Beauty and the Beast and Other Classic French Fairy Tales

by Jack D. Zipes

Readers experience the unique charm of this story in its original form--as a 17th century French fairy tale! This Signet Classic edition also contains other beloved tales, such as "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "Puss in Boots", conveying all the excitement and timeless appeal to forever keep and cherish.

Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, France, Anthologies

464 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Jack David Zipes is a retired Professor of German at the University of Minnesota. He has published and lectured extensively on the subject of fairy tales, their linguistic roots, and argued that they have a "socialization function". According to Zipes, fairy tales "serve a meaningful social function, not just for compensation but for revelation: the worlds projected by the best of our fairy tales reveal the gaps between truth and falsehood in our immediate society." His arguments are avowedly based on the neo-Marxist critical theory of the Frankfurt School.

Zipes enjoys using droll titles for his works like Don't Bet on the Prince and The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Ridinghood.

He completed a PhD in comparative literature at Columbia University. Zipes taught at various institutions before heading German language studies at the University of Minnesota. He has retranslation of the complete fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by and large the best anthology of "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tales out there, in my opinion, and I mean the original story that was conceived in the luxurious salons of the French nobility, not the countryside folktales of animal bridegrooms told by the peasantry, and definitely not retellings penned by contemporary authors.

None of that. These are the very original ones, before and from round and after Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve's 1743 fairy tale that's the mother of them all. Professor Jack D. Zipes went for compiling all the literary fairy stories from the 1600s and 1700s that most people, including B&B fans, don't know, and has made them available in this tome, in which he's also included a few non-B&B tales that are part of the salon literary production of the period. Here, you'll find twenty-four stories, distributed as follows:

- An Introduction by Zipes entitled The Rise of the French Fairy Tale and the Decline of France.
- A note on the translation of the stories contained here, done by Zipes himself.
- A note on the present paperback edition (which I encourage readers to pay attention to, because many will expect to find material that was omitted from the hardcover edition, like the Villeneuve tale, which is absent. The hardcover edition is harder to find, I myself couldn't find it, but for those curious, it's this one: Beauties, Beasts and Enchantment).
- Ten tales by Charles Perrault.
The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots
Cinderella, or The Glass Slipper
Blue Beard
Little Thumbling
The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods
Riquet with the Tuft
Little Red Riding Hood
The Fairies
The Foolish Wishes
Donkey Skin
- One tale by Marie-Jeanne L'Héritier (The Discreet Princess, or The Adventures of Finette).
- One tale by Catherine Bernard (Riquet with the Tuft).
- One tale by Henriette Julie de Murat (The Palace of Revenge).
- One tale by Jean-Paul Bignon (Princess Zeineb and King Leopard).
- One tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (Beauty and the Beast).
- One tale by Mademoiselle de Lubert (The Princess Camion).
- Eight tales by Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy.
The Island of Happiness
The Blue Bird
The Ram
Finette Cendron
The Yellow Dwarf
The Green Serpent
The White Cat
Belle-Belle, or The Chevalier Fortune

That means about 12 tales haven't been included here, as the hardcover edition boasts 36 tales. I am not aware of why this was done, but I lament the omission of Villeneuve's novel-length fairy tale, which I think should be more known. I was also very surprised by the absence of Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, who was from the same period and whose fairy tale Persinette is incomprehensibly missing from this anthology (... unless it's included in the other edition), and also by the absence of another famous salonnière, Sophie de Ségur, who's from a bit later (round Beaumont's time) and whose tale Ourson definitely fits both the B&B category and the salon fairy tale style. Why they've not been included, I'll never know.

But, on the other hand, I'm very happy to see Madame d'Aulnoy here. She's my favourite of the lot, and has written three of my favourite B&B originals. I was also pleased to see Bignon's tale here, which I'd been searching for unsuccessfully after learning it had likely influenced Villeneuve's story. I'd never read Murat or L'Héritier before either, and it was nice to get to know their work.

All in all, I consider this anthology superior to similar Beauty & Beast anthologies by Betsy Hearne, Maria Tatar and Heidi Anne Heiner, all of which mix B&B and Animal Bridegroom tales indiscriminately (no, both categories aren't the same). Less "complete," maybe, for being more selective, but definitely better for my taste.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read all of the stories due to lack of time. I'm not sure I can fully compare this one to Heidi Heiner's anthology as the scope and purpose of both is different. His notes and layout are superior to her notes. His introduction and author biographies are the highlight of this anthology. Unfortunately, I don't care for his translation of Villeneuve's work. He laid out the inaccuracies of the Planche translations and said he was doing his own, and then his was even less accurate than Planche. At least Heiner's has multiple translations of Villeneuve's version so that the reader can have a more thorough understanding of how the story has shifted via translations.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will admit that I am a Jack Zipes nut. I love his collections. This book contains several French Fairy tales. The focus, like the title implies, is on Beauty and the Beast tales. Zipes includes less known versions. This book is also good because Zipes includes fairy tales by the women salon writers, who wrote more but were eventually overshadowed by Perrault Charles. This is a must read for anyone who likes fairy tales.

