4. BORN
IN MÅRBACKA, VÄRMLAND, SWEDEN
NOVEMBER 20, 1858
DIED
MARCH 06, 1940
GENRE
MAGIC REALISM, FICTION, CHILDREN'S BOOKS
INFLUENCES
FREDRIKA BREMER
5. SELMA OTTILIA LOVISA LAGERLÖF (1858-1940) WAS A SWEDISH AUTHOR.
IN 1909 SHE BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO EVER RECEIVE THE NOBEL
PRIZE IN LITERATURE, "IN APPRECIATION OF THE LOFTY IDEALISM, VIVID
IMAGINATION AND SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION THAT CHARACTERIZE HER
WRITINGS". SHE LATER ALSO BECAME THE FIRST FEMALE MEMBER OF
THE SWEDISH ACADEMY.
BORN IN THE FORESTED COUNTRYSIDE OF SWEDEN SHE WAS TOLD
MANY OF THE CLASSIC SWEDISH FAIRYTALES, WHICH SHE WOULD
LATER USE AS INSPIRATION IN HER MAGIC REALIST WRITINGS. SINCE SHE
FOR SOME OF HER EARLY YEARS HAD PROBLEMS WITH HER LEGS (SHE
WAS BORN WITH A FAULTY HIP) SHE WOULD ALSO SPEND A LOT OF
TIME READING BOOKS SUCH AS THE BIBLE.
6. AS A YOUNG WOMAN SHE WAS A TEACHER IN THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF
SWEDEN FOR TEN YEARS BEFORE HER FIRST NOVEL GÖSTA BERLING'S
SAGA WAS PUBLISHED. AS HER WRITER CAREER PROGRESSED SHE WOULD
KEEP UP A CORRESPONDANCE WITH SOME OF HER FORMER FEMALE
COLLEGUES FOR ALMOST HER ENTIRE LIFE.
LAGERLÖF NEVER MARRIED AND WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY A LESBIAN (SHE
NEVER OFFICIALLY STATED THAT SHE WAS, BUT MOST LATER RESEARCHERS
BELIEVE THIS TO BE THE CASE). FOR MANY YEARS HER CONSTANT COMPANION
WAS FELLOW WRITER SOPHIE ELKAN, WITH WHOM SHE TRAVELED TO ITALY
AND THE MIDDLE EAST. HER VISIT TO PALESTINE AND A COLONY OF CHRISTIANS
THERE, WOULD INSPIRE HER TO WRITE JERUSALEM, HER STORY OF SWEDISH
FARMERS CONVERTING INTO A EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN GROUP AND
TRAVELLING TO "THE AMERICAN COLONY" IN JERUSALEM.
7. LAGERLÖF WAS INVOLVED IN BOTH WOMEN ISSUES AS WELL AS
POLITICS. SHE WOULD AMONG OTHER THINGS HELP THE JEWISH WRITER
NELLY SACHS TO COME TO SWEDEN AND DONATED HER NOBEL MEDAL
TO THE FINNISH WAR EFFORT AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION.
8. CHARACTERS
1.A PEDDLAR WITH RATTRAPS.
2.AN OLDMAN: A CROFTER
3.MASTER SMITH IN THE RAMSJO IRON MILL IN
SWEDEN
4.HELPERS IN THE MILL: BLACKSMITHS
5.IRON MILL OWNER
6.EDLA WILLMANSSON – DAUGHTER OF THE IRON
MILL OWNER.
11. THE PEDDLER LIVES AS A TRAMP, WANDERING THE ROADS AND SELLING RATTRAPS. HE LIKES
TO THINK OF THE WORLD AS ONE BIG RATTRAP THAT OFFERS BAIT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FORM
OF LUXURY AND PLEASURE, AND THEN ENSNARES THEM.
