beauty and the beast and other fairy tales charles perrault

Some story types are found in more than one country, such as 'Search for the lost husband' (#425A), listed under Supernatural or Enchanted Relatives, Husband, and found in Romanian, Scottish, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Greek, and Mexican variations. The most well-known approach to classifying folk and fairy tales is the Aarne-Thompson system, first published by Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne in 1910 and revised more than once by American Stith Thompson.įor example, under Animal Tales, Wild Animals, we have 99 story types, including notable offerings like 'Biting the foot' (#7) and 'Calling the three tree names' (#9).

For example, you can find Cinderella variations set in China, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, and the American South, among other regions and lands. Stories have traveled the world with traders and immigrants for centuries. On Tuesday my new picture book retelling of a Grimms' fairy tale, Hans My Hedgehog, is coming out, so I thought I'd tell you a little about its history and a lot about the retelling of a more famous story, 'Beauty and the Beast.' What is the history of a particular fairy tale, and how did it come to take its current shape?įolklorists actu ally classify the stories into types, which make sense when you realize how many variations of the same basic plot can be found in different countries.

Beauty and the beast and other fairy tales charles perrault