"No Beast So Fierce" by Patrick Garson (Article on Telling & Re-telling Fairy Tales)

From "Beauty and the Beast: An Old Tale New-Told"
illustrated by Eleanor Vere Boyle

Here's an article I caught a few days ago at Tor.com on writing fairy tales by Patrick Garson, a regular poster at Tor. He also wrote his thesis on Disney's Beauty & the Beast and highly recommends Marina Warner's "From the Beast to the Blonde".

In his article, Mr. Garson uses the way we visualize the Beast (via illustrations old and new) as a great symbol of how we tell and re-tell fairy tales, among other points. Here are a couple of excerpts:

One of the things I adore about fairy tales is their malleability. The wonder and frisson you get from someone playing with and reinventing well-known tales is a truly unique, very special feeling (when it’s done well, that is…). And yet, we often assume that this reinvention is purely the prerogative of modern writers. Not so, I cry! We have been playing around with fairy tales, bending their archetypes to our will, for their entire written history (and there’s no reason to think the oral pre-history would be any different).

From "Beauty and the Beast: An Old Tale New-Told"
illustrated by Eleanor Vere Boyle

Later Patrick writes:

When you take a look at this visual history,(edit FTNH: of how illustrators over the years have portrayed fairy tale archetypes and classic story scenes) that malleability I mentioned—of themes, characters, atmosphere—becomes quickly and deliciously apparent. Especially in stories where what’s described is something ambiguous and variable, something that changes over time, something embedded into much of our communication and latter-day stories. Something like beauty, or beastliness.

The whole article (and all the links) are very interesting, whether you read, write or study fairy tales and worth your time to check out. You can read the whole article HERE. And don't forget to check out the illustrations he's chosen for his article. They're a variety of Beauty & the Beast illustrations - all of the story beat where Beauty's father meets the Beast.Apart from being integral to the discussion they're also quite a different collection from the usual. An extra treat!

"True Love and Fairy Tales" Pt II (Article)

Raiponce
by Sonia (a.k.a. petitpoids)

Part II of my article "True Love and Fairy Tales" is live at Supernatural Fairy Tales.

Part I takes a good (raised-eyebrow) look at Cinderella and Part II untangles Rapunzel (sorry, couldn't resist!).

True love in fairy tales isn't quite what most people think it is - it might actually be better. ;)

Part I is HERE and Part II is HERE.

Enjoy!

True Love and Fairy Tales (Article)

Rapunzel and her Prince
by Emily Forgot

Part one of my two-part article "True Love and Fairy Tales" is now live at Supernatural Fairy Tales.

Here's the intro to get you started:

When most people think of love and fairy tales it tends to get boiled down to something like this:

Love-at-first-sight = true love = happily ever after (with maybe a task in the middle in which the hero proves just how far BEYOND the ends of the earth he’s willing to go for this true-love-at-first-sight-girl.)

The thing is, fairy tales are rarely like that at all, particularly if they’re about love...

You can keep reading HERE. Enjoy! (Part two is coming on March 4th.)

Beauty vs Beast? (Article)

Beauty & the Beast

by George Barr

I didn't post half of what I wanted to yesterday for Valentine's Day so please forgive me if I continue with this love and romance in fairy tales theme for a couple more days yet.

WARNING: CONTROVERSY AHEAD!

I've gone back and forth on whether to post the link to this but fairy tales don't shy away from dark and difficult issues so here goes:

I found this post, originally by Rod Van Mechelen quite a few years ago, at a site labeled "What Every Man Should Know About Feminist Issues". (You read the warning above, right?) It discusses the problems one man has in using "Beauty and the Beast" as an allegory for a successful marriage/relationship.

The article/post appears to have been written in response to a book called "Why Women Shouldn't Marry", which should tip you off to the strong feelings/opinions discussed. (In other words, it's one guy's complaint at feminist expectations (and treatments) of potential male partners. And no, I have not read that book.)

Please note: I do not agree with the points the writer of the article is trying to make, though I do not mean any disrespect. I actually think there's rather a lot wrong with the whole thing BUT at the same time I can understand some of the concerns the article writer has, as extreme as they are. The reason I'm posting a link here is because this is - apparently - how some people think, and it's a good example of the sorts of problems people have with using fairy tales as templates for relationships. (And yes, usually people of this mind have not read the originals or read fairy tales in general at all but are responding to the pop-cultural impression of the tropes.) It also is a different example of how fairy tales can be interpreted and how, even from a negative point of view, they can touch on deep issues.

