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From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In this landmark study of the history and meaning of fairy tales, the celebrated cultural critic Marina Warner looks at storytelling in art and legend-from the prophesying enchantress who lures men to a false paradise, to jolly Mother Goose with her masqueraders in the real world. Why are storytellers so often women, and how does that affect the status of fairy tales? Are they a source of wisdom or a misleading temptation to indulge in romancing? Review:"In this detailed and engaging study, Warner traces the origins of the fairy tale and its tellers going as far back as the classical Sibyl and neatly bringing us up to date by including contemporary writers such as Italo Calvino and Angela Carter. What follows is a study that touches on the religious, mythical, and secular influences which have shaped both the story and the story-teller. The importance of the link between women's history and storytelling is explained by Warner who states: 'Fairy or wonder tales, however farfetched the incidents they concoct, take on the colour of the actual circumstances in which they are or were told.' The focus of this critical study is on fairy tales with family dramas at their heart. In the process Warner herself becomes a spellbinding teller of women's history. Through meticulous gathering of information and intelligent analysis of the tales, Warner goes beyond any previous studies including those by Bruno Bettelheim, Jack Zipcs, Ruth Bottigheimer, and other critics whose importance she acknowledges. This book is a brilliant scholarly work which makes it essential reading for specialists and anyone interested in the genre and in history from a feminist point of view." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review) About the AuthorMarina Warner is the author of four novels and many works of nonfiction, notably Alone of All Her Sex and Monuments and Maidens. Recently she edited a collection of six seventeenth-century French fairy tales, Wonder Tales. She lives in London. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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