| "Feathertop" | |
|---|---|
| Short story byNathaniel Hawthorne | |
 | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short story |
| Publication | |
| Published in | The International Magazine |
| Publication date | 1852 |
"Feathertop" is ashort story byNathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1852. Themoral tale uses a metaphoric scarecrow named Feathertop and its adventure to offer the reader a conclusive lesson about humancharacter. It has since been used and adapted in several other media forms, such as opera and theatre.
In seventeenth centuryNew England, thewitch Mother Rigby builds ascarecrow to protect her garden. She is so taken with her own handiwork that she whimsically decides to bring the scarecrow to life and send it into town to woo Polly Gookin, the daughter of Judge Gookin, with whom Mother Rigby had unspecified prior dealings. Once the stuffed man does come alive, Mother Rigby gives him the appearance of a normal human being and provides apipe, on which the scarecrow must puff to keep himself alive.
Judge Gookin meets the scarecrow, whom Mother Rigby has named Feathertop. Feathertop is introduced to Polly, and the two begin to fall in love. But when Polly and Feathertop gaze into a bewitchedmirror, they see Feathertop reflected as a scarecrow, not as a man. Polly faints, and the now-terrified and anguished scarecrow rushes back to Mother Rigby, where, knowing himself for what he really is, he deliberately throws away his pipe and collapses in a lifeless heap. Mother Rigby reflects, "There are thousands upon thousands of coxcombs and charlatans in the world, made up of just such a jumble of wornout, forgotten, and good-for-nothing trash as he was! Yet they live in fair repute, and never see themselves for what they are," and decides that her "son" is better off as merely a scarecrow.
Hawthorne first offered the tale toJohn Sullivan Dwight, who had asked for a contribution toSartain's Union Magazine in November 1851. He demanded $100 for it.[1] He admitted toJohn Sartain that the fee was a high one and noted, "I myself would not pay it, were I in the chair editorial".[2] Instead, "Feathertop: A Moralized Legend" was published in two parts inThe International Magazine, edited byRufus Wilmot Griswold, in February and March 1852.[3] It was the last new adult tale Hawthorne wrote.[2]
The story was later collected in 1854 as part of a revised edition ofMosses from an Old Manse.
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"Feathertop" was adapted twice as a silent film, in 1912[4] and in 1916.[5] It was adapted for television twice as well. The first television version, adapted byMaurice Valency,[6] Professor of Comparative Literature atColumbia University, was presented in 1955 as part of theGeneral Electric Theater, with a cast that includedNatalie Wood,Carleton Carpenter,Dick Elliott, andEmory Parnell.[7] The second television version was presented in 1961 byABC-TV as a musical special, starringHugh O'Brian andJane Powell, withCathleen Nesbitt andHans Conried. The music was written byMary Rodgers and the lyrics byMartin Charnin.[8]
The story, much embellished, was first dramatized in 1908 asThe Scarecrow, a full-length, four-act romantic melodrama byAmerican poet-playwrightPercy MacKaye. Most of the characters were renamed, and Mother Rigby (renamedGoody Rickby) was given a definite reason to hate the Judge, Polly (now known as Rachel) was given a fiancé who is constantly jealous of the Scarecrow, and the story was given a more poignant and sentimental ending.The Devil does not appear in "Feathertop", but he is one of the major characters inThe Scarecrow.
The play was adapted as a silent film in 1923 under the titlePuritan Passions.[9] The play was alsopresented on television in 1972, with a cast headed byGene Wilder andBlythe Danner, and featuringPete Duel,Norman Lloyd,Will Geer andNina Foch in support.[10]
MacKaye's play has also been adapted twice as an opera, also calledThe Scarecrow, once in 1945 byNormand and Dorothy Lockwood, and more recently with music byJoseph Turrin and libretto by Bernard Stambler.
"Feathertop" also inspired the 1967Columbia UniversityVarsity Show of the same name, the last such production before the annual revue entered an 11-year interregnum.
Warner Bros. Family Entertainment released a direct-to-videomusical titledThe Scarecrow on August 26, 2000.
"Feathertop" is mentioned inBill Willingham's comic book seriesFables. He makes a brief appearance in the prose story "A Wolf in the Fold", in which he accompaniesSnow White on her trip to Carpathia to convince theBig Bad Wolf to join their community. He is chosen because, not being made of living flesh, his presence won't arouse the wolf's hunger. He's given a more prominent role later in the spin-off miniseries,Everafter.
