) tells that you just need to be able to love and care and not offend anyone.

Wonders

Before going to bed, and it was already approaching midnight, the children put their toys away in a cupboard with glass doors. Fritz quickly went to bed, and Marie asked permission to stay a little longer. She carefully laid the Nutcracker in the bed and moved it to Fritz's shelf, to the hussars. And suddenly a quiet rustling and whispering began throughout the room. The clock came to life and struck twelve, dull and hoarse. Marie was scared when she saw that Drosselmeyer was sitting on the clock next to the owl. And giggles, running around and stomping were heard from everywhere, and mice with luminous eyes crawled out from under the floor from all the cracks. They were countless hordes that lined up in strict order. And at the feet of Marie, breaking through the floor, a huge mouse with seven heads, on which there were golden crowns, crawled out. This continues the tale of Hoffmann. “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (a brief summary is being considered by us) is becoming more and more intense in terms of plot. Marie was very frightened, but she heard behind her the order to form a platoon.

At the command of the Nutcracker, who was very handsome and sparkling all over, all the puppets went into battle for victory.

Battle

All the regiments came forward, the gunners fired. Dragees and gingerbread flew into the mice. But the mice kept coming. Both armies fought fiercely. The mice have more and more new powers. The Nutcracker army retreated to the sofa. Mice clung to his cloak, and the mouse king jumped up to him. The situation was critical. Marie hit the mouse king by throwing her shoe at him and fainted. The fairy tale (Hoffmann) “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, a brief summary is presented here, makes you wonder, what is it about?

Disease

In the morning, Marie woke up in her bed, and all her stories about the great battle between dolls and mice were taken for nonsense and illness.

Her godfather visited her and brought the Nutcracker, whom he corrected, and told the tale of how a lovely princess named Pirlipat was born, who was guarded by many nannies. In honor of the birth of the princess, a feast was arranged, at which Queen Myshilda appeared without an invitation and ate all the fat intended for making sausages. Drosselmeyer promised to expel Myshilda from the palace forever with the help of machines. Many relatives of the mouse queen died in them, and she promised to avenge them. Myshilda snuck into the princess's bed and - oh horror! - spoiled the beauty. Her mouth became, on top of everything else, huge, and she cracked nuts all the time. To restore her to her former appearance, it was necessary to gnaw and eat the Krakatuk nut.

But first he had to be found. Drosselmeyer's nephew not only found this nut, but also cracked it, and the princess, having eaten the nucleolus, became a beauty. But the young man himself turned into the Nutcracker. Myshilda died, but she left a seven-headed son. If the Nutcracker destroys it and a beautiful lady falls in love with him, then he will again become a handsome young man. The content of the book "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" encourages you to think about the many obstacles in the way of someone who wants to become a man.

Victory

And the mice behaved impudently at night. They gnawed Marie's toys and books. One night, the mouse king climbed onto the girl's shoulder. But the Nutcracker, with the help of Marie, obtained a saber with which he destroyed the evil mouse king, and presented Marie with all his crowns. The Nutcracker led Marie through a fox fur coat to the magical Land of Sweets. There was a Candy Meadow, and an Orange Stream, and a Pink Lake, through which the dolphins delivered Marie and the Nutcracker to the capital - Konfetenburg. This is really a magical kind story - the content of the fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by Hoffmann.

Morning

No one believed Marie that she had been to the Marzipan Castle and had seen enough of all sorts of miracles. About the crowns, the godfather said that this was his old gift to Marie. And then the foldable and pleasant nephew of the godfather appeared, who presented Fritz with a new saber, and Marie with an injection. He confessed to Marie that he was no longer the Nutcracker and invited her to leave for his country. A year later, he took her to a state full of miracles and curiosities.

This concludes the tale and its brief retelling. “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, written by Hoffmann, asks us many questions, for example, why, as children, everyone rejoices and mourns directly and where it all then disappears.

E. T. A. Hoffmann "The Nutcracker". Many of us are familiar with this fairy tale from early childhood, others learned about it through cartoons or attending a ballet. One way or another, the story of a prince turned into a toy is known to almost everyone. Let's talk about this work in more detail.

About the work

Hoffmann published the fairy tale story "The Nutcracker" in 1816 in the collection "Children's Tales". When creating the work, the writer was greatly influenced by the children of his friend, who bore the names of Marie and Fritz. That is how Hoffman called his main characters.

