THE LITTLE
PRINCE
STUDY guide
in association with
Production Sponsor
and Proud Supporter of Education Programs for The Little Prince
study guide editors
JESSICA LIND, MARTI LYONS, and LIZZIE PERKINS
design by STEPHANIE SHUM
Table of Contents
THE WORLD OF LOOKINGGLASS
Lookingglass Mission & Core Values Activities 3
Theatre Vocabulary 6
Warm Up Exercises 7
THE WORLD OF THE PLAY
The Life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 10
Death of Francois de Saint-Exupéry 12
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Other Works 13
Dedication of The Little Prince: Who is Leon Werth? 14
Meet the Characters in The Little Prince 15
THE WORLD OF THE PRODUCTION
In Conversation with David Catlin 18
Legacy of The Little Prince 20
First Rehearsal Photos 21
Costume Renderings 22
THE WORLD OF THE AUDIENCE
Lost in Translation: The LIttle Prince Across Language 24
Glossary of Terms used in The Little Prince 26
The Little Prince Discussion Questions 28
Lookingglass Free Panel Discussions 29
Resources and Links 30
Production Photos by Liz Lauren
Rehearsal Photos by Richard Brantner
Costume Renderings by Sally Dolembo
1
The world of
lookingglass
Lookingglass Mission & Core Values
Activities that utilize collaboration, transformation and invention
Collaboration
Collaboration for Lookingglass: Lookingglass Theatre believes that the power of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Lookingglass sees immense value in group history and experience, a collective vision, the dynamics of teamwork, and the importance
of collaborative leadership. Each performance we do is a collaboration between artists, story and audience. Collaboration informs
every aspect of how we produce theatre.
Collaboration for You:
Where do you collaborate with people?
- On School Projects?
- On Sports Teams?
- With Friends?
- At Home?
What does collaboration look like at each of these places?
When is collaboration helpful? When is it not?
What qualities do you look for in a teammate?
Collaboration Games:
Lake of Fire
Are you brave enough to carry your classmates through the lake of fire?
Rules:
- Split the group into two different sides of the room
- Establish that the middle of the room is now a lake of fire
- No one can cross the lake of fire unless they are either carrying someone, or being carried by someone
- Come up with creative ways to carry people! How many people can you carry at once? How many people can carry
one person at once?
- Examples: Piggy back, cradle carry, horse and rider, etc.
Make it More Difficult!
- Set a timer and see if you can do this activity within a time limit!
- Do the activity without speaking!
Clapping Circle
You don’t think it’s hard to clap with your classmates in a circle? Think again.
Rules:
- Everyone stands in a circle. The leader turns to the person to his left, and that person turns to the leader. They both
slowly lift their hands and clap at the same time.
- That person turns to the next person on THEIR left, and that new person faces them to clap at the same time, and so
on and so on.
- The circle tries to synchronize their claps, one after the next.
Make it More Difficult!
- See how fast you can do it!
- See how difficult it is when you spread out further.
- Try the clapping circle sitting down
3
When Alice walked through the looking glass, she walked into a world beyond
imagination. She walked into a world more involving and intoxicating than any
movie or circus, more thrilling than a high-speed chase, more frightening than a
child’s nightmare, and more beautiful than a thunderstorm on a hot summer night.
She awoke with a new sense of herself in the world and her own power within it.
Transformation
Transformation for Lookingglass: Lookingglass uses visual metaphor, movement and daring theatricality to create transcendent
staging. Fiction and non-fiction are converted into stage pieces. Actors are often required to play multiple characters outside their
traditional range. Even our theatre space reflects the core value of transformation—the seats and stage can change around in order to
best suit the show that is being performed.
Transformation for You:
What is an example of a change that you have experienced this year? (Emotional, physical, etc)
What was an event that transformed or changed you?
What are some objects or things that can be transformed?
Transformation Games:
Build-A-Where
Build an environment without talking with your classmates!
Rules:
- Have the group starting in an audience.
- Choose one person to begin. They walk into the playing space and mime an object that might establish a location.
(Examples: A computer, a refrigerator, etc) This should be done without talking.
- The first person takes a seat. A second volunteer enters the playing space and uses the same object that the first
person used, and then create/use another object through mime that they think would be in the space.
- Keep going until 5-10 people have gone. This should be done in silence!
- After a group has gone, try to guess what the room was.
Make it More Difficult!
- Try to guess what each object was!
- See if you can have two people on stage at once!
Yes, It Is!
Transform ordinary objects into extraordinary objects!
Rules:
- Students stand in a circle. Your teacher will hand around an ordinary object (a paper towel tube, a square block, a
ball, etc.).
- Each student transforms the object through language and action into three things which the object is not. - For instance, a paper towel tube can become a magic wand, a baseball bat, a very long nose.
- You have to both show what you’re transforming the object into, as well as show/demonstrate the transformation
meaning the student must use their body to demonstrate the transformation of the object
- The students create each transformation by saying “This is a…” or “This is my…” and the class must respond each
time with the phrase “Yes, it is!”
Make it More Difficult!
- Try not to transform the object into similar things – ie Baseball bat and Golf Club. Go wild!
- See how fast you can do this exercise! Don’t hesitate!
4
Reflected in Lewis Carroll’s achievement is the mission of the Lookingglass
Theatre Company. Through theatre, which invites, even demands, interaction
with its audience, our goal is to fire the imagination with love, to celebrate
the human capacity to taste and smell, weep and laugh, create and destroy,
and wake up where we first fell --- changed, charged and empowered.
Invention
Invention for Lookingglass: Lookingglass seeks to redefine the limits of theatrical experience. We use many different kinds of arts
training to innovate and invent new ways to develop and tell stories.
Invention for You
What do you like to create?
What is the most useful invention that you use today?
What is the difference between inventing and discovering?
What does the quote, “Necessity is the mother of invention” mean to you?