Beauty and the beast
by Johanna Ost

Needless to say (but I will anyway) the post is written rather defensively in its presentation of worrying-yet-interesting ideas. If for nothing else, here's a great example of how some disillusioned or negative characters might think, which can be very useful for writers of fairy tale retellings.

Here's an excerpt:

The essence of the myth of the marriage relationship, as it is endlessly replayed in the timeless allegory Beauty and the Beast, is that marriage transforms the "Beast" into a man, and thereby empowers the "Beauty." But today's reality is that women are helping to transform most men into sex starved "Beasts" by eroticising themselves as evanescent "Beauties," and then promoting their sex as a scarce commodity by making men beg and pay for it.

Every woman who "plays hard to get" or lets men make all the first moves, plays a part in this.

Told you it may read as controversial! ;)

You can read the whole post HERE.

One final note: if you wish to leave a comment on the article (or this post) I welcome all points of view - I just ask that you please be respectful in choosing your words and be aware that issues like these can be emotional (and sometimes confusing) for people in their personal situations.

Wonderland Solved (Article)

This article came to my attention a few weeks ago and the subject is very different from the usual sort of fairy tale content so rather than try to summarize I'll just give you the idea and point you to the URL in case it interests you.

If you know much about Lewis Carroll (whose name was really Charles Dodgson) you'll know not only did he possess a big imagination but was also a mathematician. Someone decided to put his best known work together with his best loved principles of math and algebra (which he taught to University students) to see if some of the oddities of the story could be solved.

Illustration
by John Tenniel

Here's an excerpt:

What would Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland be without the Cheshire Cat, the trial, the Duchess's baby or the Mad Hatter's tea party? Look at the original story that the author told Alice Liddell and her two sisters one day during a boat trip near Oxford, though, and you'll find that these famous characters and scenes are missing from the text.

As I embarked on my DPhil investigating Victorian literature, I wanted to know what inspired these later additions. The critical literature focused mainly on Freudian interpretations of the book as a wild descent into the dark world of the subconscious. There was no detailed analysis of the added scenes, but from the mass of literary papers, one stood out: in 1984 Helena Pycior of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee had linked the trial of the Knave of Hearts with a Victorian book on algebra. Given the author's day job, it was somewhat surprising to find few other reviews of his work from a mathematical perspective. Carroll was a pseudonym: his real name was Charles Dodgson, and he was a mathematician at Christ Church College, Oxford.

You may have guessed by now, this article isn't for the faints-at-the-sight-of-maths person but if you're an Alice fan and can peruse even some of it, it may give you a whole different way to appreciate Carroll's work.

You can read the whole article HERE.

And if that whet your appetite for more there's another article HERE and discussion of a book that concentrates on the mathematical side of Carroll/Dodgson.

Ashes and Diamonds—Santa, Cinderella & Bert (Article)

I came across this interesting blog entry which looks at the magic of Christmas and uses fairy tale examples to explain the ideas. I think you'll find it interesting.

Here's an excerpt:

Of all the ways that presents and good things might come into one’s life, the chimney would, at first glance, be a bad plan—dirty, likely to be filled with fire, narrow and uninviting. A chimney is where we turn wood into smoke, and what exits by way of the chimney is of the least value to humans—soot, ash and greenhouse gas. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, the burned down remains of the hearth’s fire would seem to be the end of the road, and yet they mark the scene of a new beginning.

The blogger, Bruce from Privilege of Parenting, then goes on to discuss Cinderella, Bert from Mary Poppins and Rumpelstiltskin and how we often find worth, in things and in people, in the unlikeliest of places, including the ordinary dirt - and dirty faces - of home.

You can read the rest of the article HERE.

The Mad Hatter's Second Reveal + The Difficulties Of Turning Carroll's Classic Into A Film

As a follow-up to my post HERE on Tuesday this week, Mad Hatter has revealed the second Disney/Burton "Alice" poster. I think Alice and the White rabbit both look like they could a nap, otherwise it has a lovely mix of fantasy with a dark undertone (as you would expect from director Tim Burton) plus the Burton trees!

Of course, The Mad Hatter now wants 9, 000 Facebook 'likes' to unveil the third art piece...

If you want to join the madness go HERE. (Only 3, 700 'likes' to go till the next one... Ah, publicity - gotta love the stunts.)