ONE EVENING IN LATE DECEMBER, THE PEDDLER COMES TO A CABIN AND ASKS FOR
SHELTER. THE OLD MAN WHO LIVES THERE WELCOMES HIM IN, OFFERING FOOD, TOBACCO,
AND CONVERSATION. HE SHOWS THE PEDDLER THIRTY KRONOR THAT HE HAS EARNED FROM
SELLING HIS COW’S MILK.
THE NEXT MORNING THE PEDDLER LEAVES, BUT THEN HE RETURNS TO STEAL THE OLD MAN’S
MONEY. HE GOES INTO THE FOREST TO AVOID DETECTION, BUT SOON FINDS HIMSELF LOST.
HE REALIZES THAT HE HAS BEEN CAUGHT IN THE “RATTRAP,” AND FEARS THAT HE WILL DIE. THE
PEDDLER THEN HEARS HAMMERING AND FINDS THAT HE IS NEAR AN IRONWORKS. HE TAKES
SHELTER THERE BY THE WARM FURNACE, WHERE THE MASTER BLACKSMITH AND
HIS APPRENTICE ARE WORKING.
12. THE IRONWORKS ARE OWNED BY A WEALTHY IRONMASTER, WHO FREQUENTLY
VISITS THE FORGE. HE COMES BY THAT NIGHT AND SEES THE PEDDLER. MISTAKING
THE PEDDLER FOR AN OLD REGIMENTAL COMRADE, CAPTAIN VON STAHLE, THE
IRONMASTER INVITES HIM TO COME BACK TO HIS MANOR HOUSE AND SPEND
CHRISTMAS WITH HIM AND HIS DAUGHTER. THOUGH THE PEDDLER FIRST PRETENDS
TO BE VON STAHLE, HE DECLINES THE IRONMASTER’S INVITATION, AFRAID TO GO
TO THE HOUSE WITH HIS STOLEN MONEY. THE IRONMASTER RELUCTANTLY LEAVES.
SOON AFTER, THE IRONMASTER’S DAUGHTER EDLA WILLMANSSON ARRIVES AT THE
FORGE, SENT BY HER FATHER TO PERSUADE THE PEDDLER TO COME TO THEIR
HOME. SHE NOTES THAT THE MAN LOOKS AFRAID AND IS PROBABLY HIDING FROM
SOME PAST CRIME, BUT SHE TREATS HIM KINDLY AND ASSURES HIM THAT HE CAN
LEAVE FREELY WHENEVER HE WANTS. THE PEDDLER AGREES TO COME WITH HER.
13. THE NEXT MORNING, THE IRONMASTER AND EDLA GREET THE PEDDLER, WHO HAS
BEEN BATHED AND DRESSED IN FINE CLOTHES. THE IRONMASTER REALIZES HE
MADE A MISTAKE—THE STRANGER IS NOT CAPTAIN VON STAHLE—AND GETS
ANGRY. THE PEDDLER OFFERS TO PUT HIS RAGS BACK ON AND LEAVE, BUT THE
IRONMASTER THREATENS TO CALL FOR THE SHERIFF. THIS ANGERS THE PEDDLER,
WHO RANTS ABOUT HOW THE WHOLE WORLD IS A RATTRAP, AND THE
IRONMASTER SHOULD CONSIDER THAT HE MIGHT BE CAUGHT ONE DAY TOO. THIS
AMUSES THE IRONMASTER, WHO AGREES TO LET THE PEDDLER GO WITHOUT
CALLING THE SHERIFF. EDLA STOPS HIM, HOWEVER, AND SAYS THAT SHE WANTS
THE PEDDLER TO STAY. SHE KNOWS THAT HE HAS A HARD LIFE AND DECLARES
THAT HE SHOULD HAVE SOME WARMTH AND SAFETY ON CHRISTMAS EVE,
ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THEY ALREADY PROMISED HIM THEIR HOSPITALITY. THE
IRONMASTER GRUMBLES BUT AGREES.
