Gratitude, Greed, and Grace in The Robber Bridegroom : Eudora Welty’s Intricate American Parable

Abstract

In The Robber Bridegroom, Eudora Welty combines characters and motifs from several folk and fairy tales in the proverbial American melting pot to form a new creation that is both comic romance and serious parable, profoundly illuminating the perennial conflict between good and evil, grace and greed. The deceptively simple appearance of this intricately designed work mirrors the dual identity of the robber bridegroom, Jamie Lockhart. Through ingenious use of symbolism and suggestive allusions, Welty subtly develops moral and psychological dimensions in characters who at first glance may seem no more than fairytale stereotypes. As in Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, the action of The Robber Bridegroom moves from a relatively civilized society into a green world, a mysterious place where the complications of the plot are first intensified and then unraveled, resulting in permanent effects within the more conventional society. Similarly, the happy conclusion is made possible because of the heroine’s courage, forgiveness, and love. 1 Welty carefully selects and arranges assorted details from her various sources in order to help convey themes concerning the far-reaching consequences of a single action, the power of forgiveness, the difficulty of breaking away from a destructive lifestyle, and the value of love in contrast with material possessions. The myth of Cupid and Psyche, its variant “Beauty and the Beast,” and the Grimm’s tale also called “The Robber Bridegroom” are the most obvious ancestors of Welty’s novella, but Grimm’s “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” “The Brave Little Tailor,” “The Fisherman and His Wife,” and “The Little Goode-Girl” are also alluded to. Equally relevant yet overlooked as possible sources are the ballads “Tam Lin” and “The Gypsy Laddie,” whose heroines, as we shall see, have much in common with Rosamond of The Robber Bridegroom. The legendary keelboatman Mike Fink, the Harm bandits of Mississippi’s early history, and a tribe of displaced Indians are unexpectedly blended with ingredients from European folklore into a distinctively American concoction that paradoxically retains the flavor of a traditional fairy tale.