Invention Games:
Follow Your Nose
Invent a new way to walk!
Rules:
- Walk around the room, making sure to fill up the space and keep distance between your classmates.
- Now, walk as if you are being lead by your nose. (Think like your nose is attached to a string and someone is pulling
it.) Let your nose lead you around the room. Follow it wherever it goes!
- Have the teacher call out other things to be lead by:
- Your belly button
- Your right elbow
- Your chin
- Your forehead
- Your knees, etc. etc.
Make it More Difficult!
- Have your teacher decide on a pace: Follow your nose quickly. Follow your Nose in slow motion.
- Pick your own body part to lead by. Have other students try to guess what body part you’re leading with.
- Create different characters that would walk leading with different body parts.
- Ex: What kind of person leads with their chest? What kind of person leads with their chin?
One-Sentence Story
Invent your own story...one sentence at a time!
Rules:
- Take a seat in a circle. One person begins a story by saying “Once upon a time there was…” and finishes that sentence.
- The next student in the circle picks up the story and develops the plot, presents an obstacle, introduces a new character, etc. in one sentence.
- Each person in the circle adds a sentence to the story, keeping within the original ideas while trying to further the plot.
Make it More Difficult!
- Now, you can only start the sentences with the terms “fortunately” and “unfortunately.”
- For example, one person might say, “Fortunately, It was a beautiful and sunny day outside.” Then the next person might say, “Unfortunately, I didn’t see the swarm of bees headed my way.”
- Instead of having each new person add a sentence, you’re only allowed to add one word at a time!
5
Theatre Vocabulary
Act – a major division of a play, which is often used to indicate
a change in time or setting. Acts are further divided into scenes.
(Between two acts, there can be an intermission. See definition
for intermission below.)
Understudy – an actor who learns the lines and blocking of a
specific character in case the actor who usually plays that part
cannot perform for any reason.
Actor’s Tools – the primary tools used by an actor (mind, body,
voice).
Playwright – the author of a play.
Adaptation – the process of changing or modifying something for
use in theatre, such as adapting a novel into a play.
Antagonist – a character that opposes the protagonist’s goals
and desires. The antagonist helps create the conflict of a play.
Backstage – the area behind the stage that is concealed from the
audience and contains the actor’s dressing rooms.
Blocking – the pattern of the actors’ movement on stage.
Character – the personality or role played by an actor.
Dialogue – the words spoken by the actors onstage.
Theatre Personnel
Director – the person who provides the vision of how a show
should be presented, who works with the actors on their roles,
develops the blocking, and is in charge of the rehearsals.
Stage Manager – the person responsible for overseeing all the
backstage elements of a production (scheduling the actors,
overseeing rehearsals, documenting the blocking, rehearsing the
understudies, and making sure light and sound effects happen at
the correct time during performances).
Designers – the people who design the technical aspects of a
production. For example: the costume designer, lighting designer,
scenic designer, prop designer, and sound designer.
Ensemble – the group of actors who work together to create a
play.
Run Crew – the backstage crew who are responsible for operating
the technical aspects of a show, like raising/lowering the curtain
or changing the scenery onstage.
Fourth Wall – the imaginary “wall” at the front of a proscenium
stage through which the audience sees the world of the play.
Script – the dialogue and instructions for a play or musical.
House – the area in a theatre where the audience sits.
Intermission – the period of time between two acts of a play,
which allows the run crew to change the scenery on stage if
necessary.
Monologue – a long dialogue delivered by a single actor.
Props – short for stage property, props are objects used to help
convey meaning, setting, and time period onstage.
Protagonist – the main character of a play and the character with
who the audience is intended to identify with the most strongly.
Rehearsal – the process of practicing a play.
Set – the scenery on stage, which helps indicate when and where
the play takes place.
Tech Rehearsal – a rehearsal devoted to testing the technical
aspects of a production such as: costume changes, scenery
changes, and lighting and sound cues.
Dramaturge – the person responsible for researching the
historical and cultural aspects of a play in order to help the
director make informed decisions.
Theatre Configurations
Alley Stage – the stage runs down the middle of the audience,
with seating on either side.
Proscenium Stage – the most common type of theatre stage.
All of the audience is seated on one side of the stage, looking
through an “archway” to look into the set.
Theatre in the Round – the audience is seated on all sides of the
stage.
Three Quarter Thrust Stage – a stage that extends into the
audience so audience members are seated on three of its four
sides.
6
Warm Up Exercises
Each day before rehearsal, actors need to warm up the tools that they will use in order to best tell the
story; their mind, body, and voice. Stretch these muscles with these exercises!
Mental Warm-Up
What Changed?
This game requires serious attention to detail!
Rules:
- Select three people to begin and ask them to stand in front of the group.
- Everyone else should study these three people carefully.
- After everyone has had a chance to look, ask the three volunteers to stand in a corner of the room with their backs to the group.
- Everyone else should sit and face away from the corner, so they cannot see the three people who are standing.
- The people in the corner should each change one thing about their appearance (take off a jacket, roll/unroll a
sleeve, tie/untie a shoe).
- Once each of the three people has changed something, they should stand in front of the group so everyone can see
them.
- Everyone else must try to guess what each person changed.
Make it More Difficult!
- Try this game with a partner. Study your partner, then turn away for ten seconds and change something about your
appearance. Take turns guessing what changed.
- Have each partner change three things.
Physical Warm-Up
Shake Down
Warm your body up as you shake your body down!
Rules:
- Standing in a circle, everyone shakes their right arm in the air, ten times. With each shake, whole group counts down
with great energy from 10, saying a number with each shake (“ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!”).
- Repeat with left arm, left leg, right leg, whole body.
- Start from the top! Repeat shakedown, but begin count from the next number down (“nine, eight, seven, six…”)
Make it More Difficult!
- Count from odd numbers.
- Count from even numbers.
- Count numbers divisible by 3, divisible by 5, etc.
