History Literature / Feathertop

* LovingAShadow: Polly was charmed by the handsome stranger who showed up at her door, who was actually a hollow scarecrow all along.

* WidowWitch: Mother Rigby went TilMurderDoUsPart on her husband, Goodman Rigby, by either strangulation or slitting his throat. The reason for this isn't given and it seems like they'd been married a good number of decades before she killed him.

* PinocchioSyndrome: Subverted, because there never was a possibility of turning Feathertop into something more human than an illusion and so he never did the "I want to be a real human" thing. His quest was more along the lines of "I don't want to live as a non-human" and so he told his mother and committed suicide.

* NiceHat: Before bringing him to life, Rigby decorates her scarecrow with a hat she pins the longest tail feather of a rooster to. It is one of the reasons she later names him Feathertop.

* TallTale: The "unreckonable amount of wealth" Rigby gifts Feathertop to make him [[StealthInsult the equal of his fellow men]] are a gold mine in [[CityOfGold El Dorado]], ten thousand shares in a broken bubble, half a million acres of vineyard at the North Pole, a castle in the air, a chateau in Spain, and the salt within a ship she personally made sink.

* EvilParentsWantGoodKids: Mother Rigby, who, among others, murdered her husband and is a nightmare sadist, doesn't need Feathertop to be a good person, but all the same she's delighted by just how tender and honest he is.

* MeaningfulName: There's a grand three reasons listed as to why Feathertop received that particular name. For one, her wears a hat with a rooster's tail feather pinned to it. For two, his pumpkin head is filled with feathers. And for three, his wig, which was the late Goodman Rigby's, is of the feathertop style.

Proud of her handiwork, Mother Rigby brought Feathertop to life with a magic pipe that gets its powers from {{Hell}}. Specifically, by filling Feathertop's head with smoke he gained life and from that point on he has to keep smoking that specific pipe to stay alive ''and'' maintain the illusion of a handsome human appearance. While she was at it, Mother Rigby also set out a course for him by suggesting he should woo Polly Gookin, the daughter of Master Gookin, who owed her for one thing or another. Feathertop went on his merry way and became the talk of the town as soon as he arrived, with each townsman coming up with a grander theory as to who he was. Using the magic cane Mother Rigby gave him, he found Master Gookin's house with ease and as his mother predicted, once he whispered a specific word to the man, he was at Feathertop's service. Polly, meanwhile had seen Feathertop when he arrived and was delighted to learn that the handsome man wanted to spend time with her. It went well and would've ended well if there didn't happen to be a large, truthful mirror in the room. Polly caught sight of Feathertop's reflection and broke down in horror. Prompted by her behavior, Feathertop looked too and, terror-stricken, fled the town to return to Mother Rigby's cottage. The witch asked if either Master Gookin or Polly had affronted him, but Feathertop insisted on their innocence and elaborated that he had seen himself, that he knew now what a monster he was, and that he refused to live any longer. And so, he threw away the magic pipe and fell into pieces. Mother Rigby considered reviving him, believing him no less of a hoax than people in general, but decided against it because Feathertop had made his choice clear. Instead, Feathertop's remains were repurposed to what he was originally made for: a scarecrow to protect Mother Rigby's corn-patch.

* AnAesop: By means of HumansAreTheRealMonsters. Throughout the story Mother Rigby and the narrator display contempt for humans in that they accuse humans of making themselves look good with attitude and possessions and what not while few actually have anything substantial or commendable to their personality. When Feathertop kills himself, Mother Rigby declares it unfair that the world houses "thousands upon thousands of coxcombs and charlatans" that are so bad they themselves don't even know their own emptiness, yet her puppet, who does know what he is, is the one that comes to an end.

