The "Pragmatical" Princess

Nisi Shawl’s The Pragmatical Princess is a modern bestiary: “a medieval allegorical or moralizing work on the appearance and habits of real or imaginary animals,” (Merriam Webster). The prevalent connotation of the word “bestiary” involves an array of different tales; however as noted above a single tale can also be defined as such. Shawl’s bestiary is an ambiguous story concerning a dragon and a Muslim princess. Their identities, circumstance, and conversations are not for the purpose of escapism entertainment or furthering the genre of fantasy; upon scrutiny the story contains pragmatic moralizing concerned with bigotry, feminism, freedom, religion, correlations and causations, education, colonization, wisps of wisdom, and the very notion of living. And while escapism entertainment or fantasy (or any genre for that matter) can never fully escape ideas of morality and living, Shawl’s tale is of a philosophical nature, hence “bestiary”.

The tale begins when a princess, legs and arms chained to stone, meets a dragon and is freed from bondage with his aid. The dragon flies the princess back to his lair; conversing, the dragon learns the princess is an intended sacrifice for him, because her Father the King seeks to conquer the whole of France as a result of his mania (Greek: “μανία" (mania), “madness, frenzy”) and endangers the dragon because of potential colonization (creating a large surplus of food with “an abominably high salt content”) and slaughter.

The princess names the dragon Aegyptus because he is the very seat of reason; his name is important, because it symbolizes reason, “Finally at my age, consuming large quantities of humans is a luxury I simply can no longer afford,” as the princess symbolizes pragmatic thinking, “But in my experience of religious claims they are all ‘true’ and all similarly singular in this truth”… And pragmatically speaking I have been throughout my life a follower of the prophet Mohammed. But now that I am here with you, I should no doubt subscribe to some more dragonish creed.” It is pragmatic to practice another’s religion within their home/culture because there is truth within all religion; such a practice thwarts violence and is respectful. Rational persons have reason, and “the retention of fluids which inevitably results when we succumb is damaging to our delicate constitution,”- when we as people (with reason) continue to wage cannibalism against each other’s lives, ideals we injure and maim our physical, emotional, and spiritual selves. The princess persuades the dragon to convert to Islam so he is not forced to flee and together they drop a scroll at her father’s war camp detailing the dragon’s conversion.

Islam is a religion with currents of misogyny; the shackles chaining the princess to the rock are symbols of these currents. The dragon, representative of reason, yells to the princess, “Patience!” Patience is often a virtue which is often hard to endure amidst oppression, “The Princess Ousmani wondered when, if ever, some other virtue would be urged upon her, such as courage or resourcefulness,”- Nisi Shawl urges the message of patience towards Islamic women and a message of responsibility towards rational people of the world to melt their bindings or else the princess’ “lions will be the battlefield” between malevolent Muslim extremists such as her father and Imam (a Muslim leader of the line of Ali held by Shiites) and Caliph (a successor of Muhammad as temporal and spiritual head of Islam).

One minute wisdoms are everywhere in the modern world: Facebook statuses, billboards, home décor, gas stations, etc. Many are cliché but it is important to remember they become cliché because of universal declaration and acceptance. Shawl’s story contains many: “Though rejecting as false the conclusion that because offerings made to a dragon disappeared, ergo there must be a dragon” “If my perceptions remain unclouded by expectations of any sort, the possibilities inherent in the moment will present themselves to me with much more readiness” “Let us see what wisdom sleep procures” “If breath alone meant life.” These snippets of wisdom are indeed one minute wisdoms, but who of us can say a good night’s sleep doesn’t sometimes help in the formulation of a decision? Within these miniature sentiments there are metaphors, “‘Will you plunder me of my books, then?” “Not I, but mice and insects have made a very good start. You should keep a cat.”’ The books (plays, infidel doctrines, histories) contain ideas, and the suggestion of a cat is the suggestion of an education. An education prevents such harmful pests as bigotry from plundering reasoned peoples of differing ideas and doctrines.

It is useless to examine religion with science, “The princess was not afraid of darkness. But conditions made a scientific program of exploration impossible,”- the princess is pragmatic; she understands religion’s purpose is often to explain the unexplainable in physical and human nature: darkness. We cannot scientifically argue any religion’s truth over another, because religion does not concern itself with science as mythological literature does not concern itself with natural truths: historical accuracies, physical limitations, etc.

Nisi Shawls’ The Pragmatical Princess confronts various problems within Islam and all religions; she offers a “pragmatic” solution which calls for oppressed peoples to be patient, reasoned peoples to aid the oppressed, and conversion towards a differing doctrine when the benefits of doing so trump opposition. Nisi Shawl’s ideas however are not original and are reminiscent of the White moderate within the Civil Rights Movement.

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter to Birmingham Jail he writes, “I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes.” Shawl’s tale deals merely with effects; she does not seek to wrestle with the underlying causes of mania but rather suggests a flight response as opposed to a fight response. King writes, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”Misogynist Islamic extremists will not stop the subjugation against women unless the women and others demand it; Shawl hopes for reasoned peoples to demand women’s liberation and asks the oppressed to be patient. She forgets the virus of apathy within America. How can one ask the oppressed to be patient, “when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society?” The oppressed cannot simply wait out their oppression in hopes the world will utilize their reason and come to their need.

Lastly King writes in his letter, “I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection,” The ideas of the White moderate are very similar to the ideas proposed by Nisi Shawl. The solution is not to be patient; the solution is to demand freedom. The solution is not to convert to another’s religion in their midst for safety; the solution is to learn how to live with another culture’s or persons’ religion in the same setting as your own. The solution lies in the problem of mania; the pragmatical princess and dragon of reason should not adhere to the King’s whims out of fear, because such a solution is neither practical or of reason for the underlying cause will continue to persist.

Nisi Shawl’s Pragmatical Princess is very alike to Catherynne M. Valente’s In the Night Garden. The Pragmatical Princess is queer as it is a modern day bestiary; In the Night Garden is also a bestiary of sorts. It is a collection of tales involving beasts, and the tales are allegorical and moralizing. In the Night Garden addresses Kings, lay persons, life and death, magic, the creation of the world, issues of respect, and differing ideals of morality. It is a bestiary of sorts but not completely; the best definition would be mythological literature.

The Pragmatical Princess is written with fantastic descriptions, “Its irises were formed like slits, as were the nostrils from her own, from which an occasional wisp of steam escaped,” but the descriptions are not purple; they do not command attention to themselves, causing a distraction between reader and text because within the description there is action whereas Valente’s descriptions dictate the action and go on with “like.” The reader can easily bypass a simile in Valente’s sentence formulations, losing only a description not necessary to the story but to the mood. If one skips Shawl’s descriptions, they lose vital information necessary to the story. Her description indicates the physical nearness between the Princess and the Dragon.

The Pragmatical Princess is philosophical in intention and therefore unlike any other text we have read in class. The graphic novels addressed many issues as did Shawl, but in the manner of a long story with illustration. And The Arabian Nights was inspiration for Valente’s In the Night Garden. However the length (4690 words) and philosophical nature of The Pragmatical Princess allows it to carve out its own niche within the texts we have read for class.