"The Nutcracker": a summary. tie

Outside on December 25, the children of Stahlbaum, the medical adviser, Marie and Fritz are sitting in their bedroom waiting for gifts that are under the tree in the living room. The girl eagerly wants to know what her godfather will come up with for her this year - he made a toy for Marie with his own hands for every Christmas. However, the girl understands that the gifts of her parents are much better, since they are not taken away immediately after the holiday.

Under the tree, children find many gifts. Among other things, Mari notices a toy designed to crack nuts, which was made in the form of a smartly dressed person. At this moment we get acquainted with the main character of the fairy tale "The Nutcracker". Summary, unfortunately, cannot convey the joy of the girl at the sight of this toy. Marie took him under her care and gave him only the smallest nuts to crack. However, Fritz specifically selected the largest and hardest, which led to damage to the toy. Then the girl hid the Nutcracker from Fritz and constantly carried it with her.

The appearance of the Mouse King

We continue to describe the summary of The Nutcracker. One evening, Marie plays with dolls for too long. Her brother goes to bed, the girl is left alone in the room. As the clock strikes midnight, a muffled rustle begins in the living room, mice appear from everywhere. A huge seven-headed mouse in crowns is selected from under the floor - the Mouse King. Marie is pressed against the wall in fright. The mouse army begins to attack her.

Marie breaks the closet door, which scares the rodents. But the broken cabinet immediately begins to glow. Toys come to life. The Nutcracker gathers an army and leads it into battle with mice.

The battle begins. At first, the army of toys is moving forward successfully. But gradually the mice begin to win. The toys take heavy casualties while their generals retreat. The Nutcracker is in the clutches of the enemy. The mouse king rushes at him, but Marie, wanting to save her favorite toy, throws her shoe right at the leader of the rodents.

After that, the girl loses consciousness.

Story

The work "The Nutcracker" tells the story of a little girl (a summary is presented in this article).

So Marie regains consciousness in her bed. Next to her is Dr. Wendelstern. A mother appears who scolds the girl for her willfulness. Marie learns that she was found in the blood among the scattered toys, and in her hand she was clutching the Nutcracker. Adults, having heard the girl's story about what happened at night, thought that she had dreamed everything.

Marie spends several days in bed. The godfather comes to the girl and brings the "cured" Nutcracker. He asks Marie to forget about mice and tell a story.

"The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" has an interesting structure. In fact, this is a fairy tale within a fairy tale. Such a technique is characteristic only for a literary work and is impossible in folk art.

The story of the little princess Pirlipat begins. A holiday was being prepared in the kingdom, but the mice climbed into the storerooms and ate sausage lard. The court watchmaker Drosselmeyer set up mousetraps in which many rodents died. Then Myshilda, the mouse queen, turned the princess into an ugly creature. Then the court astrologer calculated that only the Krakatuk nut, which can only be split by a single young man, can restore the beauty of Pirlipat.

Drosselmeyer, along with the astrologer, soon found a nut. But not a single prince managed to gnaw it. Then Drosselmeyer's nephew got down to business. The young man helped the princess restore her beauty, but Myshilda prevented the end of the ceremony. The old mouse died, but turned the young man into the Nutcracker. The astrologer predicted that the young man's curse would end the moment a beautiful girl fell in love with him and he defeated the Mouse King.

Marie's torment

Marie believes that this story actually happened. Now she understands why the Nutcracker and the Mouse King had to fight. The Mouse King comes to the girl and begins to blackmail her, demanding sugar dolls and marzipan. Then Fritz offers his sister to borrow a cat from a baker for a while, and his father asks to simply arrange the mousetraps.

The Mouse King torments Mari again. He asks her to give him a beautiful Christmas dress and a picture book. Then the girl complains to the Nutcracker - soon she will have nothing left, and then she will have to give herself away. After that, the toy comes to life and asks not to worry about anything and get a saber for him. The next night, the Nutcracker challenges the Mouse King to a fight, wins, and gives Marie his seven crowns.

denouement

The tale "The Nutcracker" comes to an end. The protagonist in the guise of a doll leads Marie to a wardrobe, from where they enter a magical land. The Nutcracker takes the girl to the Pink Lake and introduces her to her beautiful sisters, whom she helps to grind golden nuts in a mortar.

Marie wakes up, her parents laugh at her bizarre dreams. Once, while talking with her godfather, the girl confesses that she would never have abandoned the Nutcracker because of her deformity. After these words, a crack is heard. In fright, the girl falls from her chair. The curse is broken. A beautiful young man appears before Marie, who proposes to her, and a year later they leave for the Doll Kingdom.