7
Name and Gesture
Introduce yourself by making a scene!
Rules:
- Participants stand in a circle, facing in.
- One person begins by saying his or her name while making a bold physical gesture.
- Whole group repeats the first person’s name and gesture.
- The second person introduces themselves (with name and gesture) and then the group repeats both the first
person’s name/gesture, as well as the second person’s name/gesture
- Continue introducing yourselves, adding a new name and gesture on to the sequence each time. See how many you
can remember!
- Play ‘tag’ with the names and gestures. While staying in the circle, participants can tag each other by saying their
own name and gesture, and then someone else’s, passing the movement around the circle. (Sam says “Sam, Olivia!”,
Olivia says “Olivia, Cody!”, Cody says “Cody, Anissa”, and so on)
Make it More Difficult!
- Add a descriptive term to your introduction, such as “Wild Samantha!” Make sure you add a gesture as well.
- Add a descriptive term to your introduction that begins with the first letter of your name, such as “Daring Diane!”
Vocal Warm-Up
Tongue Twisters
Warm up your articulation skills!
Rules:
- Everyone stands in a circle, and repeats one of the following tongue twisters a specific number of times. Make sure to focus on clarity and articulation!
- Unique New York, unique New York. You know
you need unique New York
- Fresh fried fish, fresh fried fish, fresh fried fish
- Slippery southern snakes slide swiftly down
ski slopes
- Red leather, yellow leather, red leather, yellow
leather
- The sixth sheik’s sixth sheep is sick
- She stood upon the balcony inexplicably
mimicking his hiccuping and amicably
welcoming him in
- When one black bug bled black blood, the
other black bug bled blue
- Rubber baby buggy bumpers
Soundscape
This game lets us build an environment using our voices!
Rules:
- Sit in a circle on the floor.
- The teacher will demonstrate the hand signals used in
this game.
- Palm-up hand moving up towards the ceiling = “louder”
- Palm-down hand moving down towards the floor
=“softer”
- Closed fist = “silent”
- Open fist = “vocal” (use your voice)
- Practice the hand movements with humming. Everyone hums softly, getting louder or softer according to the
teacher’s instruction.
- Now try creating different environments out of sound using your voice, but no words. If the environment is a busy
office, discuss some sounds you might hear.
- Pick one of the sounds from that environment and imitate it using your voice.
- Make the environment louder or softer according to the teacher’s instruction.
Make it More Difficult!
- Try other environments: a jungle, a city street, a farm
8
The world of
THE PLAY
The Life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine Jean-Baptiste Marie Roger de Saint-Exupéry (sahn-tayg-zew-pay-REE) was born on June 29, 1900, in Lyon, France,
the third of five children in an aristocratic family. His father died of a stroke when Saint-Exupéry was only four, and his
mother moved the family to Le Mans. Saint-Exupéry, known as Saint-Ex, led a happy childhood. He was surrounded by many
relatives and often spent his summer vacations with his family at their chateau in Saint-Maurice-de-Remens.
Saint-Exupéry went to Jesuit schools and to a
Catholic boarding school in Switzerland. His dream
was to become an officer in the navy, and from 1917
to 1919 he attended the naval preparatory schools
École Bossuet and Lycée Saint-Louis. After failing
his final exam, he went on to attend the École des
Beaux-Arts to study architecture. The year 1921 was
a turning point in his life as he started his military
service in the Second Regiment of Chasseurs and
went to Strasbourg to train as a pilot. He earned
his license in a year, and though he was offered a
position in the air force, he turned it down because
of the objections of his fiancé’s family. Eventually,
the engagement was broken off, and he started
writing and holding several jobs, including that of a bookkeeper and an automobile salesman.
His first publication was a short story, L’Aviateur (the aviator), which appeared in the magazine Le Navire d’Argent in 1926.
Thus began many of Saint-Exupéry’s writings on flying — a merging of two of his greatest passions in life. At the time,
aviation was relatively new and still very dangerous. The technology was basic, and many pilots relied on intuition. SaintExupéry, however, was drawn to the adventure and beauty of flight, which he depicted in many of his works.
Saint-Exupéry became a frontiersman of the sky. He reveled in flying open-cockpit planes and loved the freedom and
solitude of being in the air. For three years, he worked as a pilot for Aéropostale, a French commercial airline that flew
mail. He traveled between Toulouse and Dakar, helping to establish air routes across the African desert. He became the
director of Cape Juby airfield in Rio de Oro in the Sahara. He had many accidents, encountering near death experiences in
the desert. It was the isolation of the Sahara that inspired his later depictions of the desert in such works as Le Petit Prince
(1943; The Little Prince, 1943) and Citadelle (1948; The Wisdom of the Sands, 1950).
In 1929, he published his first book, Courrier sud (Southern Mail, 1933). In the same year, he became the director of the
Aeroposta Argentina Company and made many perilous flights over the Andes Mountains. His experiences in Argentina
became the basis for his second novel, Vol de nuit (1931; Night Flight, 1932).
The same year that Night Flight was published, Saint-Exupéry married Consuelo Suncin Sandoval, who was a Salvadoran
writer and artist. They had first met in Buenos Aires in 1930; he was a lonely man of grand dreams, and she was a vibrant
10
and exotic young widow. Her personality became the inspiration for the rose in The Little Prince. Their relationship was
tumultuous, since Saint-Exupéry was often away on his travels and had many affairs. After Saint-Exupéry’s disappearance
in flight, she wrote a memoir about their relationship, Mémoires de la Rose (2000; The Tale of the Rose: The Passion That
Inspired “The Little Prince,” 2001), which was not published until after her death.
When the Aeroposta Argentina Company closed down, Saint-Exupéry made postal flights between Casablanca and PortÉtienne, and then served as a test pilot for Air France. In 1935, he began writing as a foreign correspondent for various
newspapers, traveling all over the world. He tried to set a record in 1935 by flying from Paris to Saigon, but ended up
crashing in the Libyan desert, where he and his copilot subsisted on meager supplies and nearly died. They were rescued
three days later by the Bedouins.
