Dis-Missal of the Great French Fairy Tale

Dis-missal of the great French fairy tale writers from the palace of King Louis XIV help revolutionize the literary French fairy tales?

French fairytales and literature are indeed a topic that is worth discussing. This is because the work compiled by the French writers, back in the 17th and 18th century is still part of the English as well as French literature. Nowadays, the term fairy tale is used by many people to refer to the magical stories that are told to small children. This word has actually been derived from the French term "Conte de Fees," which was a label given to a couple of tales written for adults in the 17th century (Windling).

Many people are not aware of the fact that even the magical stories that are told to children today, Sleeping Beauty, The White Deer, Donkeyskin and Cinderella (to name a few), are in fact adaptations from the simpler versions of the French folk tales (Windling).

In this paper we shall go back to the 17th and 18th century to bring into limelight the literary works of the French writers and poets at that time. An analysis of these works is important in order for us to establish that indeed the dismissal of the great French fairy tales writers from the palace of King Louis XIV led to the revolution in the literary French fairy tales. The revolution was also a part of their movement to about education, equality and humanitarianism in the French society. We shall also consider how the folk fairy tales were modified so that they became a part of the literary French fairy tales.

Meanwhile there is much evidence that suggests that the dismissal of the fairy tale writers and poets is what caused the French literary revolution, it cannot be denied that much of the revolution took place in the reign of King Louis XIV. This is why many critiques and analysts think that he also deserves some credit for this revolution.

Brief history of literary French revolution

Literary French revolution started in the 17th century and concluded in the 18th century. At that time, there was a somewhat similar literary movement going on in England. However, the French writers of the 18th century are renowned for their innovative writings and ideas. Apart from being innovative, they were also critical and skeptical. The ideas presented by them during that time are still part of the English and French literature. These ideas include progress, liberty, humanitarianism, toleration and equality.

The 18th century in general and the reign of King Louis XIV of France in particular was the time when there was huge social, economic, political and above all intellectual transformation. This transformation gave birth to two kinds of philosophical and literary movements. The first group of people were those who were called Lumieres, and the other movement that is in fact is a reaction to the first one; Romanticism (Masson).

. It has been stated that Romanticism came to the surface at the same time of the 18th century as did the French Revolution (Carlyle). Romanticism is what dignified the role that emotions play in art and life. This is was the movement that the great writers of the French fairy tales became a part of and started writing poems and novels that depicted romanticism. The romantics were of the view that humans should be treated as unique individuals and should not just be subjected to scientific rule.

As there was enormous development in almost every field during the 17th and 18th century, it can be worked out that much of the literary development took place during this era. French theatre was started in the 18th century. The influence of the great playwrights including Racine, Moliere and Corneille continued to work, through the 17th as well as 18th century, on the Comedie-Francaise. However, what gave the French theatre a whole new life were the painful stories of Voltaire. Since literary revolution also induced royal censorship, a play called "The Marriage of Figaro" written by Beaumarchais was banned in many places because it ended in a political message (Marco Ferro 201).

There were many kinds of novels that were written during the time of French literary revolution. Some of these kinds included philosophical novels, novels of imagination, novels of feelings, novels of broken apart, libertine and erotic novels and realistic novels. These novels were innovative and work of fiction by some of the great French fairy tale writers. These novels were just not simple stories; they demonstrated different mindsets along with twists in the plots that engaged the reader in a way that he would imagine the setting as is explained so realistically by the writer.

It was in the 18th century that the autobiographies became very popular, especially "The Life of My Father" and "The dreams of a solitary walker," to name a few. Apart from this, French poetry also flourished during this time. Some great poets of that time included Jacques Delille (1738-1813) Evariste de Parny (1753-1814). Meanwhile the poet of the 18th century who is equally renowned today as he was at that time is Andre Chenier (1762-1794).

French fairy tales

Now we will take a closer look at the fairy tales that were written during the reign of King Louis XIV in the 17th and 18th century.

