ella enchanted excerpts

[hyojungss]

✧ @/likewaterising · Feb 11, 2024
delicious reasons for repression
- trauma (kanej, netteflix)
- duty before love (nysc, royai, zoyalai)
- afraid to care more than the other (bubbline)
- what you have is too precious to lose (soljiwan)
- idealizing love and not seeing it for what it is (anne/gilbert, jess/rory)

✧ @/likewaterising · Mar 19, 2024
just finished rereading ella enchanted which is 'what you have is too precious to lose' and then 'duty before love' 🥹❤️ that's romance omg

ngl i cannot remember what inspired me today to be like. i really want to reread ella enchanted but i just pulled it up on libby and started reading it. it's soooooo good... i figured it was somewhat of a repression narrative by nature of curse you cannot talk about but i forgot how good of a romance it really is. also i need to rewatch the movie which i know is different from the book but i will do that later.

(maybe i was just thinking about 20th century girl again. 20th century girl is loyalty (friendship) before love. man.... there are truly so many kinds of repression and yet only these at their core. it still surprises me how well this model fits my favorite ships.)

libby said it took me 2 hours and 48 minutes to read... T___T isn't it sad that all i know how to read now is tween books that i already loved as a kid? i think it's because i know a book written for kids is allowed to be cheesy but i would not tolerate this in anything new i read.

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CHAPTER TWO

Did he expect me to come with him? Was I supposed to maintain a suitable distance from his royal self?

With enough room for a carriage to pass between us, I walked at his side. He moved closer. I saw he had been crying too, although he had stayed upright and clean.

"You can call me Char," he told me suddenly. "Everyone else does."

I could? We walked in silence.

"My father calls me Char too," he added.

The king!

"Thank you," I said.

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highlights of this chapter: ella (15) meets char (prince charmont, 17) at her mother's funeral. she runs off after she cries in front of everyone and he goes to find her. he reveals that he liked her mother because she had a sense of humor and that he's heard funny stories about ella from his cook. he helps her get into her carriage and she rips her skirt, so he laughs, after which ella's father is extremely stoic and says, "Your mother was beautiful. I'm sorry she's dead."

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CHAPTER SIX

I wanted to make him laugh again.

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highlights of this chapter: ella's father had just told her she had to go to finishing school to fix her clumsiness and rebellious streak. she decided to go to the menagerie to make the most of her remaining time in frell. she coincidentally meets char at the herd of centaurs and tells a joke that makes him laugh. they walk together and she wants to make him laugh again. once she does, he says, "I like you. I'm quite taken with you." but in a friend way :)

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CHAPTER SEVEN

On our way out of the menagerie, Char said, "Tonight I shall triple the guard around the ogres. And soon I shall catch a centaur and give it to you."

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highlights of this chapter: ella, who is cursed by a fairy to obey every order given to her, almost delivers a baby gnome to a persuasive ogre predator before char stops her. ella uses her skill with languages to bring the child home. char promises her a centaur!

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CHAPTER NINE & TEN

'Yesterday, you had a grander visitor, and received a bigger gift than a bird. The prince himself came to see you, leading a centaur colt. When I told him you were away from home, he wanted to know where you'd gone and when you'd be back. And when he heard you were at finishing school, he was indignant. He demanded to know why you needed to be finished since there was nothing wrong with you to start with. I couldn't answer him because I'd like to ask that father of yours the same question.'

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highlights of this chapter: ella is miserable on the journey to finishing school because the two rich girls she has been traveling with figured out that she's cursed to obey every command. but she meets a girl named areida, the daughter of innkeepers from a neighboring country, and they become best friends. her fairy godmother mandy, who cooks for her household, shares a letter with ella through her magic book telling her about char's visit.

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CHAPTER TWELVE

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highlights of this chapter: one of the evil girls orders ella to stop being friends with areida. because ella is forbidden to tell others of the curse, the thought of hurting areida breaks ella's heart, even more than the thought of losing areida herself. ella finds out via the magic book that char is going to hunt ogres on military duty, and that her father is headed towards a wedding where the fairy that cursed her might be. she chooses to run away, in the hopes of both getting the curse reversed and keeping areida's friendship.

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN & FOURTEEN

I wondered if I would meet Char on his way to the Fens. I liked thinking he might be near, but whether he was ahead of me or behind, or whether he had taken this route at all, I had no idea, and I wished my magic book had told me more.

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highlights of this chapter: ella sets off on her journey to the wedding and finds help from the elves, but then gets captured by ogres planning to eat her.

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Char said that one of the knights, acting as a scout, had seen me. "He reported that a band of ogres was about to eat a maiden when she talked them to sleep. How did you do it?"

"I told them about finishing school, and they began to snore."

"Truly?" Char stared at me, then laughed.

It was delightful to make him laugh. He was always so surprised.

[...]

Char caught the horse's bridle. "Will you soon be in Frell again?"

"If Father doesn't send me back to finishing school, and if he doesn't want me to travel with him." Why did he want to know? Did he want me to be? "Why do you ask?"

He didn't answer directly. "I should be back shortly. These maneuvers never last long." He spoke as though he'd been on thousands.

