Chapman, Vera(1898–1986)
Vera Chapman was a longtime fan of fantasy fic-
tion and founded the British Tolkien Society, but
she was in her 70s before she first began selling fic-
tion. Her most famous work is the three-volume
Arthurian fantasy romance consisting of The Green
Knight(1975), The King’s Damosel(1976), and The
King’s Daughter(1976). An omnibus edition of the
three titles appeared as The Three Damosels(1978).
In the first volume, Morgan Le Fay plots to
undermine Arthur through the sacrifice of an in-
nocent young girl and the corruption of Sir
Gawain. The Green Knight of the title is her ally, a
man who can transform himself physically into a
brutish monster. The two sequels involve a search
for the Holy Grail and the battle between Arthur’s
daughter and Mordred for control of the succes-
sion to his throne. Chapman’s interpretation in-
cludes a notable strain of feminism, and the power
of Arthur is to be preserved through his daughter.
The story of Arthur and Camelot had already been
rendered in many versions by the 1970s, but Chap-
man brought a new interpretation that attracted
considerable favorable attention from critics.
Her subsequent fantasy novels are not as ef-
fective. Blaedud the Birdman(1978) is also set in
ancient Britain. In a variation on the story of
Icarus, Chapman tells the story of a king so ob-
sessed with the possibility of flight that he makes
an unwise bargain with a druidic sorceress. The En-
chantresses(1998), published posthumously, is the
story of the three half-sisters of Arthur raised by
Merlin and their roles in the preservation of
Arthur’s heritage following his death and the fall
of Camelot. Miranty and the Alchemist(1983) is a
minor tale for younger readers. The stories in The
Notorious Abbess(1993) occasionally contain fan-
tastic elements. Her most interesting short story is
“With a Long Spoon” (1981).
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Roald Dahl(1964)
Roald DAHL wrote a large body of somewhat
bizarre short stories for adults and even briefly
hosted a television anthology program based on
weird stories, often depending on macabre twist
endings, so it should come as no surprise to dis-
cover that his fiction for children contains similar,
sometimes unsettling images and events. His first
fantasy for younger readers was JAMES AND THE
GIANT PEACH(1961), which attracted only casual
comment, but Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
(1964) became an immediate cause of controversy
because of what some saw as depictions of sadistic
violence toward children.
The plot is fairly straightforward. A chocolate
factory has been closed to visitors for many years,
but the owner, Willy Wonka, has announced a con-
test from which five winners will be chosen. Each,
accompanied by a relative of his or her choosing,
will be given a conducted tour of the chocolate fac-
tory and perhaps samples of some of the candy.
Young Charlie, whose family is destitute, becomes
one of the lucky five and arrives with his grandfa-
ther. A business rival of Wonka’s tries to bribe
Charlie into stealing the secret of the factory’s most
prized product, but the boy resists the temptation.
A series of mild adventures follows during
which each of the children are tested in some fash-
ion, and gluttony in particular is punished in a
rather grotesque fashion. Charlie is tempted a sec-
ond time, and despite some wavering, his flawless
character resists again, after which we learn that it
has all been a test to choose Wonka’s successor as
the factory’s owner. Some adults were alarmed by
the suggestion of cruelty, but the punishments are
not malicious, although they are extreme. Children
seem to have had no difficulty understanding that
this is a fairy tale, and there are any number of
equally grisly deaths and misfortunes in the work of
Hans Christian ANDERSENand the Brothers GRIMM.
A live action motion picture was made from
Dahl’s own screenplay in 1971 as Willy Wonka and
the Chocolate Factory,and predictably it received
very mixed reviews because of the comic book–style
violence. Dahl also wrote an amusing but inferior
sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator(1972),
in which Charlie, now managing the chocolate fac-
tory, visits outer space and meets aliens.“Chatting with Anubis”Harlan Ellison
(1995)
Harlan Ellison is usually identified as a science fic-
tion writer, although many of his stories are clearly52 Chapman, Vera