The Folktale of ‘Humpty Dumpty’ Information Report by Abbie Q,
A brief history of England
The purpose of the folktale
This folktale took place in Colchester, England. After a course of conflicts known as the English civil war (1642 – 1651) between King Charles ’ supporters (Cavaliers) and Oliver Cromwell ’ s supporters (Roundheads). King Charles was found guilty of treason and was executed outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall. Oliver Cromwell was the principal commander of the New Model Army and he was also a participant in King Charles death and then defeated the candidate to the throne, Charles II. During 1653 Cromwell was offered the crown, but refused it. Colchester happened to be the capital of Britain a long time ago but the capital is now London.
The purpose of Humpty Dumpty the nursery rhyme and folktale, represents a great cannon from a battle in the English Civil War. This text is a folktale because it includes personified, talking creatures such as an egg. On a deeper level Humpty - Dumpty represents the king at the time, Charles I (whom the Royalists obeyed). He married Catholic Henrietta Maria which had offended many English protestants. He had also only reassembled parliament so he could raise funds to get money when he ran out. This was because he had wasted all the money on extravagant overseas wars, which had made the parliamentarians furious, as well as the fact that Charles believed he should have all power throughout the kingdom. The parliamentarians were the ones fighting for their land against the Royalists (cavaliers) who were obeying their leader, King Charles, to hold off the parliamentarians from destroying Humpty Dumpty and saving their land. The purpose of this folktale is to show the audience that behaving hubristically and tyrannically can lead to terrible consequences.
Origins of the story
The folktale of Humpty dumpty and the fall of Colchester started back around 1648 in England in a small town called Colchester, around this time the English Civil War was on. The siege of Colchester went on for about eleven weeks (13 Jun 1648 - 27 Aug 1648) and roughly 85,000 troops were killed during the course of this time. Humpty - Dumpty was mounted on a very large tower which was actually part of St. Mary ’ s Church. The nursery rhyme of Humpty - Dumpty was published in 1797.
The old siege house in Colchester which still has bullet holes (located on East street).
Colchester back in the 20 th century
24
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker