Following the Lead of Fairy Tales: Storytelling in Jeanette Winterson’s The Passion

Abstract

Even though Jeanette Winterson has insisted on the idea that in her writing she is not particularly interested in folk tales or fairy tales, many of her narratives are influenced by and intertwined with elements from fairy tales. It is true that Winterson does not generally rewrite fairy tales, but their presence is pervasive in many of her novels. In the case of The Passion (1987), the novel includes an Emperor, a Queen of Spades and a princess ‘whose tears turned to jewels as she walked’, as well as goblins, elves, and fairies. Besides, an important part of the story takes place in Venice, a city which is a maze in itself with all the mythical connotations that this has, and there are characters who accomplish extraordinary feats like walking on water or seeing things happening at a huge distance. In this paper, though, the main focus will be on the technique of storytelling in Winterson’s The Passion. Storytelling is an inherent part of fairy tales, which belong to an oral tradition and are created to be told rather than read. Throughout The Passion, characters are always telling stories to one another and, as readers, we are continuously reminded that we are ‘listening’ to stories. Therefore, the paper will explore the similarities that might exist between telling a fairy tale and a novel such as this.