Unicorn Variations: Continuity and Change in the Many Versions of The Last Unicorn

This chapter first examines the 1962 first draft of Beagle’s novel, and demonstrates how some of the author’s concerns and themes appear with different emphasis in each version: in particular, Beagle’s environmentalist motivations become clearer in light of the draft. In an effort to understand the range and complexity of the many other versions of The Last Unicorn that now exist, the chapter next proceeds to assesses the major adaptations of the novel to other media forms, as well as Beagle’s own narrative continuations and prequels that followed on the original story, finding reflections on continuity and change lending a common theme to all of them.