Splendors and Glooms Chapter 4 Summary

The Fantoccini

  • A bunch of kids who aren't really friends with Clara—but are fellow rich children and therefore acceptable social acquaintances—come to her party, and she leads them to the drawing room.
  • There, they sit down, and the show starts up with a puppet rendition of "Little Red Riding Hood." Everyone is utterly transfixed, even the adults in the room.
  • For the final act, the curtains open to reveal a churchyard, and a little puppet skeleton starts dancing around. The skeleton keeps shattering into separate pieces that keep dancing independently.
  • For some reason, this strikes Clara as funny, and she accidentally laughs aloud. Immediately, her mother gets up and runs from the room—and with that, everyone knows Clara has disgraced herself.
  • Her party comes to a close early, and Clara is sent to bed without dinner after being yelled at by her governess. She's utterly horrified and humiliated.