Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction

Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction - Paperback

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Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction
  • Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction
Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction - Paperback

Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction - Paperback

by Marina Warner
$12.99
$12.99

Book Overview

From wicked queens, beautiful princesses, elves, monsters, and goblins, to giants, glass slippers, poisoned apples, magic keys, and mirrors, the characters and images of fairy tales have cast a spell over readers and audiences, both adults and children, for centuries. These fantastic stories have traveled across cultural borders, and been passed on from generation to generation, ever-changing, renewed with each re-telling. Few forms of literature have greater power to enchant us and rekindle our imagination than a fairy tale.

But what is a fairy tale? Where do they come from and what do they mean? What do they try and communicate to us about morality, sexuality, and society? The range of fairy tales stretches across great distances and time; their history is entangled with folklore and myth, and their inspiration draws on ideas about nature and the supernatural, imagination and fantasy, psychoanalysis and feminism.

In this Very Short Introduction, Marina Warner digs into a rich hoard of fairy tales in all their brilliant and fantastical variations, in order to define a genre and evaluate a literary form that keeps shifting through time and history. Drawing on a glittering array of examples, from classics such as Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and The Sleeping Beauty, the Grimm Brothers' Hansel and Gretel, and Hans Andersen's The Little Mermaid, to modern-day realizations including Walt Disney's Snow White, Warner forms a persuasive case for fairy tale as a crucial repository of human understanding and culture.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
ISBN9780199532155
Author Marina Warner
PublisherOxford University Press
GenreLiterature
FormatPaperback
PublishedMay 2018
LanguageENG- English
Pages192
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology Fiction

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More by Marina Warner

Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction

Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction - Paperback

Fairy Tale: A Very Short Introduction - Paperback

By Marina Warner

About Marina Warner

Among Marina Warner's books are From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers (1995), Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary (1983), and Joan of Arc (California, 1999).

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