Character Analysis
Dreamgirl
You know what they say about people like Princess Pea: All the boys love her and all the girls want to be her. Pea is adored by both her family and the people of the Kingdom of Dor. When she's younger, she lives a happy life with both her parents, When Queen Rosemary suddenly dies, Pea's life is torn apart. She's filled with sadness. She keeps the memory of her mother alive and relives the good days through her dreams and the tapestry she makes:
"I am making a history of the world, my world," said the Pea, "in tapestry. See? Here is my father, the king. And he is playing the guitar because that is something he loves to do and does quite well. And here is my mother, the queen, and she is eating soup because she loved soup." (29.29)
But Princess Pea's life isn't devoid of love even with her mother gone. Her father dotes on her, and even the people who work within the castle walls love her. When she goes missing, the staff is totally distraught because they simply can't imagine life without the little Princess Pea:
Cook brought the hem of her apron up to wipe at her tears. "It won't," she said. "It won't be all right ever again. They've taken our little darling away. There ain't nothing left to live for without the princess." (39.14)
The kingdom's already lost their queen. Losing their princess would be unbearable.
She Feels Ya
Why is Princess Pea adored by everyone? It's because aside from being beautiful and part of the royal family, Princess Pea is kind and compassionate. She has an incredible amount of empathy for others:
Like most hearts, it was complicated, shaded with dark and dappled with light. The dark things in the princess's heart were these: a very small, very hot, burning coal of hatred for the rat who was responsible for her mother's death. And the other darkness was a tremendous sorrow, a deep sadness that her mother was dead and that the princess could now only talk to her in her dreams.
And what of the light in the princess's heart? Reader, I am pleased to tell you that the Pea was a kind person, and perhaps more important, she was empathetic. (38.7)
Think about what happens when the princess is kidnapped by Mig and Roscuro. Instead of hating Mig and throwing her in the dungeons afterwards, Princess Pea feels sorry for her servant girl. She can understand why Mig's doing this—why she's so desperate to change her life and become someone new.
Do you know what it means to be empathetic?
[…] You are able to think, "Oh, Poor Mig, she wants to be a princess so badly and she thinks this is the way. Poor, poor Mig. What must it be like to want something that desperately? (38.7,9)
Feeling sympathy for the person holding a knife to your back? That's some kind of empathy.
If that's not virtuous enough for you, the princess also forgives Roscuro for plotting to kidnap and torture her. She gives him the run of the castle. And of course, she befriends little Despereaux, who loved her so much he risked his life to rescue her. Gratitude is her attitude.