On the subject of putting Alice in Wonderland on film, I came across this article I thought the Alice fans may find interesting. It's fairly lengthy with a lot of great detail for those interested in the challenges of adaptations of Carroll's work, as well as those interested in animation. It's aptly titled "It Would Be So Nice If Something Would Make Sense For A Change" - which is a perfect description of article, film and the film's process.For those who don't know, Walt had a long history with Alice and was keen to do a film on the classic work for many years. He kept hitting roadblocks of one sort or another until when the film was finally being developed/in production, he was so tired of it all he barely gave it any attention. I can't help but wonder what it would have been like had he still been enthusiastic and able to dedicate time and effort to the film.)Here's an excerpt:

Pick up just about any book about the history of the Disney Studios, and you're going to run into the same stories, often told in the same words, about the miserable hell that was the production of Alice in Wonderland, which eventually saw release in July, 1951. The problem seems to all boil down to a small nexus of issues: first, there was the fact that Walt eventually had to face, which is that nobody could possibly make a film of Carroll's novels and expect it to turn out like Snow White, or even Pinocchio. The books were too mired in linguistic play, and given over rather to the creation of absurd situations than the development of plot or specific conflict. To surpass this difficulty issue, it seems like he eventually conceived of the film as a sampler platter, if you will, of animation and design: let it be the cartoon version of Carroll's writing in effect, not in detail, an opportunity for the animators to cut loose and make surreal situations with beautiful artwork...

You can read the whole article HERE.

NOTE: The three illustrations are by the legendary Mary Blair who was working for Disney as a concept artist at the time of developing Alice. Her style, designs and color palette greatly influenced the whole film. You can see more of her art HERE, (scroll down for a huge gallery) and buy a book on her work HERE. A Disney Alice in Wonderland story book using Mary Blair's concept art for the illustrations, was released in September last year (and I posted an entry HERE).

Baba Yaga -The Russian Witch (article) & Various Baba Yaga Illustrations

Baba Yaga by Leonid Bloommer

I love the character of Baba Yaga. While she certainly is terrifying in many ways, to me she's more enigmatic than anything else. To some extent, if you can figure out the rules you can not only survive and encounter with her, she may actually help you.

There's definitely more to this traditional Russian fairy tale villain than meets the eye. I've read stories where Baba Yaga has sisters, a lover or a child (and in the story I read, yes, she loves her kid - you don't want to come between this Mama and her baby!), all of which seem at odds with the character as she's normally portrayed.

Baba Yaga
by Ravenari

I found an article posted in the first week of October which discusses Baba Yaga as a 'force of nature' and how this would have had an impact on those listening to the story years ago. The focus was different from the usual a) she's mostly evil or b) she the crone in the maid-mother-crone triad.

Here's a couple of excerpts:

When visitors arrive, Baba Yaga asks them if they came of their own accord or were sent. Smart visitors say they were sent. Coming of their own accord puts them in the witch's power; they are consenting to their own doom, so nothing can save them. They must also actively seek entrance by telling the house to turn its door to them. This concept is similar to the idea that a vampire (also an Eastern European legend) can't come into a home unless invited. The danger is one you bring on yourself. Another way ofl ooking at it, though, is that if you want to get something from nature, you have to take chances...

Baba Yaga
by Himmapaan

...These stories may have roots in Indo-European tales that passed into both eastern and western folklore. A trinity of Hindu goddesses consists of the Virgin, the Mother, and the Hag, and Baba Yaga is sometimes considered a Slavic version of the Hag. (Sometimes Baba Yaga even has two sisters). The versions about Vasilisa and the boy and girl are similar to the western “Hansel and Gretel,” in that wicked stepmothers send children off to be eaten by witches. And when Baba Yaga detects a victim, she often says, “Foo! Foo! I smell a Russian spirit!” This sounds like “Fee fi fo fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!” in “Jack and the Beanstalk."

Hunchback Fairy
by Endling
(additional website HERE)

But some aspects of Baba Yaga tales are uniquely Russian. Siberians placed log cabins on uprooted tree stumps to keep animals away from their food supplies. To remote and imaginative people, tree stumps can easily become chicken legs, and from there Baba Yaga’s horrible home. The doll in the tale of Vasilisa is similar to small household idols that Russians had in pre-Christian times. And a recurring theme is that virtue will protect one, no matter what the danger, whereas, in Western fairy tales, craft prevails. This trust in virtue must have been comforting to people scratching out a marginal existence in a forbidding climate.

