Waubonsee Community College

Clever maids, the secret history of the Grimm fairy tales, Valerie Paradiž

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-212) and index

contains biographical information

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Clever maids

bibliography

56650295

Valerie Paradiž

"The famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm - stories like Snow White, Red Riding Hood, and Rumplestiltskin - are known to millions of people around the world and are deeply embedded in the collective psyche. In this charming account, writer and scholar Valerie Paradiz reveals the true story of how the fairy tales came to be. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, collectors and editors of more than 200 folk stories, were major German intellects of the nineteenth century, contemporaries of Goethe and Schiller. But as Paradiz reveals here, the romantic image of the two brothers traveling the countryside, transcribing tales told to them by peasants, is a far cry from the truth. In fact, more than half the fairy tales the Grimm brothers collected were actually contributed by their educated female friends from the bourgeois and aristocratic classes. While German folkloric scholars-all of them male-fancied themselves the keepers of the cultural flame, it was a handful of women who ensured that millions would know the stories of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella by heart. Set against the backdrop of the chaotic Napoleonic wars and the years of high German romanticism, Clever Maids chronicles one of the most fascinating literary collaborations in European history and brilliantly captures the intellectual spirit of the men and women of the age. Even more, it illuminates the ways in which the Grimm tales, with their mythic portrayals of courage, sacrifice, and betrayal, still speak so powerfully to us today."--Cover

the secret history of the Grimm fairy tales

The widow of Steinau -- Men of letters -- Child of Mary -- The diligent handmaid -- The six swans -- The maiden with no hands -- The singing bone -- A Christmas book -- Literary privilege -- The goose maid -- The end of an era -- The golden key

specialized