The heroine of the fairy tale "The Nutcracker"

Marie is a little girl who is full of compassion, kindness, determination and courage. She is the only one who manages to unravel the true nature of the Nutcracker. That is why Marie takes the toy under her protection. Sincere feelings of the girl save the main character.

Queen Consort of Great Britain Mary, nee Princess of Teck, was the wife of King George V, the mother of Kings Edward VIII and George VI, the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. She became a real personification of royal dignity and chic.


Princess Mary of Teck

In England there is something like a saying - "love people and use things" (Love people and use things). But Queen Mary understood it a little differently - she passionately loved beautiful things and used people. She was always inspired by the sight of a beautiful thing. At the same time, Mary was rather stingy. She never particularly hid her passion for the beautiful and expensive, saying: "... they (beautiful things) always caress my eyes." She constantly replenished the royal collection with beautiful jewelry, furniture, items from Faberge, expensive watches, jewelry boxes. The queen was not always ready to pay for numerous beauty: sometimes it all started with an insistent request, then it could turn to extortion, less often it came to theft (which, of course, was carefully hidden). Not surprisingly, Queen Mary was very fond of visiting India, where the maharajas gave her truly luxurious jewelry.

Princess Mary's mother is Princess Mary, Duchess of Teck. She was nicknamed "Fat Mary" for her fullness.

Mary with her husband, firstborn Edward, and parents

The Queen often visited antique dealers and jewelers. They were truly afraid of her - and diligently hid their best things. If she especially liked some thing, she persistently hinted that she would like to receive it as a gift. Naturally, its owner had no other choice and he gave this thing to the queen. Then the faithful driver took Mary's next acquisition to the royal Daimler.
But there was a case when the queen met with resistance. One day she stopped by for tea with old Lady Hudson. The Queen was especially pleased with the chairs of the old lady: they were upholstered in silk, which was hand-painted by Angelica Kauffman. Queen Mary hinted that these chairs would have matched the table that was in her collection. Without a shadow of a doubt, Lady Hudson smiled and continued the conversation without offering chairs to the Queen. As time went. The queen continued to drink tea, the sun had already set. But the queen gave no sign of leaving.
As time went. Finally, when the clock struck 9 (!) in the evening, Lady Hudson gave in. So the Kauffman chairs ended up in the royal collection.
It is not known for certain, but there were rumors that if the queen did not receive the thing she liked, then she simply stole it.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a person's expensive things could easily determine his status - in this Queen Mary succeeded more than anyone else.


Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of York, 6 July 1893. The wedding took place in the church of St. James's Palace.

Mary was born to the Duke and Duchess of Teck. The family was not very rich, Queen Victoria helped her relative, mother Mary. The family did not live by means. When the Teck family was declared bankrupt, it infuriated Queen Victoria. The family already lived to help the queen - they occupied one of the apartments in Kensington Palace. To avoid scandal, the Tecks left London. Mary of Teck completed her education in Italy. Years passed and the family returned to London.
At this time, Queen Victoria was looking for a bride for her grandson, second in line to the British throne. Mary became the bride of Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence, but shortly before the wedding, the groom died. Despite the opposition of Alexandra, Princess of Wales, Mary married Prince George, Duke of York. They say that it was Queen Victoria who made this choice, because she saw the potential of the queen in Mary. After the death of Edward VII in 1910, Mary became Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India.

Mary Duchess of York

Mary with older children, future kings, George VI and Edward VIII

Mary, Duchess of Cornwall, Princess of Wales at the coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, 1902

Mary, Princess of Wales

Having become queen, Mary began to demonstrate to everyone the full potential of the queen, which Victoria once saw in her. She considered it her duty to outshine all contemporary queens. In this, she tried to be so perfect that contemporaries noted that she gradually began to lose her humanity. Every evening she always wore a tiara and jewelry for dinner, even if she dined exclusively with her husband. She loved jewelry so passionately that she looked like, as they say, a Christmas tree. There was even an anecdote about this at one time. At Lord Harewood's wedding, the myopic Mr. Foster bowed to a tall and over-decorated cake, mistaking it for Queen Mary.

Queen Mary of Great Britain and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium

King George V and Queen Mary

Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary. There is a known case when, having become Dowager Queen Alexandra, she did not want to give Mary the decorations of the crown for use. Her son and husband, George V, intervened and Mary received the decorations. Her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, as queen consort, never managed to fully get her hands on the crown jewels - even after the coronation of George VI, they remained in the use of Queen Mary

Mary with her husband and children