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highlights of this chapter: char and his group of knights come upon ella and they work together to tame them, again using ella's knack for languages. they have a very sweet conversation, and ella heads to the wedding with one of the knights.

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"He's smart and he's steady, the prince is," Sir Stephan continued. "Too steady, maybe. Too serious, maybe. He laughs when there's something to laugh at, but he doesn't play enough. He's been with the king's councillors too much." Sir Stephan was quiet for a rare moment. "He laughed more in a morning with you than in two weeks with us. He should frolic with the young folks more, but they're on their best behavior with a prince." He turned his head. "Except for you, little lady."

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highlights of this chapter: ella and the knight talk on the journey about her and the prince from his perspective.

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CHAPTER NINETEEN

I fell asleep telling myself stories in which I was the heroine and Edmund the hero. But my last conscious idea was an image of Prince Char when he'd caught the bridle of Sir Stephan's horse. His face had been close to mine. Two curls had spilled onto his forehead. A few freckles dusted his nose, and his eyes said he was sorry for me to go.

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highlights of this chapter: after a failure to escape the curse at the wedding, ella goes home with her father and is magically manipulated into falling for an older suitor. even then she thinks about char.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Thinking of Father's scheme to marry me off, I said, "Sometimes people are forced into wedlock. If they must marry, perhaps it's better if they must love."

He frowned. "Do you think so? I don't."

I spoke without considering. "It doesn't matter for you. You can marry anyone."

"And you cannot?" I blushed, furious with myself for almost giving the curse away. "I suppose I can," I muttered. "We're both too young to marry, in any case."

"Are we?" He grinned. "I'm older than you are."

"I am then," I said defiantly.

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highlights of this chapter: ella's father remarries but deceives his new wife about his financials. ella chooses to hide away in the wedding venue and char finds her there, having just returned from his duties. they skip out on the ball in order to investigate the castle. they find glass slippers and then dance to the floating sounds of the orchestra... char tells her he is to spend a year in the neighboring country of ayortha but asks her if they can write to each other. then they have fun sliding down the stair railing and get caught by her family. :_)

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

'Not many of my imagined conversations are with the duke. Most of them are with you.

I know what I would say if I were in Frell. I'd tell you at least three times how glad I was to see you. I'd speak more about Ayortha (and with fewer complaints), and I'd describe my trip here, especially our adventure when one of the packhorses shied at a rabbit and tore off. But then I might turn Ayorthaian and trail off into silence, lost in smiling at you.

The trouble is, I can't guess at your response. You surprise me so often. I like to be surprised, but if I could supply your answers with confidence, I might miss you less. The remedy is obvious. You must write to me again and quickly. And again, and more quickly.'

[...]

Sometimes I wondered what would happen if I told Char that I was just the right age to marry. With each of his letters I fell more in love with him. But I couldn't tell him. If I said I was old enough to marry and his question had only been the continuation of a good joke, he would be horribly embarrassed and our easy friendship would be ruined. He might stop writing, which I couldn't endure. If he wasn't jesting, it was for him to say so. Until then or never, I treasured our correspondence.

[...]

Dear Ella,

Impatience is not usually my weakness. But your letters torment me. They make me long to saddle my horse and ride to Frell, where I would make you explain yourself. They are playful, interesting, thoughtful, and (occasionally) serious. I'm overjoyed to receive them, yet they bring misery. You say little of your daily life, I have no idea how you occupy yourself. I don't mind; I enjoy guessing at the mystery. But what I really long to know you do not tell either: what you feel, although I've given you hints by the score of my regard.

You like me. You wouldn't waste time or paper on a being you didn't like. But I think I've loved you since we met at your mother's funeral. I want to be with you forever and beyond, but you write that you are too young to marry or too old or too short or too hungry -- until I crumple your letters up in despair, only to smooth them out again for a twelfth reading, hunting for hidden meanings.

Father asks frequently in his letters whether I fancy any Ayorthaian young lady or any in our acquaintance at home. I say no. I suppose I'm confessing another fault: pride. I don't want him to know that I love if my affections are not returned.

You would charm him, and mother too. They would be yours completely. As I am.

What a beautiful bride you'll be, whomever you marry at whatever age. And what a queen if I am the man! Who has your grace? Your expression? Your voice? I could extol your virtues endlessly, but I want you to finish reading and answer me quickly.

Today I cannot write of Ayortha or my doings or anything. I can only post this and wait.

Love (it is such relief to pen the word!), love, love--

Char



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highlights of this chapter: when ella's stepmother finds out her new husband is poor and that ella will obey anything, she banishes ella to the role of a servant. char comes to her home twice to see her before he leaves, but her stepsister orders her to stay in her room. ella starts exchanging letters with char with the help of her fairy godmother, hiding the reality of her situation. char shares stories of ayortha but also always asks her if she is still too young to marry - as a joke. it's literally haha jk unless... char also includes stories about his experiences as royalty and confides in her about his flaws. six months into his leave, he sends her a MARRIAGE PROPOSAL. i'm in shambles and ruins.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

"Stop calling me 'Lady.' You used to call Mother that."

