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The Rocket
The King is the ruler of the kingdom in which the story takes place and the father of the Prince who is getting married. Like the Rocket, the King is convinced of his own greatness and his self-absorption has made him similarly delusional. The King believes that he is a skilled musician and, although his entire Court knows otherwise, that delusion is reinforced since none of his Courtiers have the courage to tell him the truth. The King is also in the habit of answering questions that are not addressed to him, believing that anyone should be happy to receive his wisdom. Although the King and the Rocket never interact, the King serves to reinforce the same self-importance and self-obsession—and the delusion that follows—that possesses the Rocket, which the story is warning against.
The King Quotes in The Remarkable Rocket
The The Remarkable Rocket quotes below are all either spoken by The King or refer to The King. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Remarkable Rocket Quotes
“She was like a white rose before,” said a young Page to his neighbour, “but she is like a red rose now;” and the whole Court was delighted.
For the next three days everybody went about saying, “White rose, Red rose, Red rose, White rose;” and the King gave orders that the Page's salary was to be doubled. As he received no salary at all this was not of much use to him, but it was considered a great honour, and was duly published in the Court Gazette.
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The King Character Timeline in The Remarkable Rocket
The timeline below shows where the character The King appears in The Remarkable Rocket. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Remarkable Rocket
The King ’s son, the Prince, is about to marry a Russian Princess from Finland, and the...
(full context)
...rose before, but she is like a red rose now,” which delights the Court and the King . The King orders for the Page’s salary to be doubled, which, since the Page...
(full context)
...as crystal” that the couple are truly in love. The Court is again delighted, and the King futilely doubles the Page’s salary once more.
(full context)
There is to be be a royal ball where the King has promised to play the flute for his subjects. The author interjects to say that...
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Since the Princess has never seen fireworks before, the King orders that a fireworks display be prepared as the last feature of the wedding festivities....
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...is rudely corrected by a Roman Candle, who insists that the world is bigger than the King ’s garden, and in fact would take three whole days to visit thoroughly. At the...
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...happen to him. The Prince and Princess, he believes, would never know happiness again and the King would certainly never recover. As he considers his own supposed “importance,” the Rocket nearly cries.
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...dance, as “white lilies” and “red poppies” watch on. The night progresses until, at midnight, the King orders the fireworks show to begin.
(full context)