The first thing that needs to be done is that we need to differentiate the old folk tales from literary fairy tales. Stories of fairies, witches and sorcerers have always been a part of the tradition of storytelling since the beginning of time. The folk tales are just humble stories without the complex involvement of lunar cycles and very long romances. Also, these are the tales that have been passed on from one generation to another. It is also worth noting that these stories have been passed on by the people who consist of the lower caste, for example the peasants, gypsies, slaves and women.

On the other hand, the literary fairy tales were a part of literature that was started by the upper classes. The beginning of these literary fairy tales can be attributed to the progress that was made in printing as well as the increase in the literacy rate. However, it cannot be denied that the literary fairy tales find their roots in the folk tales, the ones that have been passed on through generations by peasants. Apart from the folk tales, literary fairy tales also borrow from Romance, myth and other literary sources like Boccaccio's "Decameron" and Apuleius's "Golden Ass."

Writers who started writing literary fairy tales from the 17th century onwards are still praised for their outstanding work and contribution in the field of literature. One of such great writers in France was Charles Perrault, who wrote literary fairy tales that were almost exactly like the ones one would get to hear from peasants.

It is interesting to note that women are also a part of the literary tales work as they were a part of the folk tale tradition. According to a reference volume of "Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Myth and Legend, written by Maria Leach, we find out that in the 17th century, there were many females who followed in the footsteps of Charles Perrault he was successful in publishing "Les Contes de ma Mere l'Oyle back in 1697. The best example of a woman imitator of such work is baronne d'Aulnoy, who published her work in 1698.

All these stories were in fact derivatives of the traditional fairy tales and thus played the role of pretext. The writers of the literary fairy tales had the art (because of their high literacy rate) to develop and rearrange the story in a way that suited perfectly according to the current time. This is one of the main reasons why these stories became so popular in every household.

The statement that literary fairy tales were just derivatives of the traditional fairy tales, was later on dismissed when the fairy tale scholars of today, including Marina Warner, Lewis Seifert and Jack Zipes, started to claim the history of French fairy tales (Contes de Fees) by reading through the original published text of the 17th and 18th century. Not only this, they also read the diaries, correspondence and critical work related to these fairy tales. Therefore, we find out that the fairy tale movement started in 1670, of which Charles Perrault became a part. This movement became very popular in a short period of time, since its initiation by a group of "scandalous women" of the upper class. We find out according to critical work and other writings that Madame d'Aulnoy, in contrast to the aforementioned citation, was not influenced by Perrault, in fact she pre-dated him. She became well-known throughout the city because of the stories that she used to tell in her salon called "rue Saint-benoit," that was started in 1685. She started writing down these stories that she used to tell people and they were first published in 1690. Since Perrault was the member of the same social class, it is evident that he must have heard these stories. The special place that Perrault holds in history is interesting for two reasons; firstly because he wrote the folklore themes in a lovely way, and secondly because of him being a part of the movement that was started in a reaction to something else.

Before the 17th century, French fairy tales were considered to be a vulgar subject of the peasants. The high class women, and men for that matter, were not unaware of these stories as their nurses and slaves used to tell them. Then in the mid of 17th century, these folk tales became a part of social gatherings that used to take place at salons. These salons were owned by significant aristocratic women and these gatherings made it possible for men and women to discuss the issues of the time.

The well-bred ladies had to be very careful when discussing certain topics at the court of King Louis XIV. His spies were everywhere, ye these women started gathering in their own living rooms, being extremely careful of the spies, to discuss topics they were interested in. since King Louis XIV was very staunch, topics like arts, politics and social matters were seldom discussed, and that too by women.

This was the time when the women were allowed to attend school. They were married according to or against their will. Many of these women died during childbirth and there was no concept of birth control methods. There was also no such thing as divorce. This was when these women started discussing love, marriage and their financial as well physical independence and their right and access to education.

As these women continued to host gatherings and men were continually attracted to these gatherings, these men and women started being referred to as "precieuses" (Bray). The reason why they were given this label was not because they were precious, but because of their inventive and witty way of making conversations. This was when some of the great writers emerged, from the salons. Some of the most talented female writers include the names of Madeleine de Scudery and Madame de Lafayette. These women, despite the circumstances, encouraged and advocated the education and independence of women.