The rest of the fascinating article is HERE. The author, Kathleen Murphy (a community college writing tutor) has a writing focused website HERE.

Baba Yaga
by Waldemar von Kazak

(additional website HERE)

You can find more information about each artist by clicking on the image or on their names. The deviantART artists have some interesting things to say about Baba Yaga too, so make sure you check their comments below the artwork.

And isn't that steampunk Baba Yaga fun? Methinks it won't be long before a steampunk Baba Yaga makes her way into a story... ;)

While we're on the subject, I should mention a book released at the beginning of September titled "Dreaming Anastasia" by Joy Preble. It features Baba Yaga quite prominently and I'm curious to read it (despite the cover which would normally make me ignore it).

Here's the part of the blurb that pertains to Baba Yaga:

In 1918, in a Russian cellar, Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov was murdered with the rest of her family. Or so history tells us. Thanks to old magics, Anastasia was rescued by the witch Baba Yaga and now spends her days confined in a tiny hut perched on chicken legs. With only the witch and a doll for company, Anastasia writes letters to her family, and waits.

HERE author Joy Preble discusses how she uses Baba Yaga alongside the prominent maternal themes in the book and has her character be much more than the dangerous child-eating witch she's often portrayed as. She also makes use of a matroyshka (Russian nesting doll or Babushka doll, also known as the 'little mother doll'*) as a 'special object' and as a model for the novel's structure, so I'm doubly curious about this one.

Available at amazon.com HERE.

*This doll was the key to Vasilissa (also spelled Vasilisa) surviving an encounter with Baba Yaga in one of my favorite fairy tales. It was, appropriately, given to Vasilissa by her mother before passing away and is symbolic of her mother's spirit remaining with her and giving her the strength (and the wits) to do the Baba Yaga's impossible tasks set for her. The real villains of this story, though, are Vasilissa's stepmother and stepsisters - not Baba Yaga. The witch keeps her agreement and gives Vasilissa the fire she needs.. Of course, that's only part of the story. You can read more about it HERE. Which reminds me I should do a post on Vasilisa in her role as the Russian Frog Princess... ;)

NEWSFLASH: Great Fairytales Series from The Guardian - A Must Read!

Note: I came across this series completely at random and was already into doing this blog post when I realized both SurLaLune and The Fairy Tale Cupboard have reported on it so rather than bore you with lots of repetitious information in case you're reading their blogs [which are both excellent sources of fairy tale information and news, so you should be :) ], I'll just point you to their entries and repeat how wonderful a thing this is and that you should avail yourself of the read and lovely pictures either in person or online. :)

For those who haven't yet heard, The (UK) Guardian and Observer, are including seven wonderful supplements over the next week titled "Great Fairytales". The series includes an essay by a notable fairy tale writer on a theme and then a collection of tales on that theme for each part, with special illustrations for each section by wonderful artists.Here's the blurb on the series from The Guardian online:

Starting this weekend in the Guardian and the Observer, Great fairytales brings you the finest stories of morality, justice, triumph and enchantment from around the world, collected in seven themes: Wicked parents, Rags to riches, Love, Quests and riddles, Wisdom and folly, Justice and punishment and Beastly tales.

The stories are all nominated by a panel of critics, writers and experts on children's literature: Anthony Browne, AS Byatt, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Robert Irwin, Alison Lurie, Adam Phillips, Philip Pullman, Salman Rushdie and Marina Warner.

Each collection is beautifully illustrated and includes an afterword from a range of leading writers exploring each theme.

This is such a treat! And I love the discussions on theme, meaning and fairy tales in comparison to history which you don't see often outside of academic works. For those of us unable to go buy the paper (and that includes any readers outside the UK) we can:

1) read the series online for free every day (START HERE - the link should have ALL the Guardian's fairy tale related posts for you to browse - this particular series starts October 10th, 2009 & consists of one essay and approximately three tales with illustrations - in separate posts - per day)

2) buy the booklets online HERE (shown at bottom of post).

Heidi of SurLaLune has included a brief excerpt of the first essay as well as other interesting tidbits and you can see some more of the lovely silhouette work by Laura Barrett, all of which you can find HERE.

