Fairy Tales, Sexuality, and Gender in France, 16901715 Nostalgic Utopias [Paperback]

A 1996 study of the genre of the literary fairy tale in late seventeenth-century France.Between 1690 and 1715, well over one hundred literary fairy tales appeared in France, two-thirds of them written by women. The first part of this book situtates the rise of this genre within the literary and historical context of late seventeenth-century France, and the second part examines the representation of sexuality, masculinity and femininity within selected groups of tales. The book proposes a new model for the application of feminist and gender theory to the literary fairy tale, from whatever national tradition.Between 1690 and 1715, well over one hundred literary fairy tales appeared in France, two-thirds of them written by women. The first part of this book situtates the rise of this genre within the literary and historical context of late seventeenth-century France, and the second part examines the representation of sexuality, masculinity and femininity within selected groups of tales. The book proposes a new model for the application of feminist and gender theory to the literary fairy tale, from whatever national tradition.Between 1690 and 1715, well over one hundred literary fairy tales appeared in France, two-thirds of them written by women. The first part of this book situates the rise of this genre within the literary and historical context of late-seventeenth-century France, and the second part examines the representation of sexuality, masculinity and femininity within selected groups of tales. The book proposes a new model for the application of feminist and gender theory to the literary fairy tale, from whatever national tradition.Acknowledgments; Introduction; Part I. Marvelous Storytelling: 1. Marvelous realities: toward an understanding of the merveilleux; 2. Reading (and) the ironies of the marvelous; 3. The marvelous in context: the place of the contes de f?es in late seventeenth-century France; Part II. Marvelous Desires: 4. Quests for love: visions of sl#