Girl in a Cage

Mahala DeHart

“Girl in a Cage”

Jane Yolen & J. Harris

Main Characters:

• Marjorie- Marjorie is the main character of the story and also the narrator. She is a 11 year old little girl who becomes the princess of Scotland and gets captured by the English king and help in a cage on public display.
• King Robert- Robert De Bruce is Marjorie’s loving father who is the new King of Scotland.  
• Elizabeth- Elizabeth is Marjorie’s stepmother. Marjorie and Elizabeth don’t get along much because they don't know each other that well.   
• Isabel- Isabel is a strong willed adult who becomes Marjorie’s roll model.
• Enid- Is a friend who Marjorie makes throughout the story who bring Marjorie food while she is locked in the cage.

Main Conflict:

• The main conflict in the story is when England invaded Scotland. During this England’s soldiers capture Marjorie to use her as randsome to try and bring the King out of hiding.

During Marjorie’s capture she was constantly tormented by the English villagers and

           some nights the English King, King Longshanks, would come and torment her as well.

Quotes:

• “In Scotland they would serve this hot. And they would add a pinch of salt.”

This quote shows some differences the English and Scottish had then and it also shows

how poorly they treated Marjorie while she was locked up.

• “Will he not be angry with you for what you have done?” “He will if he can catch me”

This was Isabel’s response to Marjorie’s question regarding Isabel’s husband being

angry at her for helping fight in a war.  This quote is significant because it shows that

Isabel is almost one of a kind.  In the 1300’s women did not disobey men, especially

their husbands. This is also an evident reason Marjorie saw Isabel as a role model, she

did what she pleased.

Historical Accuracy:

• During this time, the 1300’s, there really was a King of England named King Edward. He is significant because without him there Scotland would not have been invaded.
• In the 1300’s there was also a king of Scotland named King Robert, he is important to the story because without him there would be no story because there would be no Marjorie and he would not become king and take on England.
• Not only were both kings real people but they also rebelled  just like in the book.

If there were no rebellion then Marjorie would never have been captured.

Success of the Book:

• This book isn’t too widely known but it is successful. It scored a 3.7 out of 5 on the  “Goodreads” and personally I enjoyed the book a lot more than I expected.

Author:

• Jane Yolen fell in love with Scotland a long time ago and spends a lot of time there. Her and Robert J. Harris collaborated on a novel about the daughter of Robert De Bruce which came to be “Girl in a Cage”