Stardust As Allegorical Bildungsroman: An Apology for Platonic Idealism‪.‬

Stardust is very intentionally a fairy tale, but I didn't want to set it in a sort of never-never historical period. It's very solidly set in Victorian England, actually in a period after fairy tales were done with, but it's a fantasy in the tradition of Dunsany or Hope Mirrlees. (Neil 66) In defining the genre of Stardust, Neil Gaiman's own input is invaluable, though unfortunately incomplete. Gaiman defines Stardust both as fairy tale and fantasy, yet sets it off ironically with a quotation from John Donne's "Song," a poem skeptical of idealistic quests after "strange sights" (line 9), a succinct plot description of either of Gaiman's chosen genres. This ironic framework, suggesting the raised eyebrow and the self-conscious pose of a post-modern perspective, allows the novel to transcend the category of Victorian pastiche.