[Amber Scaife · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of French fairy tales. There were very few that I didn't already know, but the reread was comforting, and it's a good collection.

[Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was curious to read the original versions of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale (La belle et la bete in French), so I checked out this collection of translated French fairy tales from the library. (I wasn't confident enough in my French to try to read them in the untranslated eighteenth-century original.) There's a great introduction which explains a lot about the historical context in which the tales were created - they were a product of salon gatherings during Enlightenment-era France, and gradually developed and mutated as social, economic, and political conditions in France deteriorated under the rapacious and incompetent monarchy of the Ancienne Regime. Rich and highly educated women led these salons, and the tradition arose of telling long elaborate fairy tales that were supposed to sound like spontaneous creations, though in fact the women carefully composed them in advance and in writing and then memorized them so as to sound spontaneous and natural. The first version of Beauty and the Beast is actually quite bizarre ... it goes on and on and just gets weirder and weirder and weirder - I finally gave up on getting all the way through it and just skimmed it. The better-known abridged version that came later, at the hand of another "salonniere," is much better.

Interesting, but not anything you'd ever want to read to a kid ... these stories were meant for grown-ups.

[Omnia reda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little terrific book for all ages what ever they say , i am 27 and i loved it like a little girl

[BooksintheRain · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories are okay. A few of them are the same basic story just by different authors which makes it interesting to see the differences. But, at the same time it also makes it boring because I felt like I was just reading the same story over and over again.

[Claire Longfellow]

This is one of my favorite childhood stories. I think this story gives off a great message about how looks are not everything and who you are inside is what really matters. It teaches you that you should always be patient with the ones you love because you will get that kindness back in return. The illustrator did a really good job of making the pictures go along with the story and making them come to life. This is a good book for kids to read because it teaches them a life lesson that they will use for a lifetime. It also helps their imagination grow when the teapot and candlestick come to life. I enjoyed reading this book again and it brought back so many good childhood memories. It made think about my attitude and to always remember to never judge a book by its cover.

[Letta Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading this with an older more wordly eye and it is rather shocking how sexist it is! There has only been one racist moment, which rather surprised me because it was so just thrown in there. Really rekindling my desire to write fairy tales right now!

I love that Zipes, who I am a huge fan of, includes female authors along with their bios and talks about the time period as well as the atmosphere. Fascinating to read the stories that predate what we have come to know as the quintessential pieces written by Anderson and the Brothers Grimm. I will be purchasing a copy of this for myself to use as a reference for my only series!

[Susan Chapek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giving this a solid three, because it gave me a good grounding in French fairy tales, most of which I had never read in [translated] original form.

The author bios were good.

I will remark, in case anybody decides to reprint this book, that the trade paperback is nearly 2" thick, and the spine quite stiff and unwieldy--difficult to hold open and read. Thinner pages or different paper stock might help.

I also wish the sources of the illustrations had been noted--they seem to be from various editions of the stories, and this bibliophile would love to know where they first appeared.

[Elliot A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this collection back in high school during a time I did not fully appreciate the worth and value of fairy tales. It is a great start to be introduced or reacquainted with the classics that inspired and touched so many modern day fantastical stories. A must have for any English literature enthusiast.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history behind these fairy tales is fascinating and quite different from say, the Grimms fairy tales. Jack Zipes is a knowledgeable author who writes in a enticing way on a complex subject that is neither dull or pretentious. For me, this is not a book to read all at one, but rather a book one goes back to for a fairy tale before bed.

[Jonathan Thurston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack Zipes is an amazing translator! His translations of all these tales are true to the originals, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interesting in the old French fairy tales of either Perrault or the several authors of "Beauty and the Beast."

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good but by the end of the book the stories felt pretty repetitive.

[Snzv Mhrjn]

this is one very good love story ...

[Mii · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great read!

[Ava Case · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a while fairy tales all seem the same but there were a few really good ones.

[Jacquelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's just cool having those classic fairy tales in one book!