How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
It is true. Despereaux's eyes should not have been open. But they were. He was staring at the sun reflecting off his mother's mirror. The light was shining on the ceiling in an oval of brilliance, and he was smiling up at the sight. (1.16)
From the very beginning, Despereaux is awestruck by the beauty in the world. Being born with his eyes open is a metaphor for being someone who appreciates and really sees what's around them. He's "awake" to the world.
Quote #2
But Despereaux wasn't listening to Furlough. He was staring at the light pouring in through the stained-glass windows of the castle. He stood on his hind legs and held his handkerchief over his heart and stared up, up, up into the brilliant light.
"Furlough," he said, "what is this thing? What are all these colors? Are we in heaven?" (3.3-4)
When Despereaux wanders through the castle, he's struck by the overwhelming beauty and wonder of the stained-glass windows. The other mice are indifferent. They're stuck in their own very small world and aren't open to experience. Their eyes are closed, so to speak, and so are their minds.
Quote #3
"'Once upon a time,'" he said aloud, relishing the sound. And then, tracing each word with his paw, he read the story of a beautiful princess and the brave knight who serves and honors her. (3.27)
Despereaux is the first mouse in the castle who reads books rather than eating them, and he's immediately drawn in by the tale of a princess and her brave knight. It transports him to a whole other world. If he'd just eaten the pages, he'd ever have been able to learn how to behave with the princess. Stories are awe-some.
Quote #4
He spent his days as he wanted: He wandered through the rooms of the castle, staring dreamily at the light streaming in through the stained-glass windows. He went to the library and read over and over again the story of the fair maiden and the knight who rescued her. And he discovered, finally, the source of the honey-sweet sound.
The sound was music. (4.3-4)
The hills—oops, we mean the castle rooms—are alive with the sound of music. It's the music that leads Despereaux to the princess. What do you think the author is saying here about art and beauty?
Quote #5
From that moment forward, Roscuro showed an abnormal, inordinate interest in illumination of all sorts. He was always, in the darkness of the dungeon, on the lookout for light, the smallest glimmer, the tiniest shimmer. His rat soul longed inexplicably for it; he began to think that light was the only thing that gave life meaning, and he despaired that there was so little of it to be had. (16.24)
Although Despereaux is the hero of the story and Roscuro is the villain, they both share an appreciation for light and beauty. Roscuro doesn't seem to have much hope about living in the light. It's just like Mig's experience later in the book—living a dark, confined life and watching the glittering royal family drive by. No wonder Roscuro's able to figure out what makes Mig tick.
Quote #6
"Ugh," said Botticelli. He covered his eyes with one paw.
Roscuro, however, stared directly into the light.
Reader, this is important: The rat called Chiaroscuro did not look away. He let the light from the upstairs world enter him and fill him. He gasped aloud with the wonder of it. (17.5-7)
Roscuro's completely awed by the light that shines from the upstairs world—and he longs to see more of it. It makes his experience at the end of the book all the sadder. He's allowed into the light but can't appreciate it. So near and yet so far, as they say.
Quote #7
Roscuro was enchanted. Everything glittered. Everything. The gold spoons on the table and the jingle bells on the juggler's cap, the strings on the minstrels' guitars and the crowns on the king's and the queen's heads.
And the little princess! How lovely she was! How much like the light itself. (19.6-7)
Roscuro is amazed by everything he sees. Shmoop would probably feel the same way on a tour of Buckingham Palace. But back in fairy-tale days, the difference between how the royals lived and how everyone else lived would really make a visitor awestruck.
Quote #8
She thought for a moment that it was the sun. But she turned and saw that the sun was in the west, where it should be, sinking to join the earth. This thing that shone so brightly was something else. Mig stood in the field and shaded her eyes with her left hand and watched the brilliant light draw closer and closer and closer until it revealed itself to be King Phillip and his Queen Rosemary and their daughter, the young Princess Pea. (26.4)
Doesn't this passage remind you of Despereaux and Roscuro's first look at the world of light?
Quote #9
The royal family was surrounded by knights in shining armor and horses in shining armor. And atop each member of the royal family's head, there was a golden crown, and they were all, the king and the queen and the princess, dressed in robes decorated with jewels and sequins that glittered and glowed and captured the light of the sun and reflected it back.
"Gor," breathed Mig. (26.5-6)
"Glittered," "glowed," "shining," "reflected." All that "light" language. Part of what makes the royal family glow is that they're together. It's a huge contrast to Mig's plain, dark, sad life. Not much light for her. She's alone.
Quote #10
Mig, for her part, continued to stare. Looking at the royal family had awakened some deep and slumbering need in her; it was as if a small candle had been lit in her interior, sparked to life by the brilliance of the king and the queen and the princess. (26.13)
More "light" words here: brilliance, lit, sparked, candle. Check out our "Symbols" section for more on how the author uses light to represent many things.