Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women

In the Romantic view, music is an expression of emotion and imagination, and imagination is creation itself, the sign that humans are made in God’s image. Anodos repeatedly manifests the power of song. His songs appear to have the power to free the Marble Lady and foretell the future. They seem to rise from within him without conscious thought, implying that for all his callowness and impulsivity, Anodos is not merely drawn or driven toward beauty but already carries it within him.

In keeping with the Romantic movement as well as his own Christian beliefs, MacDonald implies that Anodos already contains the seed of the divine. That seed is his impetus. Without that seed within, humankind would not have the hunger for beauty (enlightenment) that leads them toward unity with God.

In the language of fairy tale, the forest specifically represents chaos and transformation. It is a place outside the reason and order of civilization in which the protagonist struggles to overcome obstacles or find a path. In the process, they become someone different or actualize some potential that is dormant in the static outer world. Afterward, the protagonist returns to the ordinary world bringing a new knowledge or understanding that changes their relationship with their former life.