Abstract
Many rewritings of fairy tales use this genre to address the darkest, most violent, most unjust, and most painful aspects of human experiences, as well as to provide hope that it is possible to overcome or at least come to terms with such experiences. Francesca Lia Block’s The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold (pub. 2000) is an example of such a use of fairy-tale material. Block’s stories transform traditional fairy tales to narrate the painful realities adolescents can be faced with in modern-day American society. In doing so, Block’s stories draw attention to the violence, both literal and ideological, inherent in well-known versions of fairy tales, as well as to the difficulty of confronting painful realities. Yet, as they depict young heroines (not) facing all kinds of ordeals, the stories also use the figure of the helper to restore hope to the protagonists and lead them to a new, often re-enchanted, life. Employing fairy-tale elements to both address suffering and provide hope, The Rose and the Beast thus offers complex and liminal narratives, or ‘anti-tales’, which deeply resonate with their intended adolescent audience’s in-between stage of life.
Highlights
Many retellings use the fairy-tale genre to address the darkest, most violent, most unjust, and most painful aspects of human experiences, and to provide hope that it is possible to overcome or at least come to terms with such experiences
Beast retell well-known fairy tales to represent the violent and painful realities teenagers can be faced with in the modern world, they draw attention to the literal and ideological violence inherent in the fairy tales themselves, as well as to the difficulties of confronting realities and finding alternatives to the often-disabling scenarios provided by well-known versions of the tales
The framework of the fairy tale as an imaginary story allows the heroines to reflect on their realities and to explore new possibilities in a safe space, while the presence of helper figures restores hope that difficulties can be overcome and that it is possible to heal from traumas
Summary
‘Fairy tales’, Marina Warner states in Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale,. ‘evoke every kind of violence, injustice, and mischance, but in order to declare it need not continue’ The stories in The Rose and the Beast transform fairy tales to narrate the painful realities adolescents can be faced with in modernday American society, such as drug addiction, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and even murder. Block’s stories draw attention to the violence inherent in the fairy-tale genre, which is both literal and ideological, and highlight the difficulties for teenagers to face their violent and painful realities, as well as to find alternatives to the crippling scenarios offered by well-known fairy tales. Employing fairy-tale elements to both address suffering and provide hope, Block’s The Rose and the Beast offers complex and liminal narratives, or ‘antitales’, which deeply resonate with their intended adolescent audience’s in-between stage of life
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