Name/Title
Princess and the Pea | Sometimes Power Knows Sensitivity IIDescription
When the Queen opened the castle door on a rainy night, she didn’t believe the bedraggled barefoot girl before her. She said she was a princess. She claimed she had gotten lost while picking flowers when the storm came. The Queen, who had a handsome unattached son, let her in. If the girl was a real princess, the Queen thought, she could marry her son and they could live happily ever after. But she couldn’t take the girl’s word; she had to test her.
A real princess, the Queen knew, one who would help her son rule the kingdom, would have to be sensitive. She would have to care about the needs of the people over which she would help rule.
So the Queen surreptitiously placed a tiny green pea under 40 fat mattresses and then welcomed the girl to stay the night on the tall bed. If she was really a princess, she wouldn’t be able to sleep because of the discomfort caused by the tiny pea. If she wasn’t a princess, oblivious, she would have a good night’s rest.
The next morning, the Queen entered the room to find the princess sitting up, black and blue, regretfully reporting she had had a fitful night. My series of Princess and the Pea sculptures capture the image of the sleepless Princess in the morning.
A fun thought experiment would be to contemplate putting a tiny green pea under some of today’s world leaders and wait to see who couldn’t fall asleep and who could sleep like a baby.Type of Sculpture
Free StandingMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Barbara BalzberRole
SculptorPlace
* Untyped Place
Tallahassee, Florida, United StatesContinent
North AmericaLocation
Room
Dining RoomFloor
DownstairsHome
Constitution House