14. THE PEDDLER, AMAZED BY EDLA’S WORDS, SLEEPS FOR MOST OF THE DAY, ONLY
WAKING FOR MEALS. AT DINNER, EDLA TELLS HIM THAT HE IS TO KEEP THE SUIT HE’S
WEARING AS A GIFT. SHE ALSO TELLS HIM THAT HE WILL BE WELCOME BACK NEXT
CHRISTMAS. THE PEDDLER IS AGAIN AMAZED.
THE NEXT MORNING, WHICH IS CHRISTMAS, THE IRONMASTER AND EDLA GO TO
CHURCH, WHERE THEY LEARN THAT THE STRANGER STAYING WITH THEM IS A THIEF
WHO STOLE MONEY FROM THE OLD MAN. EDLA IS ASHAMED, AND THE
IRONMASTER WORRIES THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN ROBBED AS WELL. WHEN THEY
RETURN HOME, HOWEVER, THE PEDDLER HAS LEFT, TAKING NOTHING AND
LEAVING BEHIND A PACKAGE FOR EDLA. INSIDE IS THE STOLEN MONEY, A
RATTRAP, AND A LETTER. THE LETTER THANKS EDLA FOR HER KINDNESS, AND STATES
THAT SHE HAS FREED THE PEDDLER FROM BEING CAUGHT IN THE “RATTRAP” OF LIFE.
HE SIGNS THE LETTER AS CAPTAIN VON STAHLE.
15. •Word meanings
• 1. keep body and soul together: to manage to keep alive : to survive
• 2 .hunger gleamed in his eyes :feeling so hungry that the expression shows on one’s face
• 3. plods along the road : moving along the road slowly but deliberately, to walk with a
heavy feet
• 4. unwonted joy: unusual pleasure or happiness
• 5. impenetrable prison: impassable confinement
• 6. nodded a haughty consent: indifferent agreement
• 7. eased his way: moved himself slowly and carefully
17. • Short questions
• Question.1. Why did the peddler think that the world was a rattrap? (All India 2009)
• Question.2. Why did the peddler derive pleasure from his idea of the world as a
rattrap?(Delhi 2014; Modified)
• Question.3. Why did the peddler knock on the cottage by the roadside? How was he
treated by the Owner Of the cottage? (Compartment 2014)
• Question.4. Why did Edla plead with her father not to sen’d the vagabond away?
(All India 2014; Modified)
• Question.5. What conclusion did the ironmaster reach when he heard that the crofter had
been robbed by the peddler? (Compartment 2014)
• Question.6. Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain von Stahle? (All India 2009)
• Question.7.Why was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler? (All India 2010)
• Question.8.What made the peddler finally change his ways? (All India 2010)
• Question.9.Why did the peddler keep to the woods after leaving the crofter’s cottage? How
did
he feel?(All India 2011)
18. • Question.10.Why was the peddler surprised when he knocked on the door of the cottage?
(All India 2011)
• Question.11.Why was the crofter so talkative and friendly with the peddler? (Delhi 2012)
• Question.12.Why did the stranger not tell the ironmaster that he was not Nils Olof? (All India
2012)
• Question.13.How did the ironmaster react on seeing the stranger lying close to the furnace?
(All India 2012)
• Question.14.”Edla sat and hung her head even more dejectedly than usual.” Which two reasons
forced her to behave in that manner? (Foreign 2010)
• Question.15.Who was the owner of Ramsjo iron mills? Why did he visit the mills at night?
(All India 2012)
19. • Long questions
• Question.1. How did the peddler feel after robbing the crofter? What course did he adopt
and
how did he react to the new situation? What does his reaction reveal? (Delhi 2013)
• Question.2. The story, The Rattrap’ is both entertaining and philosophical. Do you agree with
this statement? Why/Why not? (Foreign 2011)
• Question.3. The story focuses on human loneliness and the need to bond with others. Explain.
(Delhi 2010)
• Question .4. Compare and contrast the character of the ironmaster with that of his daughter.
(Delhi 2008)