These women, through their writings and hosting salon gatherings, wanted to put the message across that women have the right to love the person of the opposite sex with whom she has intellectual compatibility. They were also against the gender barriers and the bidding of women of their class for marriage.

Furthermore, these women were against the culture of the male dominance. They talked about how it was unfair that men can have as many lovers as he wishes to, while his wife needs to stay faithful to him. They worked for their right over money and property and the right to move about in the society freely. Above everything, these women wanted to polish their intellect and talent. They started writing fiction stories, poems and plays and began to earn money. These salons became the center of origin of fashion, political and artistic movements.

In the "Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns," literary men including Racine and Boileau insisted that the French literature should strive to come at par with the classical works of Rome and Greece, meanwhile the Moderns (including Charles Perrault) believed that the material that was born in their homeland, the French folk lore and myth should be an inspiration for new literature that would be free of antiquated rules. Eventually, the King gave his ruling that supported the Ancients, but this did not stop the women writers in the salons to take up what was called the Modern cause.

In order to pass the court censors, the critical aspect of the fairy tales of that time were disguised in the rococo language of the French fairy tales. Those who criticized the King and the court used to be embedded in floral ideal tales and in the dark; they were embedded in candidly dystopian ones.

In the stories that were told by the women, one would find the young and clever aristocratic girls being under the cruelty of their fathers, elderly wicked fairies and kings. Then wise fairies, depicting intelligent and independent women, used to step out to make everything right for them. Many of these writers, including Mme. De Murat, Mlle. De la Force, Mlle. Bernard and Mlle. L H'eritier, were in one way or the other influenced by each other. Their tales are so intriguing that they are still told today and have been republished.

Now let's bring to the limelight the stories of these women. We shall see how these women became powerful writers and what role did King Louis XIV or his court had to play in their becoming of great fairy tale writers that are now part of the literary French fairy tales.

Madame d' Aulnoy

The history of d'Aulnoy's own in life is no less than a fairy tale. Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, as she was known was born in 1650. After receiving modest convent education, she was told that she has to get married to Francois de la Motte, who was the Baron d'Aulnoy and a rich aristocrat, but thirty years older to her. He was also notorious for habits of getting drunk, addiction to gambling and irregular sex behavior. Her father agreed to the marriage because he was profiting from it financially. She was only 15 or 16 at that time. After three years it seemed like she would be freed from her husband when he was put to jail for being disloyal for the ling. However, the Baron was released the men who had implicated the Baron were executed (on the charges of holding an affair with the Baroness and her mother) and d'Aulnoy fled to Spain with her mother, where she enjoyed traveling the Continent. She was then given the Royal permission to return to Paris in 1685 after she spied for King Louis in order to regain his favor. She was intelligent as well as intellectual and that is what made her one of the best writers of literary French fairy tales from just being a fairy tale teller at the salons. (Windley, 2000)

Her famous works that are still part of the literary French fairy tales include The Yellow Dwarf, The Royal Ram, Green Snake, The White Deer and The White Cat, to name a few.

Comtesse de Murat

Herniette-Julie de Castelnau, also known as the Comtesse de Muart was another great writer of the magical fairy tales that later became part of the literary French fairy tales. She was born in Brittany in the year 1670 and was brought to Paris at the age of 16 after she was married to the Comte de Murat. It did not take her much time to make a name for her by making use of her wit and intellect. She had high spirits, which also got her in trouble when a fairy tale written by her was known as a somewhat veiled mockery of the king mistress, after which she was dismissed from the court. She was also denounced by her husband for her inappropriate and wild behavior and for also being immodest and being involved in lesbianism. She was then exiled by King Louis XIV to a town called Loche, only when she was 24. She made a lot of petitions but she was not released from this provincial town, while only returning to Paris when the King died. However, she did not give up writing on fairy tales even in her confinement. She played her role in the fairy tale revolution and movement by writing novels and stories and setting up her own literary salon.

In Loche she wrote many fairy tales that became famous. These tales are still retold. Her best work is considered to be her fairy tale called Bearskin, in which a king falls in love with a princess who is in exile and has been transformed into a bear. It is a unique story of how the king gets attracted to the way the bear talks to her, only to find out later that she is a princess.

Catherine Bernard

This greater writer was born in Rouen in 1662. She was not accepted by the court of King Louis XIV; however she was a part of the fairy tale movement and attended the L' Heritier's salons. She was one of the very few and first women who resisted marriage so that they could devote themselves to literature. She used to write novels, poems and tragedies that later on influenced Voltaire. She was a fantasist and her best known literary work is her version of an old fairy tale that was called Ricquet of the Tuft. This story was then also retold by Perrault. It is interesting to read the two versions because one has been written by a man and the other by a woman. The story becomes especially interesting towards the end as the two have concluded it differently. Her story was about a princess who is married but then falls in love with another person. Her husband then goes on to take revenge from her by transforming himself into a replica of the man she falls in love with. Brenard's version of the story ends with a warning that "At the end of the day, lovers become husbands anyway," meanwhile that of Perrault's has moral in the end; "one can find what he loves in wondrous fair." (Windley)

Charles Perrault

As the fairy tale movement progressed, more and more men started attending the salons that were hosted by the aristocratic women. They now also began to contribute towards the movement by telling fairy tales of their own. Some of the male writers made great name in the history. These men had adapted the Modern theory. Some of these great fairy tale writers, who later on became to be known as the literary French fairy tale writers, include the names of Chevalier de Mailly, Jean de Prechac and Charles Perrault.

Charles Perrault was already a well know poet, even before the start of the fairy tale movement and revolution. He was born in Paris in the year 1628 in a family of high-achievers. His father was a lawyer and his mother was a member of the Paris Parliament. After passing his examinations at the University of Orleans, Perrault also became a lawyer. He was then appointed as the secretary to the finance minister of King Louis XIV, Jean Bapstiste Colbert. He began to write essays and stories while he was still working at the palace of King Louis. When Colbert died, Perrault lost his government post (was moved out of the court) and that is when he decided to become a fulltime writer. He also helped initiate the "Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns" in 1680s. During the rest of the 17th century, he composed several poems and tales that were published with the title "Contes du temps passe" under the name of his son Pierre Perrault Darmancour. His literary work was also subjected to a lot of criticism by the fairy tale scholars as they were of the view that he wanted to distant himself from this movement and acquire for himself a separate respectable position (Bottigheimer).

It is said that the publication of Perrault's collection in 1697 moved close of the end of what was called the first wave of fairy tales revolution, whereas it was expected to begin the rage of fairy tales. This is because many of the great writers were either banished from Paris or had died by that time. Some were also house arrested for the kind of message they were trying to put forth through their work. In the next decades, in fashion were the exotic stories from the Orient that includes the Antoine Gallard's outstanding translation of "The Thousand and One Nights" (Bottigheimer). The Oriental stories are the ones that are known to comprise the second wave of fairy tales. These stories did not have the element of social critique that was there in the stories told earlier. The third wave comprises of the fairy tales that started with a host of parodies like the ones by Anthony Hamiton and Claude Philippe. By the middle of the 18th century all the writers who emerged were influenced by the writers of the first wave. (Windley)

King Louis XIV and the French literature

Although the revolution of literary French fairy tales can be attributed to the intellect and passion of the writers who were dismissed from the court of the King Louis, we also get to read what role he had to play in the progression and development of French literature.

The King always supported the royal court and all the people who used to working for him. The French Academy was also brought under dis patronage and he was then known as its "Protector." He protected the French literart writers like Moliere, La Fontaine and Racine and thus allowed the Classical French literature to flourish during his reign. The literary works of these writers are still a great source of influence for many literary scholars. Apart from literature, Louis also depicted his patron of arts by finding many artists, composers and musicians (Dunlop).

Even though, critiques are of the view that King Louis was only concerned about his power and rule in the region and that is why he banished many writers and exercised literary censorship in the region. On the other hand, there are many people who believe that as a monarch he had to make sure that no movements were being carried out against the political system and that is why he had to banish and dismiss some writers and had to exercise censorship. Apart from that he wanted the French literature to flourish and come at par with the English literature. During the time of his rule, a lot of progress was being made in literature in England. King Louis XIV wanted advancements in French literature, without his power getting effected and through the "Ancient" methodology.