The Princess Academy is put into place for one reason only: to transform the young ladies of Mount Eskel into promising potential brides for the prince. Even though they're pretty young teenagers (Miri's only fourteen, after all), the girls in this book have marriage on their minds.
And the thing is, of course, that marrying the prince means a whole lot of great things for whoever is chosen. The girl will get to be a princess, yes, but she'll also be wealthy and able to provide for her family, in addition to living in the lowlands. For girls who have grown up on the mountain, these are pretty magical prospects. There are twenty of them though—and only one prince—so the girls have to study hard, act refined, and somehow charm the prince into wanting to marry them over the course of one dance.
They've got a tough task ahead of them, that's for sure. And that's all before the marriage even begins.
Questions About Marriage
- Does Miri really want to marry the prince? Why or why not?
- Why does Miri decide that Britta is the best person to marry the prince in the end?
- Why does Prince Steffan look so uncomfortable at the dance?
- Is there a reason why the priests choose a different region each time for the prince to marry from?
Chew on This
Even though all the girls say that they want to be the princess, only one of them is truly in love with the prince himself. The others are just in love with the idea of wealth and prestige.
For Miri, the end goal of the academy isn't to actually get married; she just wants to be known as the best student in the school.