Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking,title character of three novels by Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Långstrump (Pippi Longstocking, 1945) and sequels, the strongest girl in the world, independent and free in confrontation with the world of adults. Pippi lives on her own in a little town with her horse and her monkey; she does not go to school and defies the dictatorship of norms and conventions, of dull reality, of authority, of structure and order. Although many critics have viewed the character as an expression of escape, her spirit is chiefly anti‐authoritarian, which signals her strong links with brave and clever fairy‐tale heroines, such as Molly Whuppie, or the princesses of contemporary feminist fairy tales.
Pippi has no magic powers and no magic objects to assist her, and she uses her wits rather than her physical strength to win over impertinent adults. Unlike the typical underdog heroine or hero of the fairy tale,...
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