In 1852, Creator/NathanielHawthorne published the FairyTale-style ShortStory "Feathertop". It tells about the day-long life of Feathertop, a [[ScaryScarecrows scarecrow]] made by the [[WickedWitch witch]] Mother Rigby. Proud of her handiwork, she brought him to life with a magic pipe that gets its powers from {{Hell}}. Specifically, by filling Feathertop's head with smoke he gained life and from that point on he has to keep smoking that specific pipe to stay alive ''and'' maintain the illusion of a handsome human appearance. While she was at it, Mother Rigby also set out a course for him by suggesting he should woo Polly Gookin, the daughter of Master Gookin, who owed her for one thing or another. Feathertop went on his merry way and became the talk of the town as soon as he arrived, with each townsman coming up with a grander theory as to who he was. Using the magic cane Mother Rigby gave him, he found Master Gookin's house with ease and as his mother predicted, once he whispered a specific word to the man, he was at Feathertop's service. Polly, meanwhile had seen Feathertop when he arrived and was delighted to learn that the handsome man wanted to spend time with her. It went well and would've ended well if there didn't happen to be a large, truthful mirror in the room. Polly caught sight of Feathertop's reflection and broke down in horror. Prompted by her behavior, Feathertop looked too and, terror-stricken, fled the town to return to Mother Rigby's cottage. The witch asked if either Master Gookin or Polly had affronted him, but Feathertop insisted on their innocence and elaborated that he had seen himself, that he knew now what a monster he was, and that he refused to live any longer. And so, he threw away the magic pipe and fell into pieces. Mother Rigby considered reviving him, believing him no less of a hoax than people in general, but decided against it because Feathertop had made his choice clear. Instead, Feathertop's remains were repurposed to what he was originally made for: a scarecrow to protect Mother Rigby's corn-patch.

Following the story's original publication in ''The International Magazine'', it was collected in 1854 as part of ''Mosses from an Old Manse''. At least as early as 1908, it became a popular pick for stage, television, and movie adaptations, which sometimes go by the story's own name, ''Feathertop'', and sometimes by the first stage adaptation's name, ''The Scarecrow''. The play, written by Percy MacKaye, is particularly influential on how [[PopCulturalOsmosis modern perception]] of the story came to be.

In 1852, Creator/NathanielHawthorne published the FairyTale-style ShortStory "Feathertop". It tells about the day-long life of Feathertop, a [[ScaryScarecrows scarecrow]] made by the [[WickedWitch witch]] Mother Rigby, who, proud of her handiwork, brought him to life.

* AnAesop:

* ClassyCane: Possibly overlaps with MagicStaff. The one item that Feathertop is gifted that isn't the hellish pipe or affected by it is a plain, oaken stick that in his hands changes into a gold-headed cane. He gets it so it'll guide him to Gookin's doorstep.
* DealWithTheDevil: Gookin has made one. The what for what isn't elaborated on, but there is the oddity that he holds four offices. He's simultaneously a magistrate, member of the council, merchant, and elder of the church. And it is made clear that he has yet to repay his debt, which gives Mother Rigby control over him by means of [[TrustPassword one word that's only to be whispered]]. He's positively terrified upon hearing that word, but does what he must, even if that includes sacrificing his own daughter.

* HeroicBSOD:
* HillbillyMoonshiner
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: From the start, Mother Rigby makes clear that she thinks very lowly of humans.
* TheIngenue:
* ItAmusedMe: Feathertop was meant to be a scary scarecrow, but because Mother Rigby was in a good mood she reasoned it to be better and more rewarding to make him aesthetically pleasing. To this end, she dressed him in the finest clothes she had around that were only collecting dust anyway. It's when she takes a good look at her creation that motherly affection sets in and on a whim she decides to bring him to life. And then on a whim she decides her "son" should hook up with the daughter of a man who owes Hell a favor.

* MercyKill: Rigby considers reviving Feathertop after his suicide, but decides against it because he has already made it clear being what he is is not going to work for him.
* MissingMom: Nothing is shared about the whereabouts of Polly's mother.

* SoProudOfYou:

In 1852, Creator/NathanielHawthorne published the ShortStory "Feathertop". It tells about the day-long life of Feathertop, a [[ScaryScarecrows scarecrow]] made by the [[WickedWitch witch]] Mother Rigby, who, proud of her handiwork, brought him to life.

* Familiar: Dickon, who serves Mother Rigby without question, although all he's tasked to do is to refill or light her pipe. He is implied to be a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]] due to the pipe being lit with coals from Hell. He is TheGhost and either TheVoiceless or TheSpeechless, because while he's constantly talked to, he never says anything back and the narrator himself admits that all he can perceive of Dickon is the tasks being fulfilled.