The Spider and the Fly (poem)

The Spider and the Fly 
by Mary Howitt
Subject(s) Fable
Genre(s) Children's verse
Publication date 1829 (1829)
The Spider and the Fly


“Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,
 'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
  The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
   And I've a many curious things to show when you are there.”

“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “to ask me is in vain,
 For who goes up your winding stair
     -can ne'er come down again.

~By Mary Howitt, 1829

The Spider and the Fly is a poem by Mary Howitt (1799-1888), published in 1829. The first line of the poem is "'Will you walk into my parlour?' said the Spider to the Fly." The story tells of a cunning Spider who ensnares a naive Fly through the use of seduction and flattery. The poem is a cautionary tale against those who use flattery and charm to disguise their true evil intentions. When Lewis Carroll was readying Alice's Adventures Under Ground for publication he replaced a parody he had made of a negro minstrel song[1] with a parody of Howitt's poem. The "Lobster Quadrille", in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, is a parody of Howitt's poem; it mimics the meter and rhyme scheme, and parodies the first line, but not the subject matter, of the original.[2]

An illustrated version by Tony DiTerlizzi[3] was a 2003 Caldecott Honor Book.

Cultural influence

The opening line is one of the most recognized and quoted first lines in all of English verse.[4] Often misquoted as "Step into my parlour" or "Come into my parlour", it has become an aphorism, often used to indicate a false offer of help or friendship that is in fact a trap. The line has been used and parodied numerous times in various works of fiction.

Music

Film

The Spider and the Fly lobby card
1907 cartoon, 'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the Spider to the Fly. Railroad tycoon E. H. Harriman is depicted as a fly on a spider web labeled "The Law," subject to the control of the Interstate Commerce Commission, depicted here as the spider.

Television

Gaming

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

References

  1. Gardner, Martin; The Annotated Alice, 1998 (updated, Lewis Carroll ; with illustrations by John Tenniel ; introduction; Gardner, notes by Martin (1999). The annotated Alice : Alice's adventures in Wonderland & Through the looking glass (Definitive ed.). New York: Norton. ISBN 0393048470.)
  2. Carroll's parody of Howitt's poem accessed 3 October 2007
  3. DiTerlizzi, based on the poem by Mary Howitt ; with illustrations by Tony (2002). The spider and the fly (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0-689-85289-3.
  4. "The Spider and the Fly". Book Description. Amazon.com. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  5. Lawrence, Kristen. "Arachnitect". Halloween Carols Website / Music. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  6. "The Fable of the Spider and the Fly". IMDb. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  7. "The Spider and the Fly (2006)". Theiapolis Cinema. Theiapolis. Retrieved 24 November 2012. *Sources: Playtone Productions, Universal Pictures

External links

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