EN258E : Special Topics:

Fairy Tales

Fall Semester 2009

Monday and Thursday 11:00-12:15

Syllabus

Subject to revision.

Unless otherwise indicated, page numbers refer to Tatar's The Classic Fairy Tales.

Thursday 9/3: Introduction: The Meanings of "Fairy Tales"

Monday 9/7: No class meeting.

Thursday 9/10: Little Red Riding Hood.

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• “Introduction” (pp. ix-xviii)
• “Introduction: Little Red Riding Hood” (3-10)
• “The Story of the Grandmother” (10-11)
• Charles Perrault, “Little Red Riding Hood” (11-13)
• Brothers Grimm, “Little Red Cap” (13-16)
• Italo Calvino, “The False Grandmother” (17-19)
• Chiang Mi, “Goldflower and the Bear” (19-21)
• Bruno Bettelheim, "The Struggle for Meaning" (269-273)

Monday 9/14: Little Red Riding Hood

Texts:

• Angela Carter, "The Company of Wolves" and "The Werewolf" in The Bloody Chamber.
• On streaming video: "The Company of Wolves," written by Carter and directed by Neil Jordan (1985; 92 minutes).

Thursday 9/17: Hansel & Gretel

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• "Introduction: Hansel and Gretel" (179-184)
• Brothers Grimm, "Hansel and Gretel" (184-190)
• Brothers Grimm, "The Juniper Tree" (190-197)

• Joseph Jacobs, "The Rose Tree" (197-199)
• Charles Perrault, "Little Thumbling" (199-209)
• Joseph Jacobs, "Molly Whuppie" (209-211)
• Bruno Bettelheim, "Hansel and Gretel" (273-280)
• Robert Darnton, "Peasants Tell Tales: The Meaning of Mother Goose" (280-291)

Monday 9/21: Jack and the Beanstalk

Read the versions of "Jack and the Beanstalk" by Joseph Jacobs, Andrew Lang, and Edwin Sidney Hartland.

Thursday 9/24: Animal Lovers

Texts:

• Giovanni Straparola, “The Pig King” (42-47)
• Brothers Grimm, “The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich” (47-50)
• “Urashima the Fisherman” (66-68)
• Alexander Afanasev, “The Frog Princess” (68-71)
• “The Swan Maiden” (72-73)

Monday 9/28: No class meeting.

Thursday 10/1: Snow White

Texts:

• “Introduction: Snow White” (74-80)
• Giambattista Basile, “The Young Slave” (80-83)
• Brothers Grimm, “Snow White” (83-89)
• “Lasair Gheug, the King of Ireland’s Daughter” (90-96)
• S. Gilbert and S. Gubar, “Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother” (291-297)

Monday 10/5:"Snow White"

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales: Jack Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” (332-352).

On streaming video: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, directed by Walt Disney (1939; 84 minutes).

Thursday 10/8: Beauty and the Beast

Texts:

• “Introduction: Beauty and the Beast” (25-32)
• Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, “Beauty and the Beast” (32-42)
• Angela Carter, “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” and "The Tiger's Bride" from The Bloody Chamber

Monday 10/12: No class meeting.

Tuesday 10/13 [Monday classes meet]: "Beauty and the Beast"

On streaming video:

• "Beauty and the Beast" directed by Jean Cocteau (1946; 90 minutes)
• the Walt Disney production of "Beauty and the Beast" (1991; 90 minutes).

Thursday 10/15: Thesis workshop for first essay.

Monday 10/19: Sleeping Beauty

Texts:

• Giambattista Basile, “Sun, Moon, and Talia”
• Charles Perrault, “Sleeping Beauty in the Wood"
• Brothers Grimm, “Little Brier-Rose”
• On streaming video: “Talk to Her,” directed by Pedro Almodóvar (2002; 112 minutes) <rtsp://streaming.fairfield.edu/academics/talktoher/talk_to_her.mov>

First essay due.

(Click here for a brief guide to citing sources.)

Thursday 10/22: Cinderella

Texts:

• “Introduction: Cinderella” (101-107)
• “Yeh-hsien” (107-108)
• Charles Perrault's "Cinderella."
• Brothers Grimm, “Cinderella” (117-122)
• Lin Lan, “Cinderella” (127-131)
• “The Story of the Black Cow” (125-127)

Monday 10/26: Cinderella

• Jodi Kantor, "Love the Riches, Lose the Rags"
• On streaming video: "Ever After," directed by Andy Tennant (1998; 100 minutes).

Thursday 10/29: Donkeyskin

Texts:

• Charles Perrault, “Donkeyskin” (109-116)
• Joseph Jacobs, “Catskin” (122-125)
• “The Princess in the Suit of Leather” (131-137)
• Marina Warner, "The Old Wives' Tale" (309-317)

Monday 11/2: Bluebeard

Texts:

• "Introduction: Bluebeard" (138-144)
• Charles Perrault, "Bluebeard" (144-148)
• Brothers Grimm, "Fitcher's Bird" (148-151)
• Brothers Grimm, "The Robber Bridegroom" (151-154)
• Joseph Jacobs, "Mr. Fox" (154-156)

Thursday 11/5: Bluebeard

Texts:

• Margaret Atwood's "Bluebeard's Egg," (156-178)
• Angela Carter, "The Bloody Chamber," in The Bloody Chamber

Monday 11/9: Jane Eyre

Text: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Thursday 11/12: Jane Eyre

Texts:

• Brontë, Jane Eyre
• Sandra Gilbert, "Plain Jane's Progress"

Monday 11/16: Hans Christian Andersen

Read in The Classic Fairy Tales:

• “Introduction: Hans Christian Andersen” (212-216)
• "The Little Match Girl" (233-234)
• "The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf" (235-241)
• "The Red Shoes" (241-245)
• On streaming video: "The Red Shoes," directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (1938; 133 minutes)

Thursday 11/19: Hans Christian Andersen

Texts:

• “The Little Mermaid” (216-232)
• On streaming video: "The Little Mermaid," directed by Ron Clements and John Musker (1989; 83 minutes)

Monday 11/23: Library Instructional Session for Research Paper

Second essay due.

[Thanksgiving Break]

Monday 11/30: Oral presentations

Thursday 12/3: Oral presentations

Monday 12/7: Oral presentations

Thursday 12/10: Oral presentations

Monday 12/14 (Final exam date): Research paper due.