The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales: Expanded Edition

Description

Murder, mutilation, cannibalism, infanticide, and incest: the darker side of classic fairy tales is the subject of this groundbreaking and intriguing study of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Nursery and Household Tales. This expanded edition includes a new preface and an appendix featuring translations of six tales with commentary by Maria Tatar. Throughout the book, Tatar draws on the disciplinary tools of psychoanalysis and folklore while also providing historical context to explore the harsher aspects of these stories, presenting new interpretations of tales that engage in a kind of cultural repetition compulsion. No other book so thoroughly challenges us to rethink the happily-ever-after of these classic stories. Cover Title Copyright Dedication CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PREFACE TO THE PRINCETON CLASSICS EDITION PREFACE (2003) PREFACE I · CHILDREN'S LITERATURE? 1. SEX AND VIOLENCE: The Hard Core of Fairy Tales 2. FACT AND FANTASY: The Art of Reading Fairy Tales 3. VICTIMS AND SEEKERS: The Family Romance of Fairy Tales II · HEROES 4. BORN YESTERDAY: The Spear Side 5. SPINNING TALES: The Distaff Side III · VILLAINS 6. FROM NAGS TO WITCHES: Stepmothers and Other Ogres 7. TAMING THE BEAST: Bluebeard and Other Monsters EPILOGUE: Getting Even APPENDIXES A. Six Fairy Tales from the Nursery and Household Tales, with Commentary B. Selected Tales from the First Edition of the Nursery and Household Tales C. Prefaces to the First and Second Editions of the Nursery and Household Tales D. English Titles, Tale Numbers, and German Titles of Stories Cited E. Bibliographical Note NOTES GENERAL INDEX INDEX OF TALES