Picturing the Rose: A Way of Looking at Fairy Tales

by Marcia Lane

Book by Lane, Marcia

Genres: Nonfiction

137 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1993

Reviews

[Min · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a compact book, there are gems of information about the fairy tale, legends, myths, and fables regarding their intentions, and form. This book tackles the prospect of reciting these old, and new, tales to children. I appreciate the author especially discussing how to handle tales from cultures other than one's own culture. Also, as these tales are often old with circumstances, and values that are no longer are own, the author advises to be careful when changing an story. More importantly, she recommends ignoring it as an option for telling because there are so many, many others available without these problematic elements.

The second half of the book takes several fairy tales, from different cultures, and analyzes them. This part was odd because - I thought- advising against turning these tales into psychological exercises; which she does in some her analysis. Other analyses, she discusses the difficult aspects that may upset listeners, or confuse them and how to -respectfully- make changes after respecting the story, its culture of origin, and understanding it. No changes should be whimsical, or capricious.

[Educating Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My own definition of fairy tale goes something like this: A fairy tale is a story - literary or folk - that has a sense of the luminous, the feeling or sensation of the supernatural or the mysterious. But, and this is crucial, it is a story that happens in the past tense, and a story that is not tied to any specifics." (5)

Lane continues to explain that myths are used to explain and legends involve tales about real people or real places. What I have found while researching fairy tales and attempting to find the most concise definition for my lessons next year is there are still disputes on what makes up a fairy tale. It involves magic, it involves the mystics, there are repetitions of the numbers three or seven. But, I have to admit, I appreciate how Lane defined myth and legend in her one-lined sentences.

"They (openings of fairy tales) constitute both a disclaimer (don't worry about these things, they are not of your time and place) and an enabler (anything is possible, because the events that follow are not bound by the laws of the real world that we know)...the stories happen, quite literally, in the country of the mind and of the heart." (10)

Fairy tales appeal to us because they allow enough distance from the horror of them and the hope that it might be believable. It immediately makes me think of Ericksonian hypnosis or NLP (neurolinguistc programming). The beginning blankets us with security: it's only a story, it's not real. And then before we realize it our subconscious has been tapped into, our emotions and desires and fears. Things that we might not even realize we've thought about or wanted to think about. Fairy tales are cool because, if executed right, haunt you afterward.

What I really dig this author for bringing up is the female figure of mystic. In "Politics and Sex", Lane points out that sure, many of the tales are misogynistic and women are looked upon as second rate BUT the women in the fairy tales hold the magic, they are the spiritual force behind the tale itself.

This book is unique from other books that study fairy tales because the author chooses to discuss them from the storyteller's point of view. Lane is a storyteller herself and this is her way of kinda giving a 101 class on how to become a storyteller yourself. She takes us through her own thought process which is totally cool. On one side she'll share the tale how it is written and then on the other who she communicates it. Lane is adamant about the storyteller learning the prose but then owning it. Practice it out loud, pay attention to your hand gestures, express yourself within the story. All in all an interesting perspective if you want to research tales.