When World War II began, Saint-Exupéry enlisted in the army and flew for the French air force. He was severely injured in
another plane crash in 1938, when he was flying between New York City and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. He stayed in New
York to recover, living in Asharoken on the north
shore of Long Island. He ended up becoming a
lecturer and freelance writer there and eventually
wrote his most famous work, The Little Prince.
During this time, he also became an important
figure in the French Resistance movement.
In 1942, after the American troops had landed in
North Africa, Saint-Exupéry volunteered as a pilot
for the U.S. Army. At age forty-two, he was declared
too old, but on his insistence he was allowed to fly.
In 1943, he flew for the French air force again in
North Africa.
On July 31, 1944, Saint-Exupéry took off from
Sardinia on a reconnaissance mission and never
returned. He might have been shot down by enemy
aircraft while flying over the Mediterranean, or
perhaps he had an engine failure while in flight,
or he might even have committed suicide. He was
declared missing in action, and a year later he was
presumed to be dead. His last manuscript, Wisdom
of the Sands, was published posthumously.
In 1998, a fisherman off the coast of Marseille
found in his net a bracelet engraved with the name
Consuelo. The find triggered the memory of a local
diver, Luc Vanrell, who remembered seeing parts
of a crashed plane in the sea. Over the span of several years, parts of the plane were gradually dug up. It was not until April
7, 2004, that the French Underwater Archaeological Department finally confirmed that the wreckage was that of SaintExupéry’s Lockheed Lightning P-38. No bullet holes were found in the wreckage, though only a few pieces of the plane have
been discovered. The cause of the crash still remains a mystery.
11
The Death of Francois de Saint-Exupéry
Many analysts believe that the death of Saint-Exupéry’s brother, François, at the
young age of 15 deeply influenced any of Antoine’s writings on death. Only 17 at
the time, Antoine was called to his brother’s bedside very early in the morning
during a long illness with rheumatoid arthritis/fever. Saint-Exupéry wrote about
this event directly only once in his published writings, and according to Schiff it
was 25 years later. She also points out that there are a few inaccuracies, at the
very least about Antoine’s age. Nonetheless, here are his own words recounting
the event:
“Already at the age of fifteen I might have learnt this lesson. I had a
younger brother who lay dying. One morning towards four o’clock [a.m.]
his nurse woke me and said that he was asking for me.
Is he in pain? I asked.
The nurse said nothing and I dressed as fast as I could.
When I came into his room he said to me in a matter-of-fact voice, “I wanted to see you before I die. I am going to
die.” And with that he stiffened and winced and could not go on. Lying in pain, he waved his hand as if saying “No!” I
did not understand. I thought it was the death he was rejecting. The pain passed, and he spoke again. “Don’t worry,”
he said. “I’m all right. I can’t help it. It’s my body.” His body was already foreign territory, something not himself.
He was very serious, this young brother who was to die in twenty minutes. He had called me to in because he felt
a pressing need to hand on part of himself to me. “I want to make my will,” he said; and he blushed with pride
and embarrassment to be talking like a grown man. Had he been a builder of towers he would have bequeathed
to me the finishing of his tower. Had he been a father, I should have inherited the education of his children. A
reconnaissance pilot, he would have passed on to me the intelligence he had gleaned. But he was a child, and what
he confided to my care was a toy steam engine, a bicycle, and a rifle.
Man does not die. Man imagines that it is death he fears; but what he fears is the unforeseen, the explosion. What
man fears is himself, not death. There is not death when you meet death. When the body sinks into death, the
essence of man is revealed. Man is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. Only those relationships
matter. The body is an old crack that nobody will miss. I have never known a man to think of himself when dying.
Never.”
Later that morning, François died of a heart attack with Antoine at his side. Saint-Exupéry took a photo of his brother shortly
after he passed, although it appears even without it, his image would have stayed with the young writer.
12
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Other Works
“The airplane,” wrote Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Wind, Sand, and Stars, “has helped us to discover the true face of the
earth; for centuries, the roads had kept us fooled.” Throughout his career, at first in fictionalized narrative, Saint-Exupéry
would exploit the still rare perspective of the aviator for his memorable insights into life, death, and the human condition.
As scholar of French fiction Wilbur M. Frohock has observed, Saint-Exupéry’s novels are indeed quite alike in theme and
content: “An aviator is aloft in his plane exposed to danger by the very fact of flight itself, while another man, familiar with
all the dangers the first is exposed to, anxiously awaits the outcome of the ordeal.” His works remain unchallenged for
what they were and are: well-phrased expressions and illustrations of indomitable human dignity, rendered timeless by the
observer’s innate sense of poetry.
Southern Mail
In Southern Mail, Saint-Exupéry experiments frequently with narrative voice, seeking and occasionally finding the singular
viewpoint of his later efforts. The author’s style, for all of its classical correctness and even elegance, is unfailingly natural in
its effect, as if the author were inviting the reader to peer over his shoulder as he searches for the most appropriate figure of
speech.
Night Flight
Night Flight, based on the author’s flight and management experience in South America, retains the structure and pacing
of a novel while dispensing with many of the conventions employed in Southern Mail. Narrated entirely in the third person,
Night Flight focuses primarily on the challenge of flying the mail over long stretches of treacherous and often hostile
territory.
Wind, Sand, and Stars
With Wind, Sand, and Stars, Saint-Exupéry abandoned all pretense of attempting a novel, writing candidly and anecdotally
in his own person. Part memoir, part speculative essay, Wind, Sand, and Stars is nevertheless among the most successful
and rewarding of his works, combining valuable insights with equally valuable eyewitness documentation. Saint-Exupéry
revisits, with fresh eyes and narrative voice, much of the same territory covered in the novels, recalling the thrills, dangers,
and challenges of pioneer air travel. Among his more memorable recollections is one of being stranded in the Sahara after
a forced landing early in 1936, an incident that would later form the basis of his speculative children’s fantasy The Little
Prince.
Flight to Arras
Following his service as a military aviator before the fall of France in 1940, Saint-Exupéry wrote of his experience in Flight to
Arras, a tightly written memoir that often resembles a novel. Typically, Flight to Arras is rich in reflection and imagery; unlike
Wind, Sand, and Stars, however, Saint-Exupéry’s war narrative is neatly structured, with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Wisdom of the Sands
The posthumously published The Wisdom of the Sands, on which the author had begun work as early as 1936, is an
extended speculative essay couched in a prose so dense and “poetic” that it often appears deliberately obscure.
13
Dedication of The Little Prince: Who is Leon Werth?
TO LEON WERTH
I ask Children to forgive me for dedicating this book to a grown-up. I have a serious excuse: this grown-up is the best friend
I have in the world. I have another excuse: this grown-up can understand everything, even books for children. I have a third
excuse: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs to be comforted. If all these excuses are not enough, then I
want to dedicate this book to the child whom this grown-up once was. All grown-ups were children first. (But few remember
it.) So I correct my dedication:
TO LEON WERTH
WHEN HE WAS A LITTLE BOY
Who was Leon Werth?
Saint-Exupéry met Léon Werth in 1931, but
it wasn’t until 1935 that he began to play a
large role in Saint-Exupéry’s life. Werth was
an essayist and novelist who was twenty-two
years older than Saint-Exupéry. He was an
anarchist, a Jew, a pacifist, an a “fierce freethinker.” He is described as a man who “took
little for granted and great pleasure in the
exchange of ideas.” Despite their differences,
the men became close friends and shared
much with one another in the next few years
while they lived near one another in Paris.
As the years passed, especially with the publication of Pilote de guerre, Saint-Exupéry was criticized by the Vichy
Government for his relationship with Werth. The book was quickly recalled and banned for its philo-Semeitism as were the
rest of Saint-Exupéry’s works until after the war.
In a letter to Werth while complaining of his frustration with his inactive duty while war is going on elsewhere, Saint-Exupéry
gives insight into their relationship. He tells Werth:
“I’d like you to know what in fact you know already; I very much need you, because first of all I think you’re the one I
love best of all my friends, and also because you’re my conscience. I think I apprehend things you do and you teach
me well. I often have long discussions with you and – I’m not being partial – I nearly always agree that you’re right.”
Werth represents the one, the individual in the humanity of France, that Saint-Exupéry is removed from during his time in
American. We connect this man and what he represents to Saint-Exupéry to both the Rose, the absent object of affection,
and the Fox, the admired advisor and teacher.
14
Meet the Characters in The Little Prince
The Narrator/Aviator
The narrator is an aviator whose life is changed forever by his encounter with the prince. He serves as
a kind of everyman in the story. He started out as an imaginative and artistic child, but soon learned
to curb his creative nature; while his chosen profession of pilot may at first glance seem liberating,
his life is empty and lonely until he meets the prince. He has become trapped in the adult delusion of
being ‘‘busy with serious matters,’’ while he has lost touch with the profound values and matters of the
heart represented by the prince.
The Little Prince
The prince is an enigmatic visitor to Earth from another planet, the asteroid B-612. While the narrator
initially treats him rather dismissively, he soon learns that the prince has a great deal to teach him
and is, in fact, the wiser of the two about what is important in life—that is, matters of the heart.
Innocent, joyful, and inquisitive, yet otherworldly, the prince can be seen as an idealized embodiment
of childhood. The prince is not all-knowing - he has to learn a lesson about his true feelings for the
rose on his planet. Thus the prince, like the narrator, has to learn the fox’s lesson to the effect that ‘‘It
is only with one’s heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.’’ The prince
passes on what he has learned about love and life’s priorities to the narrator.
The Rose
The rose is a traditional symbol of femininity and love in literature. The rose is vain, naïve, and demanding, expecting the
prince to cater to her every whim. She displays inner strength when the prince leaves. Although the rose seldom appears
in the novel, her presence is felt throughout. As a result of the fox’s teachings, the prince realizes that he loves the rose
because of the time he has invested in caring for her and that he has a lifelong responsibility to
her. Many critics and biographers of Saint- Exupéry see the prince’s relationship with his rose
as based on the author’s stormy relationship with his wife Consuelo.
The Fox
The fox is a wise character who teaches the prince about the importance of establishing ties
of love and responsibility with another being, a process that he calls taming. He does this by
inviting the prince to tame him. Once the prince has tamed the fox, they become unique to one
another and lend meaning to the rest of the world, as different aspects of it remind each of the
other. It is worth noting that Saint-Exupéry makes this wise teacher of the prince a wild animal
rather than a human being.
The Snake
The snake is the most aware character in the novel. He needs nothing and nobody and is
confident of his own role. He immediately recognizes the prince’s innocence. The snake speaks
in riddles, but says that he can also answer them all. This may refer to the finality of death,
which could be said to solve all problems by ending life.
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The King
The king shows the absurdity of worldly pride, grandeur, and power. He thinks of himself as an absolute monarch, but this
notion is exposed as absurd because he has no subjects to rule. He maintains his delusion of authority by ordering people
to do what they would already do of their own accord. The allegorical message conveyed by the king may be that although
people who are in positions of authority may believe they are important and
powerful, in reality they have little control over anything. Life would go on perfectly
well without them.
The Conceited Man
The conceited man cares only about being admired. As there is no one else on his
planet to admire him, this quality is made to look absurd. The allegorical message
of this character is that pride and conceit are futile and foolish.
The Drunkard
The drunkard drinks in order to forget how ashamed he is of drinking; he is trapped
in a vicious cycle of addiction. In his portrayal of the drunkard, Saint-Exupéry
identifies an important truth about addiction in general.