"Now you're a lady too. If you'd put yourself first and married the prince, someone would have come along to harm him and Kyrria, sure as cabbages. You're a heroine, sweet."

"I'd rather be his wife." The tears welled up again, and I threw myself across Mandy's bed.

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highlights of this chapter: ella is so happy about the thought of marrying char and escaping her situation at home until she realizes how much of a threat her curse is to his life and the kingdom he's supposed to rule. she tries so hard to think of any possible options that would protect him that would still allow them to be together and she can't think of one. so she writes him a letter from her stepsister's point of view telling him that she's eloped with a rich man and she never cared about him. T_______________T he doesn't want to believe it is real but is convinced by ella's words - because she knows how he knows her well. she sees in her magic book that he burned her letters after that.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

'I told him I'd been at finishing school when Ella ran away, and I asked if he knew whether she was safe.

When I said her name, one of the knights called out, "The ogre tamer. What ever happened to her?"

The prince was quiet for so long after my question that I worried I'd offended him. But when he spoke, he didn't seem angry.

"You were her friend?" he asked. "You liked her?"

I told him Ella was the best friend I ever had. He paused again, and I feared he would say she had died. But he finally answered that he believed her to be well and married to a rich gentleman. He added "She is happy, I think. She is rich, so she is happy."

Without thinking, I blurted, "Ella doesn't care about riches." Then I realized I'd contradicted a prince!

"How do you know?" he said.

I answered, "At school everyone hated me because I wasn't wealthy and because I spoke with an accent. She was the only one who was kind."

"Perhaps she's changed," he said.

"I don't think so, your Highness." I contradicted him twice!

That was the end of our conversation, and I shall remember it forever. I watched him all evening, before and after we talked. Before, he had talked and joked with his men. After, he spoke no more.

Married! How could it be? I wish I could see her again.'

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highlights of this chapter: six months pass and the fairy still won't lift the curse on ella. the royal family throws three masquerade balls to welcome char back from ayortha and find him a wife. ella decides to go and break her own heart just so she can see him again. a diary entry from areida appears in her magic book... :_) char stayed at her family's inn and her defense of ella really moved him and shook his conviction.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN & TWENTY-EIGHT

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highlights of this chapter: ella goes to the ball in disguise and hides away from char, but can't resist going up to talk to him under a different identity. he enjoys talking to her so much, and she has to actively change facts about herself so he doesn't see ella in her. the second night as well, she hides, but when he sees her he unintentionally commands her to stay. on night three she plans to stay late - he introduces her to his family and after some dances with others for appearances, he spends hours with her, still masked. char tells her he's resolved not to marry, and asks for her friendship, but then her stepsister takes ella's mask off.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

His face was close to mine. He must have seen my terror. "You needn't be Ella if you don't want to be," he said softly.

He was so good.

"I'm not," I said. But in spite of myself, tears streamed down my cheeks.

I saw hope spread across his face. "That letter was rubbish. A trick." He glared at Hattie, then turned to me, his look probing. "Do you love me?" He still spoke softly. "Tell me."

An order. "I do." I was sobbing and smiling at once. How was I going to give him up again?

[...]

Char was looking at me with such gladness, and I loved him so. I was the cause of his joy and would be the cause of his destruction: a secret delivered to his enemies, a letter written in my own hand, a covert signal given by me, poison in his glass, a dagger in his ribs, a fall from a parapet.

"Marry me, Ella," he said again, the order a whisper now. "Say you'll marry me."

Anyone else could have said no or yes. This wasn't a royal command. Char probably had no idea he'd given an order.

But I had to obey-wanted to obey -- hated to harm him -- wanted to marry him. I would destroy my love and my land. They were in danger, and no one could rescue them. We were all doomed, all cursed.

Char was too precious to hurt, too precious to lose, too precious to betray, too precious to marry, too precious to kill, too precious to obey.

[...]

I remembered Char at Mother's funeral, waiting for me while I wept, grieving for Mother too. I heard his promise at the menagerie. "And soon I shall catch a centaur and give it to you." I saw him binding SEEf's ankles. I saw him, buttonless doublet flapping, bow to Father after we'd flown down the stair rails. I saw the ball and King Jerrold beaming at his son, the hope and future of Kyrria.

[...]

"Hush, Olive," Hattie said. "Ella, go to your room. His Majesty can have no further need of you."

Char said, "I have great need of her."

[...]

"When you asked for my hand a few minutes ago, I was still too young to marry." I looked up at him and saw a smile start. "I'm older now, so much older that not only can I marry, but I can beg you to marry me." I knelt and took his hand.

He didn't let me kneel before him. He pulled me up and kissed me again. I took that to signify his consent.

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highlights of this chapter: ella runs home and plans to leave with mandy, but char comes to the house to look for her. despite the fact that she pretends to be a servant again, he asks her to try on the slippers, which can only fit her fairy-sized feet. he tells her to marry him if she loves him, not realizing it's an order. ella knows marrying him would inevitably lead to his death. this prompts her to find the strength to say that she won't marry him, breaking the curse!!! ♥