The Fairy with Turquoise Hair

The Fairy with Turquoise Hair (Italian: "La Fata dai Capelli Turchini") is a fictional character in Carlo Collodi's book "The Adventures of Pinocchio". She repeatedly appears at critical moments in Pinocchio's wanderings to admonish the little wooden puppet to avoid bad or risky behavior. Although the naively willful and impulse-driven humanoid marionette initially resists her good advice, he somehow finds it within himself at last to follow her rightful instruction, albeit a bit reluctantly at first go. She in turn eventually rewards him for his well-acquired and genuine goodness by enabling his transformation into a real, flesh-and-blood human boy and becomes a mother figure to him.

Role

The Fairy makes her first appearance in chapter XV, where she is shown to be a young girl living in a house in the middle of a forest. Pinocchio, who is being chased by The Fox and the Cat ("Il Gatto e la Volpe") disguised as murderers who want to steal his coins, pleads with the Fairy to allow him entrance. The Fairy cryptically responds that all inhabitants of the house, including herself, are dead, and that she is waiting for her coffin to arrive. Pinocchio is caught by the Pair and hung. In the following chapter, it is established that the girl is in fact a fairy who has has lived in the forest for more than a thousand years. She takes pity on Pinocchio, and sends a hawk to take him down from the tree. After a visit from three doctors, including The Talking Cricket ("Il Grillo Parlante"), the Fairy attempts to give Pinocchio some medicine in order to heal his injuries. Pinocchio refuses to take the medicine on account of its sour taste, prompting the Fairy to summon a group of coffin bearing black rabbits. Frightened by this display, Pinocchio drinks the medicine, and later tells the Fairy of his previous adventures in a less than honest manner. His nose begins to lengthen, which the Fairy explains is due to his lies. She summons a group of woodpeckers to shorten the disproportionate nose, and after forgiving Pinocchio, informs him that he is free to consider her an elder sister, and that his father Gepetto is on his way to fetch him. In his impatience, Pinocchio leaves the house in an attempt to meet his father on the way.

In chapter XXIII, four months later, Pinocchio returns to the site of the Fairy's house, only to find a tombstone with writing declaring that the Fairy died from a broken heart from what she perceived as abandonment from Pinocchio. In the following chapter, Pinocchio is transported to the Island of Busy Bees ("Isola delle Api Industriose"), where he meets the Fairy, now older, disguised as an ordinary woman. Unaware of the deception, Pinocchio offers to help her carry buckets of water to her house in exchange for a meal. After eating, Pinocchio recognises the Fairy's turquoise hair. The Fairy agrees to adopt him as her son, and promises to turn him into a real boy, provided he earns it through hard study and obedience. Later on, she reveals to Pinocchio that his days of puppethood are almost over, and that she will organise a celebration in his honour. Unfortunately, Pinocchio is lead astray by Lampwick ("Lucignolo"), who coaxes him to go to the Land of Toys ("Paese dei Balocchi").

Five months later, Pinocchio is transformed into a donkey, and is thrown into the sea by a man wanting to skin him. The Fairy sends a shoal of fish to eat away at his body, until he is returned to his puppet form. Taking the form of a blue furred mountain goat, the Fairy warns Pinocchio of the impending arrival of The Terrible Dogfish, but is unsuccessful. It is revealed in chapter XXXVI that she gives a house to The Talking Cricket, who offers to accommodate both Pinocchio and the sickly Gepetto. The Fairy eventually appears to Pinocchio in a dream, and commends him for having taking care of his ailing father in his time of need. Upon awakening, Pinocchio is revealed to have been transformed into a real boy, and all his copper coins have turned to gold, accompanied by a note from the Fairy professing her responsibility.

Quotes

"There is nobody in this house. They are all dead."-Chapter XV

"For shame! Boys should know that a good medicine taken on time can save them from a serious illness or even death.."-Chapter XVII

"Lies, my boy, are easily recognised because there are two kinds: There are lies with short legs and lies with long noses: Yours, to the point, are the kind with the long nose."-Chapter XVII

Media portrayals

In Walt Disney's "Pinocchio", the Fairy (voiced by Evelyn Venable) is referred to as The Blue Fairy, and she differs dramatically from her counterpart in the book. It is she who brings Pinocchio to life, and she is much less involved in his upbringing than she is in the book, having appointed Jiminy Cricket as Pinocchio's official conscience. She is also shown to be blonde, rather than having the turquoise hair of her book counterpart.

In Giuliano Cencis 1972 adaptation "Un burattino di nome Pinocchio", the Fairy (voiced by Vittoria Febbi) is portrayed much more accurately to the book than she is in the Disney adaptation. She has no role in creating Pinocchio, though she does offer him guidance and support. Though she is accurately portrayed as sporting blue hair, she does not physically age as she does in the book.

In Steven Spielberg's 2001 movie "" (2001), the Blue Fairy (voiced by Meryl Streep) appears as a plot MacGuffin. The main character, David, a robotic child played by Haley Joel Osment, believes that the Blue Fairy has the power to turn him into a real boy. It also appears in the form of the Coney Island statue of the Blue Fairy, which David mistakes for a real blue fairy.

References

Collodi, "Le Avventure di Pinocchio" 1883, Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli