The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales [Paperback]

Maria Tatar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691014876 | ISBN-13: 978-0691014876 | Publication Date: February 1, 1990

Murder, mutilation, cannibalism, infanticide, and incest: the darker side of classic fairy tales figures as the subject matter for this intriguing study of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Nursery and Household Tales. This updated and expanded second edition includes a new preface and an appendix containing new translations of six tales, along with commentary by Maria Tatar. Throughout the book, Tatar skillfully employs the tools not only of a psychoanalyst but also of a folklorist, literary critic, and historian to examine the harsher aspects of these stories. She presents new interpretations of the powerful stories in this worldwide best-selling book. Few studies have been written in English on these tales, and none has probed their allegedly happy endings so thoroughly.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This erudite, cogent perusal of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm's Nursery and Household Tales is, for the most part, accessible to a lay audience. Tatar charts the evolution of the tales through manuscript form and the various editions, and offers what she maintains is the first complete English translation of the prefaces to the first and second editions. The Grimms abandoned a scholarly effort to salvage pure remnants of folk poetry, advances Tatar, and "with each new edition, the tales veered more sharply away from the rough-hewn simplicity of their first versions to a sanitized and stylized literary form that proved attractive to both parents and children." She demonstrates how the Grimms purged the collection of references to sexuality and incestuous desire but intensified violence, particularly when it took the form of revenge. In opposition to child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, Tatar warns that some cautionary tales may instill fear, rather than confidence, in children; regarding "Bluebeard," she faults Bettelheim for turning a tale depicting the most brutal kind of serial murders into a story about idle female curiosity and duplicity. Tatar (Spellbound: Studies on Mesmerism and Literature) chairs the German literature department at Harvard University. Illustrated.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Tatar brings into focus both familiar and not-so-familiar fairy tales as she by highlighting a number of important areas: the genesis and editorial history of the tales as they evolved from folk material to children's stories; interpretive approaches; nature and structure; the humble, fearless hero and humbled, hard-working heroine; villains; and, briefly, revenge. Her observations are unburdened by Marxist, psychoanalytical, or pedagogical biases, instead resting on sound and thorough scholarship and careful reading and comparison of texts. The absence of a bibliography is lamentable but should not prevent acquisition of this exceptional study by every library with a fairy tale collection. Patricia Dooley, formerly with Drexel Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (February 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691014876
• ISBN-13: 978-0691014876
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,191,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Maria Tatar teaches folklore, children's literature, and German cultural studies at Harvard University. She chairs the Program in Folklore and Mythology. She is the author of The Annotated Peter Pan, which will appear in October 2011 with W.W. Norton.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars close look at the uncensored tales, January 19, 2003

By 

Lynne Shaney "sandrag" (Minneapolis MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales (Paperback)

It was really interesting to find out about how the Grimm's collection was put together and how it was rewritten. I was surprised to read that the Grimms added violence in order to make the stories more parent-friendly--I guess parents in those days really believed that punishments would produce virtue. Loved the stories at the end, which are pretty hair-raising.
I was surprised to learn that these stories went so far back in time and that they were originally for adults.

46 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous New Look at the Grimms' Tales, April 28, 2000

By 

Julia Starkey (Medford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales (Paperback)

I really have to disagree with the previous reviewer. Tatar doesn't force the interpretations at all. She has spent years in archives looking at the varying editions of the Grimms' tales, and working with materials about life at the time the tales were collected. She's very rigorous in her research, and I think the conclusions she draws are really amazing. Her writing can be dense at times, but not so much so that you can't understand where she's going. This book is more scholarly than popular, but it's well worth reading for fans of the Grimms and other 19th century collections of fairy tales. A great companion to the Zipes editions of the Grimms.

49 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Educational Dive into Grimm, August 2, 2000

By 

Backroads "Scatter-brained book fan" (Cache Valley, Utah) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales (Paperback)

I can't say how long getting this book as been on my mind. I'd tell my friends about this book I've seen, and we'd all giggle, unsure of what it actually was about. Seriously, I thought it was just some lady bashing fairy tales and digging up all the dirt on them.

Well, it's certainly the latter, but nothing was bashed. Tatar obviously has done a lot of research in creating this book. Many venerable references were used. Tatar dives into the world of fairy tales; their history, their content, the truth behind them. It is fascinating. I've been aware of some X-rated material behind Disney's works, but my eyes were still opened at the horrors hidden. Now I KNOW why all the *step*-mothers were jealous of the beautiful daughters.

A delightful addition were the several tales and prefaces at the back of the book.

"The Hard Facts of Grimm's Fairy Tales" is an fascinating, educational book for any student or lover of fairy tales. My one qualm is how Tatar seemed to be doing some name-calling and finger-pointing in several incidents. An unbiased approach would have been better.