The Prince and the Dressmaker

Analyze Lady Sophia, and her brief arc as a catalyst for Sebastian and Frances’s meeting. How does including this character foreshadow and deepen the novel’s theme of Gender Expansive Self-Expression Through Fashion?

The Prince and the Dressmaker is set in Paris at the end of the 19th century. How does this setting enable and emphasize the themes of the novel? Cite specific examples from the text to support your argument.

Compare and contrast The Prince and the Dressmaker with a classic fairytale. Which specific tropes does Wang borrow, and which does she subvert?

Analyze the dresses Frances makes for Lady Crystallia and discuss Wang’s use of color, style, and other visual details to reveal the characters through their sartorial choices.

Choose 5-7 instances from The Prince and the Dressmaker in which Wang depicts characters with no background, whether it is a panel with white space backing the characters or people in a broken panel spilling into the gutter. How does this visual choice affect the emotionality of these scenes?

Compare and contrast Madame Aurelia and Peter Trippley, citing specific character details and actions. How are they similar? How are they different?

Why does Wang set the first meeting between Lady Crystallia and Madame Aurelia at a spa? Consider the visuals, thematic resonances and associations evoked by the setting and discuss the ways in which the setting impacts the plot and increases dramatic tension?

Frances was first inspired to become a fashion designer by the costumes Madame Aurelia designed for the ballet. How do her designs reflect the concept of a costume? Does she veer away from that theatrical style over the course of the narrative, and if so, when?