'That Very Mab'

"That Very Mab" by May Kendall and Andrew Lang is a whimsical journey of a fairy queen navigating the jarring realities of the human world. Queen Mab's story begins with a magical departure from her home on the Sacred Island to Samoa, where her fairy revelry is interrupted by missionaries, driving her to England to observe the disillusionment and loss of innocence within human society. This sets the stage for her struggle to understand changes and moral problems, and she meets individuals who demonstrate both the beauty and bitterness of human life, as she is forced to reconcile her innocent fairy nature with the difficult truths of the modern world. Mab's time is characterized by her interactions with a professor and others, allowing the story to offer satirical observations on contemporary culture.