Are there any books which take the old fairy tales and try and figure out what they really meant, and got psychological about it? I think I heard of one, but can’t recall.
Carl Jung wrote a lot on the subject, but I’m unable to name a specific book title at the moment.
There is also the work of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson, who created the Aarne-Thompson system for classifying folk tales.
Personally, I’m unimpressed with both of the above efforts. Jung basically hypothesizes a lot without support, and the Aarne-Thompson system consists of 2500 plots. Two. Thousand. Five. Hundred. I’m amazed they managed to list that many. In a system that big, it’s not exactly difficult to fit anything that’s ever been written, collective unconscious or no.
Not plots: plot-elements
Are you perhaps thinking of The Hero With The Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell?
You might be interested in From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner. It’s definitely from a feminist perspective, and it’s not so much psychology as literary theory. Warner and Maria Tatar, who she has worked with in the past, have other works in literary criticism and fairy tales that you may like to read. Maybe Off with Their Heads! by Tatar?
You might also try The Golden Bough by James Frazer, who was a predecessor to Joseph Campbell. It’s 19th-century anthropology, though, so you might find it slow going at times.
There’s also The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim, who was (is?) a child psychologist. Most of his theories have been discounted, however. Still an interesting read.
Another author to check out is Jack Zipes. Literary criticism again, sorry.
Not sure. I have a terrible habit or not remembering a books title or author.
One I read mentioned the game Little Red Riding Hood was playing with the wolf.
I wonder if its I’m Okay, Youre Okay?
The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales
Bruno Bettelheim
Are you talking about the Aarne-Thompson system? If so, I’m not intimately familiar with it but often see fairy tales classified as “Aarne-Thompson 1287” or whatever, which seems to indicate that we’re talking about plots, not plot elements. If the latter, the entire fairy tale wouldn’t be classified as a single number.
Furthermore, if it is indeed about plot elements, that strengthens my point. It would be even easier to fit anything ever written into a list of 2500 plot elements.
Wikipedia’s “Fairy Tale” article has a pretty good summary. Fairy tale - Wikipedia
It refers to Tolkien’s lecture “On Fairy Stories.” But–he had his own interpretation. And there are almost as many interpretations as there are stories.
The woods are dark & deep. You can make wonderful discoveries, even if you get lost. But avoid houses (a) made of candy or (b) perched on chicken legs.
Iron John by Robert Bly focuses on just one fairy tale.
WAS, actually. Committed suicide in 1990.
Or you can try James Thurber’s Fables for Our Time.
Not exactly a psychological examination, but one of the chapters of Robert Darnton’s social history The Great Cat Massacre includes just a little examination of original fairy tales as an insight into the worldview and life of contemporary French peasants.
- Tamerlane
A couple of years ago, I read this book about the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. Though I no longer recall details, I found it interesting enough that I read the whole thing.
‘The Bloody Chamber’ by Angela Carter is a collection of great short stories, all of which are based on fairy tales, including ‘Company of Wolves’ which references Little Red Riding Hood, and was turned into a film (though they did add a great deal for the film). Like most of Carter’s books, sex and death feature heavily and the stories are damn good.
‘The Annotated Alice’ is as the title suggests, a book exlaining the symbolism within Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and it’s been a long while but I recall it being an interesting read.