The Businessman
The allegorical purpose of this character is to show the emptiness of the
accumulation of wealth. He is shown as futile and selfish, in that money kept in the
bank is merely figures on a piece of paper that do no good to anyone. The prince’s
idea of ownership, watering his flower and cleaning his volcanoes, is what is may
be called stewardship: taking care of the things and beings within one’s sphere of
responsibility, for the sake of the greater or common good.
The Lamplighter
The allegorical purpose of this character may be to satirize bureaucracy, which can be so inflexible that it does not respond
to changing circumstances. The lamplighter himself is also a target of satire, as he
faithfully but foolishly continues to follow an outdated rule. The lamplighter is the only
character the prince meets on his travels who he does not think is ridiculous, because
he is not only concerned with himself. His lighting and putting out his lamp every
minute shows his devotion to following orders correctly.
The Geographer
The geographer’s allegorical role is to show the limitations of book learning. Shut up in
his office, he is ignorant of the world’s beauties because he is only interested in official
reports from explorers of natural features that fit his criteria. He is not interested in the
most beautiful aspect of the prince’s planet, the flower, because it is ephemeral. The
geographer is another example of how adults can ignore what is essential and restrict
themselves to external matters that bring no joy or meaning to life.
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The world of
the production
In Conversation with David Catlin
Interview by Literary Manager and Company Dramaturg Marti Lyons
MARTI LYONS: WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR
DEVELOPING THE LITTLE PRINCE?
DAVID CATLIN: A couple years ago, my wife and I enrolled
our youngest daughter in a week-long arts camp. It was
right before Christmas and we couldn’t really afford it.
hat.
He was discouraged. It was not a picture of a hat. So he
drew it more clearly.
The first day she came home smiling and showed me what
she’d made—
It looked like a pile of recycled stuff-- cardboard paper towel
tubes and cotton balls…
I started thinking about how much the class cost. About
how we couldn’t afford it.
The next day she showed up with something that looked
pretty similar. I think it included some Q-Tips. Maybe some
strips of newspaper. I had trouble breathing.
This went on for three more days until I finally asked her what
it was she had made.
She told me it was a condominium for ants—there were
elaborate tunnels and elevators and secret passageways
and even a zip-line.
Suddenly, I could see it.
Shame on me, I thought. In theatre we are supposed to be
able to think abstractly. Yet I got stuck in the ‘concrete’ and
could only see what was right in front of me.
In The Little Prince, the Aviator recalls how as a child he drew
a picture that looked something like this:
It was a picture of a boa constrictor devouring an elephant.
Yet no matter how often he showed the first drawing to
the grown-ups all they could see was a hat. So he gave up
his life as an artist to study serious things like arithmetic,
grammar, and geography. He grew up and forgot how to see
elephants inside of boa constrictors.
When our Aviator crashes in the Sahara desert a thousand
miles from anyone and anywhere with barely enough water
for a week-- he is stuck, alone, and thirsty. He has real
concrete problems. And in this life or death crisis, a child
comes to him— the Little Prince. This Little Prince teaches
the Aviator what he learned from the Fox and what I learned
from my youngest daughter:
what is truly essential is invisible to the eye.
I think we can all be reminded of that once in awhile and
I think Saint-Exupery’s story does that in a stunningly
beautiful way.
ML: HOW HAS ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY’S, THE
AUTHOR OF THE LITTLE PRINCE, BIOGRAPHY INFLUENCED
THE PRODUCTION?
DC: It is inviting to connect Saint-Exupery’s titular character
with his biographical self and in turn to his character the
Aviator:
When he showed it to a ‘grown-up,’ all they could see was a
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- Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a pilot who flew the mail across the Western Sahara.
- Like our Aviator, he crashed in the desert with little to no water-- he did have a bottle or two of wine with him-- and
suffered hallucinations before being rescued after several days.
- The Little Prince is described as having golden ringlets and as a child, Antoine de Saint-Exupery is also described as
having golden ringlets.
- The Rose, like Saint-Exupery’s wife, is from a small and distant land.
I find it exciting to ponder the possibility that in The Little Prince, Saint-Exupery is exploring the relationship we have with our
past and future selves and what they have to teach us. And how those past and future selves make sense of complicated and
important relationships. The Little Prince teaches the lonely Aviator the importance of making connections—to let oneself,
as the Fox says, ‘be tamed by another.’
ML: I KNOW THIS PIECE HAD A LIFE AT NORTHWESTERN - CAN YOU SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF
PIECE OVER TIME AND WITH YOUR DESIGN TEAM?
DC: The designers and I collaborated with the superb production staff and lovely actors for the Northwestern production
(Spring of 2012).
We were guided by the simple handcrafted quality of the book’s iconic illustrations. Saint-Exupery drew them himself. In
looking at them, one is very aware of the simplicity of line, color, and the paper they are drawn on. The idea that our show
would also emerge from paper became important to us. Paper felt like an apt and useful metaphor—for a blank sheet of
paper contains whatever the imagination demands. Just as what appears to be merely a hat can reveal a boa constrictor
devouring an elephant. A desert can contain an unseen well. A house can contain a hidden treasure. A seemingly lifeless
doll can have a soul to the child who loves it. And an ordinary rose can be unique in the entire world to the person who
watered it and protected it from the wind and the caterpillars. Our paper could contain whatever our story needed—a
desert, a planet, a mountain, a field of wheat or a well. We are excited to bring this story to Lookingglass with its expertise
in textual, visual, metaphoric, and kinesthetic storytelling.
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The Legacy of The Little Prince
The Little Prince was published in April 1943, just as Saint-Exupéry set sail to return to France. The book spent one week on the
New York Times best-seller list and two months on the Herald Tribune list and by the fall had “only” sold 30,000 English copies and
7,000 French copies. Even so, this book is said to have “confirmed Saint-Exupéry’s reputation as a great writer on aviation whose
works have a deep moral and spiritual significance.” Today, it is known as Saint-Exupéry’s “most popular and enduring work.”
According to Wikipedia, it is the most read and most translated book in the French language. It was also voted the best book of the
20th century in France.
Katherine Woods translated the original 1943 manuscript of The Little Prince which was admired for its poetry, although it is no
longer in print. It was the only English translation until 1995. Finding fault and mistranslations in the original, there have since
been seven English translations, notably Richard Howard’s popular but controversial translation and David Wilkinson’s bilingual
French-English translation.
As of 2013, the book has been translated into between 240-260 languages and dialects. According to the Saint-Exupery
Foundation, it is the second most-translated book, behind the Bible. It is estimated that the book has sold over 140 million copies
since 1943. The Saint-Exupéry Foundation also estimates that over 80 million copies of the audio-video format of the story have
been sold worldwide.
Before France adopted the Euro, Saint-Exupéry and his drawing of the “hat” featured on the fifty-franc banknote and in 2000 a
commemorative coin was produced with the picture of Saint-Exupéry on one side and the Little Prince on the other. There is an
asteroid named after both Saint-Exupéry and the asteroid that the Little Prince came from. There are numerous museums and
exhibits throughout a variety of countries that are dedicated and represent the Little Prince and his legacy. Adaptations of The
Little Prince and works inspired by The Little Prince have appeared in vinyl, cassette, film, television, radio, board game, graphic
novel, staged readings by James Dean, musical, operatic, dance, and theatrical formats.
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The Little Prince First Rehearsal Photos
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The Little Prince Costume Renderings
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The world of
The Audience
Lost in Translation:
The Little Prince Across Language
The Little Prince has been translated into more than 250 languages and dialects, making it the most translated novella ever
published. Each translator approaches the story with their own style and focus, and many translations have been penned by
authors who have never read the original text.
So how does the affect the meaning behind Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s story and the meaning behind his work?
Here we look at how the sentence “On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur”, from the original Le Petit Prince (‘The Little Prince’), is
translated into English.
Name of translator
Woods 1943
Cuffe 1995
Testot-Ferry 1995
Wakeman 1997
Howard 2000
English version
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.
You can only see things clearly with your heart.
It is only with one’s heart that one can see clearly.
We only really see with our hearts.
One sees clearly only with the heart.
Here is another peek into the peril of translation with the sentence “L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux”, from the original
Le Petit Prince.
Name of translator Woods 1943
Cuffe 1995
Testot-Ferry 1995
Wakeman 1997
Howard 2000
English version
What is essential is invisible to the eye.
What is essential is invisible to the eye.
What is essential is invisible to the eye.
What matters is invisible to the eyes.
Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.
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Here are three full paragraphs to compare and contrast:
Woods (1943):
It took me a long time to learn where he came from. The little prince, who asked me so many questions, never
seemed to hear the ones I asked him. It was from words dropped by chance that, little by little, everything was
revealed to me.
The first time he saw my airplane, for instance...he asked me:
“What is that object?”
“That is not an object. It flies. It is an airplane. It is my airplane.”
And I was proud to have him learn that I could fly.
He cried out then:
“What! You dropped down from the sky?”
“Yes,” I answered modestly.
“Oh! That is funny!” And the little prince broke into a lovely peal of laughter, which irritated me very much. I like
my misfortunes to be taken seriously.
Testot-Ferry (1995):
It took me a long time to find out where he came from. The little prince who asked me so many questions never
seemed to hear mine. It was thanks to the odd word, here and there, that everything was revealed to me.
For instance, when he saw my aeroplane for the first time...he asked me: “What is that object?”
“It is not an object. It flies. It is an aeroplane. It is my aeroplane.”
And I was proud to be able to tell him that I could fly.
He cried out then: “What! You dropped down from the sky?”
“Yes,” I replied modestly.
“Oh! That is funny!” And the little prince broke into a lovely peal of laughter which annoyed me no end. I like my
misfortunes to be taken seriously
Howard (2000):
It took me a long time to understand where he came from. The little prince, who asked me so many questions, never
seemed to hear the ones I asked him. It was things he said quite at random that, bit by bit, explained everything. For
instance, when he first caught sight of my airplane...he asked:
“What’s that thing over there?”
“It’s not a thing. It flies. It’s an airplane. My airplane.”
And I was proud to tell him I could fly. Then he exclaimed:
“What! You fell out of the sky?”
“Yes,” I said modestly.
“Oh! That’s funny!” And the little prince broke into a lovely peal of laughter which annoyed me a great
Do these translations capture the spirit of the original text? What differences do you notice among the three translations?
How would changing or modernizing the text affect the tone of the story?
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Glossary of Terms used in
The Little Prince
Primeval forest - An old-growth forest is a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby
exhibits unique ecological features.
Tangiers – a seaport on the northern coast of Morocco, on the Strait of Gibraltar where it stands guard at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.
Solitaire – In the text it is the name of the plane or the code name for the aviator. But here are the definitions of the word
and possible symbolic reasons to use this name:
- North American any of various card games played by one person,
- a diamond or other gem set in a piece of jewelry by itself.
- either of two large extinct flightless birds related to the dodo, found on two of the Mascarene Islands until they
were exterminated in the 18th century.
Cairo – the capital of Egypt, a port on the Nile River near the head of its delta
Baobab Tree – a short tree with an enormously thick trunk and large edible fruit. It can live to a great age.
Forty-four (or 43 in the original text) sunsets – there is the suggestion (but not confirmed) that it took 43 days for France
to be conquered by the Nazis and that the sadness of the 43 sunsets was representing this time. Suspected that it was
changed in the English translation to signify the age at which Saint-Exupéry disappeared
Effervescent – vivacious and enthusiastic:
Pithy – concise and forcefully expressive language or style.
