A Woman's Search For The Magical Spindle

My project is a short story that deals with a woman's quest for love and marriage. The protagonist was born to a prostitute who died in childbirth, and a fairy king who curses her to dream of love but never find it. The story explores the protagonist's upbringing at an orphanage run by nuns, her unsuccessful first marriage that ends in her husband's death, and her eventual quest to rid herself of the curse. She interacts with many supernatural creatures that she must aid in performing a task they can't do for themselves due to their non-human nature. The protagonist's own non-human nature had been tamed due to her devout christian upbringing, and she perseveres until she ends up marrying a knight, along the way saving the life of the queen and her unborn child, and demonstrating her selflessness and honour. The story deals with issues such as purity, medieval ideas of womanhood, and hard work. I also created a mock illuminated manuscript for the first verse that depicts the 'author' of the story. I attempted to emulate the art style, colour palette, and visual motifs of the various illuminated manuscripts I encountered in my research. The art piece was done using pencil crayon and marker on sketching paper.

Isabella Foley