The Monkey's Paw
| "The Monkey's Paw" | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Wymark Jacobs |
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Horror, short story |
| Publication date | September 1902 |
"The Monkey's Paw" is a supernatural short story by author W. W. Jacobs first published in England in 1902.
In the story, three wishes are granted to the owner of the monkey's paw, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate.
Plot
_(14769861755).jpg)
The short story involves Mr. and Mrs. White and their adult son, Herbert. Sergeant-Major Morris, a friend of the Whites who served with the British Army in India, introduces them to the monkey's paw, telling of its mysterious powers to grant three wishes and of its journey from an old fakir to his comrade, who used his third wish to wish for death.
Sergeant-Major Morris, having had a bad experience upon using the paw, throws the monkey's paw into the fire but White quickly retrieves it. Morris warns White, but White, thinking about what the paw could be used for, ignores him.
At Herbert's suggestion, Mr. White wishes for £200 to be used as the final payment on his house, even though he believes he has everything he wants. The next day his son Herbert leaves for work at a local factory. Later that day, word comes to the White home that Herbert has been killed in a machinery accident. Although the employer denies tortious responsibility for the incident, the firm makes a goodwill payment to heirs of the deceased. The payment is £200.
Ten days after their son's death and a week after the funeral, Mrs. White, almost mad with grief, asks her husband to use the paw to wish Herbert back to life. Reluctantly, he does so. Shortly afterwards there is a knock at the door. Mrs. White fumbles at the locks in an attempt to open the door. Mr. White knows, however, that he cannot allow their revived son in, considering how dreadfully the previous wish was fulfilled. Mr. White was required to identify the body, which had been mutilated by the accident. It has now been buried for more than a week. While Mrs. White tries to open the door, Mr. White makes his third wish.
The knocking stops. Mrs. White opens the door to find no one there.
Versions in other media
The story has been adapted into other media many times, including:
- On 6 October 1903, a one-act play opened at London's Haymarket Theatre, starring Cyril Maude as Mr. White and Lena Ashwell as Mrs. White.[1]
- A 1910 stage adaptation by Louis N. Parker.[2]
- A 1915 film version, directed by Sidney Northcote and starring John Lawson.[3]
- A 1923 film version, directed by Manning Haynes and starring Moore Marriott, Marie Ault, and Charles Ashton.[3]
- A July 17, 1928 UK radio adaptation based on the 1910 play.[2]
- A 1933 film version, screenplay by Graham John, directed by Wesley Ruggles (his last film with RKO), and starring C. Aubrey Smith, Ivan Simpson and Louise Carter.[4]
- A 1939 UK television adaptation produced by Moultrie Kelsall.[2]
- A May 28, 1946 episode of the BBC Radio series Appointment with Fear.[2]
- A 1948 film version, screenplay by Norman Lee and Barbara Toy.[5]
- A December 16, 1958 episode of the UK radio series Thirty-Minute Theatre, starring Carleton Hobbes and Gladys Young.[2]
- A 1961 film version called Espiritismo (released as Spiritism in the US), directed by Benito Alazraki and starring Nora Veyran, Jose Luis Jiminez, and Jorge Mondragon.[3]
- "The Monkey's Paw – A Retelling", aired on TV on April 19, 1965 in season 3, episode 26 of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, starring Leif Erickson, Jane Wyatt, and Lee Majors.
- A July 11, 1980 episode of the CBC Radio series Nightfall.[2]
- A January 17, 1988 BBC Radio adaptation by Patrick Galvin, presented as part of Fear on Four. It was rebroadcast individually as a Halloween special on October 31, 1993.[2]
- A one-act opera of the story was adapted by composer Stephen J. Grieco in 1996 and premiered at the Alice E. Bartlett Theatre.[6]
- A 2004 adaptation as a radio play narrated by Christopher Lee in 2004 as part of the BBC radio drama series Christopher Lee's Fireside Tales.[7]
Saugat Malla in a poster of 2008 Nepali movie Kagbeni, An adaptation of "The Monkey's Paw" - A 2008 adaptation as Nepali movie Kagbeni, directed by Bhusan Dahal and starring Nima Rumba, Saugat Malla, and Deeya Maskey. A few changes were made to adjust with the locality.
- An operatic version of the story was adapted by composer Jonathan N. Kupper in 2009. Excerpts of the piece were showcased as part of Opera Vista's new opera competition in Houston, Texas in 2010; and a full production was premiered by The Microscopic Opera Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2011.[8]
- A 2011 Australian radio adaptation on The Drama Pod.[2]
Variations, parodies
A great number of novels, stories, movies, plays and comics are variations or adaptations of the story, featuring similar plots built around wishes that go awry in macabre ways, occasionally with references to monkey's paws or to the story itself.
The story is frequently parodied on television shows and in comic books.
See also
References
- ↑ Jacobs, W. W.; Parker, Louis N. (1910). The Monkey's Paw: A Story in Three Scenes. London: Samuel French, Ltd. p. 5.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Richard J. Hand (5 June 2014). Listen in Terror: British Horror Radio from the Advent of Broadcasting to the Digital Age. Oxford University Press. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-0-7190-8148-4.
- 1 2 3 Alan Goble (1 January 1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. p. 241. ISBN 978-3-11-095194-3.
- ↑ Jewell, Richard B.; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New York: Arlington House. p. 57. ISBN 0-517-546566.
- ↑ Soister, John T. (2004). Up from the Vault: Rare thrillers of the 1920s and 1930s. McPharland. p. 133.
- ↑ "Alice E. Bartlett, SUNY Fredonia".
- ↑ "BBC Radio 4 Extra - Christopher Lee's Fireside Tales, The Monkey's Paw". BBC.
- ↑ "microscopic-opera". microscopic-opera.
External links
 |
Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
-
The Monkey's Paw public domain audiobook at LibriVox - "The Monkey's Paw"; Full Short Story Text
- Gaslight edition of the story
- Monkey's Paw Radio Play
- Podcast of "The Monkey's Paw" as read by John Lithgow
- Books That Grow leveled book