Plucky – having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties.
Je ne se quoi – French phrase, literally “I don’t know what”; an intangible quality that makes something distinctive or attractive or a certain something.
Woozily – unsteady, dizzy, or dazed.
Geographer– one who studies the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and of human activity as it affects and
is affected by these, including the distribution of populations and resources, land use, and industries.
Ephemeral – lasting for a very short time: plants having a very short life cycle.
Treacherous – guilty of or involving betrayal or deception
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Perception – a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression: intuitive understanding
and insight
Hallucinations – an experience involving the apparent perception of something not present
Morocco – the most westerly of the North African countries. It is one of three countries to have both Atlantic and
Mediterranean coastlines, and it also has a rugged mountain interior.
Spite – a desire to hurt, annoy, or offend someone
“A Mushroom!” – apparently an insult that was originally used in Shakespeare’s days derived from the Old French word for
mushroom. It’s still used in Australia, and is used a class insult meaning “a wretch risen from the dunghill”
Muzzle – a guard, typically made of straps or wire, fitted over this part of an animal’s face to stop it from biting or feeding.
Geranium – a herbaceous plant or small shrub of a genus that comprises the cranesbills and their relatives. Geraniums bear
a long narrow fruit that is said to be shaped like the bill of a crane.
Dire – extremely serious or urgent event: threat presaging disaster
Monotonous – dull, tedious, and repetitious; lacking in variety and interest
Scurrying – a person or small animal moving hurriedly with short quick steps
Ritual – a series of actions or type of behavior regularly and invariably followed by someone: of, relating to, or done as a
solemn rite: an action arising from convention or habit
Grumble – complain or protest about something in a bad-tempered but typically muted way: make a low rumbling sound: a
complaint
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Discussion Questions
From The Little Prince
- Why are the pilot’s early drawings important to the story, and how do they impact his outlook on life?
- What do you think is the purpose behind the Little Prince’s need to leave his home planet? Why does he return home at
the end of the play? What does this represent?
- Why is the fox so eager to be tamed by the Little Prince? If she already knows how to tame herself, why does she need
someone else to do it for him?
- What does the pilot learn from the prince? How does the pilot change as a result of his encounter with the prince?
- Symbols and metaphors are present throughout The Little Prince. Why do you think Saint-Exupéry choose to tell this story
in such figurative language?
Drawing Connections to Our Lives
- What does the prince learn from the fox? Can those lessons be applied your life?
- The Little Prince was written during World War II. Can you see an influence of exile and war in this story?
- The most well-known line in this story is “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to
the eye.” What does this mean to you?
- The Little Prince is depicted as child-like and full of wonder, as well as mature and self-aware. Sometimes we hear
about young people being described as “wise beyond their years” or “an old soul”. What does that mean? Are knowledge
and maturity always linked? Can you think of an example, from your life or from someone you know, that illustrates your
perspective?
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Lookingglass Free Panel Discussions
Sunday Panel Discussions take place directly following the 3:00pm matinees at Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N Michigan Ave.
Panel discussions are free and open to the public. Seating is subject to availability.
Sunday, January 12th after the 3pm Performance
The Lamplighter: Intergenerational Perspectives on The
Little Prince
The Little Prince seems to grow and transform as we do. How
do the characters encountered in the story take on different
meanings as we progress from childhood through adulthood?
Panelists Include Representatives from (almost)
every decade of life
Sunday, January 19th after the 3pm Performance
Le Petit Prince: French Culture and Worldwide Influence
Although known as a beacon of French culture, The Little
Prince is also an international phenomenon. Are there qualities of the book that are uniquely French? Why is this story
so transcendent throughout time, cultures, and language?
Panelists Include Representatives from:
- Alliance Française de Chicago
- Lycée Français de Chicago
- Open Books
- Raven Foundation
Sunday, January 26th after the 3pm Performance
Making Meaning in Our Lives: Loyola School of Education
The Little Prince makes a number of profound and idealist
observations about life and human nature. But in a time
when human connection has been reduced to 140 characters and personal feelings are meant for mass messaging,
do these observations still have relevance? Or does, indeed,
this realty demand the careful exploration of The Little Prince
in order to inspire crucial conversations about life and love?
Panelists Include Representatives from the Loyola
University School of Education
Sunday, February 2 after the 3pm Performance
The Hat and the Snake: The Importance of Play
Curiosity and creativity are recurring themes in The Little
Prince. But do we afford ourselves the opportunity to play?
How does the definition of play change as we grow older?
How can incorporating play into our daily lives change the
way we live, work, and think?
Panelists Include Representatives from:
- Second City
- 500 Clown
- Red Frog Events
Sunday, February 9 after the 3pm Performance
Behind the Scenes of The Little Prince
A conversation with the director and designers about The
Little Prince. What was the inspiration behind the design
elements of the show? How do the designs evoke the many
lands of fascination and imagination? Panelists Include Representatives from The Little
Prince design team
SPECIAL PANEL
Wednesday, February 13 after the 7:30pm Performance
Invisible to the Eye: How Do We See Love Rightly
Within the story of The Little Prince, our pint-sized hero begins to understand the power of love. Does love truly involve
taming? How are we responsible for those we have loved
and tamed? How does our definition of love change as we
age?
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Resources and Links
The Life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Wan, Magill’s Survey of World Literature, 1-5
The Death of François de Saint-Exupéry
Des Valliéres. Art, Writing and Musings.
Schiff. Saint-Exupéry.
Saint-Exupéry, Flight to Arras
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Other Works
Parsell, Critical Survey Of Long Fiction
Dedication of The Little Prince: Who is Leon Werth?
Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince, dedication.
Schiff, Saint-Exupéry
Meet the Characters of The Little Prince
Characters. The Little Prince, Novels for Students, Volume 30
The Legacy of The Little Prince
Schiff, Saint-Exupéry
Novels for Students, Volume 30.
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