Claire Massey of The Fairy Tale Cupboard has done a wonderful job of taking us through the first two supplements, complete with excellent links. I highly recommend reading her write-ups this week as she looks at the writers, the tales and the artists involved with each part of the series. To go straight to The Fairy Tale Cupboard click HERE.
NOTE: All silhouette illustrations (2 for Hansel & Gretel and 2 for Snow White) are by the amazing Laura Barrett who's work was commissioned for Part 1 of the series. You can find more of her work at her website HERE or by clicking on the illustrations - I highly recommend checking this link out. Her website is lovely and her work gorgeous!

On Writing Fairy Tale Based Fantasy

Hans Christian Andersen's "The Flying Trunk"* by Dan Froejlund

Occasionally, the question comes up as to whether or not it's a good idea to write fairy tale-based fantasy works.

One writer recently shared an agents rejection of the idea with a writing website called "Writer Unboxed". (This website discusses the craft of genre writing and has a lot of well respected authors weighing in on their discussions.)

To answer this, they called on authors Sophie Masson and Juliet Marillier; two writers who've built their career on writing fairy tale based fiction. Apparently both are quite passionate about the subject so the post has a second part coming with Ms. Marillier's response.

In the meantime, go see what Sophie Masson, author of several retellings such as Carabas (published as Serafin in the US) and Cold Iron (published as Malkin in the US), as well as many other fairy tale based works, has to say on the subject. Here's an excerpt to whet your appetite:

What makes fairy tales particularly suitable in fact as a basis for modern fantasy is that in themselves they mix both enchantment and pragmatism, the world of the everyday and a realm of pure magic. And it’s all done in such a matter of fact yet also profound way. You can never get to the end of the meanings of fairytale; and the fairytales of a people reveal their essence, their soul, if you like, in a moving yet also funny and beautiful way. They reveal our similarities and our differences...

You can read the rest of the post, Ms. Masson's response and readers comments HERE."The Flying Trunk" by Erik Bagge

About his modern interpretation Erik says:

The idea behind this wonderful fairy-tale is fabulous, as H.C. Andersen anticipates the "flying age" that we live in today. When he wrote the fairy-tale in 1839 nobody would have imagined, that the "flying age" would become a reality some centuries later... I did not change the motif that much when I modernized it. I turned the trunk into a car turned upsite down. I didn't want to turn the trunk into an airplane, as I wanted to express the preposterous idea that things can have other functions than they were meant to have.

* I thought illustrations from The Flying Trunk to be appropriate as the main character in the tale, after losing his enchanted means of seeing a Sultan's Daughter (by way of the flying trunk of the title) ends up wandering the world telling stories. See more about the HCA tale (which draws from many older tales around the world) HERE.

Taking the Fairy Out of Fairy Tales - Article on Hans Christian Andersen

I saw this lovely article (complete with gorgeous pictures) last week from Art Passions and thought I'd link you.

Art Passions latest article, "Fairy Tales in Search of a Soul", discusses how Hans Christian Andersen's tales are different and specifically discusses The Little Mermaid and The Brave Tin Soldier as examples of his mastery of story telling elements.Mermaid (Transfiguration) by Sulamith Wulfing

Here's how the article begins, just to get you started:

I’ve been neglecting Hans Christian Andersen and I feel guilty about this. It’s partly because of all the noted fairy story tellers, he wrote mostly original work (rather than transcribing folk tales) and because of this, many of his stories labeled as “fairy tales” simply aren’t—at least from the perspective of popular assumptions about them. The popular term “fairy tale ending” presupposes a happy ending such as “lived happily ever after” and many authors and transcribers seem to assume that this is what both adult and child readers want. Andersen does provide this sort of ending, but his stories are more complex and the resolution not dependent on any of the magic that fairy stories depend on. The sense of magic we associate with fairy tales is not produced by transformations or spells, but often through the reader’s assumption of anthropomorphic qualities – and Andersen was a master of this process – thus allowing the reader to supply his own magic. His stories are not always from some distant past but rather draw from the edges of our imagination in the recent and present. Of all the fairy tale authors, he is among the most ironic. And he is nowhere more ironic than in his tragic tales of unrequited love.

Continue reading (along with more gorgeous illustrations) HERE.

Art Passions also have two other pieces of news:

1) They're on Twitter now, so you can follow them there and get their news as soon as it's announced. You can follow them HERE.

2) Art Passions have their calendars for 2010 ready for purchase. There are individual artist ones HERE as well as a variety wall calendar. Go HERE for more information and to order.