Un oiseau bleu, un nain jaune, une fée écrevisse, une princesse changée en biche, un verger de fruits confits, un attelage de souris, un pâté d'oiseaux chantant... Mme d'Aulnoy transporte ici son lecteur de merveille en merveille. Ces contes de fées, composés en manière de jeu à la fin du XVIIe siècle, visaient avant tout à divertir, amuser, étonner la Cour : cette légèreté séduit encore aujourd'hui, et c'est avec plaisir qu'on suit la conteuse dans les palais enchantés, parmi les créatures féeriques et les animaux fabuleux. Il faut redécouvrir aussi la modernité de ces contes : leur vocation revendiquée à n'être que jeux, leur absence de morale, leur ambiguïté constante en font une œuvre non dénuée d'ironie, et dont l'audace étonne.
Madame d'Aulnoy (Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy) (1650/1651–4 January 1705) was a French writer known for her fairy tales. When she termed her works contes de fées (fairy tales, or literally, "Tales of the Fairies."), she originated the term that is now generally used for the genre. Her 'fairy tales' were written in a style suitable for entertaining in adult salon gatherings, and not with a child audience in mind.
d'Aulnoy also wrote works of history (although not using modern attitudes to historical accuracy), pseudo-memoirs, and a few historical novels.
Born a member of the noble Le Jumel de Barneville family, she was known as the baronne d'Aulnoy by marriage.
This edition contains 22 literary/"salon" fairy tales by Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy (other editions may have 3 more for a total of 25 tales), selected from the multi-volume edition of her entire production that are out in French.
The length of these stories varies, some are short-story length and others as long as a novelette and a novella, and the introduction explains that all of them are the most famous ones, some of which were already published in individual editions in English, illustrations included, but at least a couple were never translated before that I'm aware of until this edition, the translator of which is named as J. R. Planché, the same who translated my unabridged English edition of Madame de Villeneuve's Beauty and the Beast, and that I consider an excellent, excellent translator after having originally read these tales (d'Aulnoy's and Villeneuve's) in the original French. These tales are public domain and available online, but not all are by this translator, so I recommend you look out for Planché when searching a copy for yourself, digital or print.
Of the fairy tales, my favourites were:
THE RAM A "Beauty and the Beast" type of tale, with an unexpected and shocking twist. I'd already read this one before, but it was nice to revisit it.
FINETTE CENDRON This was a curious rendition of "Cinderella" (the Perrault version, this one came a few years afterwards) with a significant chunk of "Hänsel and Gretel" mixed in. Probably my favourite version of this tale.
THE YELLOW DWARF It gave some "Rumpelstiltskin" vibes, but it's not the same plot nor similar beyond the vague similarity at the start. This was also the tale that taught me that, for all her glittering worlds, ultra-beautiful and ultra-handsome, happy-forever-and-ever tales, Madame d'Aulnoy doesn't hesitate to punch you in the guts out of nowhere.
THE GREEN SERPENT This one I'd already read before as well and still keeps up well. It's the Countess' retelling of "Cupid & Psyche," with a bit of a "Sleeping Beauty in the Wood" flavour (I'm sensing Madame must've loved Perrault's tales a lot, she takes a fair bit of inspiration from him) at the beginning, and a twist involving the heroine that differentiates it significantly from the Greek myth. This is also probably the only one in which the protagonist doesn't have a highly flattering name like in all the other tales, because she's called Laidronette, from laide = ugly in French.
THE HIND IN THE WOOD Somewhat similar, thematically speaking, to "Brother and Sister" with a wee sprinkling of "The Singing, Springing Lark" (not the plot itself, just one element). You could also spot the Diana & Actaeon myth if you make an effort to see the connection, though it's not exactly obvious. It's the simplest of my favourites, and sweet.
THE WHITE CAT Maybe the most subtly sultry of the tales, which is to be expected given that cats are the stars. This one's also a "Beauty and the Beast" type of tale, which I'm also beginning to suspect might've been one of the Countess' favourite themes, if not the favourite, seeing how recurrent it is in all her stories.
BELLE-BELLE, OR THE CHEVALIER FORTUNÉ By far the most original tale in this book, in my opinion. It reminds me strongly of Hans-Christian Andersen's "The Three Wishes" because of the theme, but it's an entirely new plot of Aulnoy's own making. It has a knight-errant as protagonist, who happens to be a true knight without being a knight. You'll have to read to know, I'm not spoiling it!
I'd award these seven stories 5 stars each, and 4.5 stars overall for the entire anthology. This should be your pick if you want to be introduced to "salon" fairy tales from 17th and 18th century Europe that aren't by Perrault or the Grimms; Madame d'Aulnoy can be melodramatic at times, but she's a much better storyteller than the Countess of Ségur and other précieuses.
Read only "Belle Belle" available online at SurLaLune. Long for an old tale, but worth it. A youngest daughter of an Earl disguises herself as a knight and serves her king bravely & well until the wicked sister of the king has the knight exposed and ... well, read it yourself to find out. This tale also has the motif of being fairy-gifted: not only the knight but his companions have special talents, for example being able to eat mountains of bread or drink lakes dry.
Now of course many of us know many of the Madame's other tales. If you look for her name at SurLaLune or Project Gutenberg you may be surprised to learn what we actually owe her, without necessarily realizing it. I won't spoil the fun for you by listing titles, though.
This is it. This is the single best fairy tale collection I've ever read! The twenty-four stories presented in this book are beautifully written, with great imagery (despite the lack of illustrations), interesting characters, and allusions to classical mythology. This was also the very first fairy tale collection to bear the name "fairy tales" - Madame d'Aulnoy's title for it was Contes de fees (a term she coined).
The stories are not recognizable to most modern audiences. Some people might remember The Blue Bird and The White Cat for their appearances in Tchaikovsky's ballet version of Sleeping Beauty, but the others are more obscure. At one time, these stories were commonplace in children's fairy tale collections, but sadly few newer collections have them (most of the ones that do are reprints of older collections). And unlike most of today's fairy tales, these stories actually DO feature fairies.
I also praise this collection because it features several stories with active female protagonists. My favorite fairy tale of all, The Bee and the Orange Tree, is one of those stories. Surprisingly, the literary fairy tales of France were mostly written by women, and most of them are pretty female-friendly. (People tend to think of fairy tales as a misogynistic genre written exclusively by men, which this collection disproves.) It also gives a lot of insight to what fairy tales were like before the Brothers Grimm.
This collection is definitely not appropriate for children, as the stories are quite violent and two of them even feature unhappy endings. I would recommend it for teenagers and adults, as well as older kids who can handle the darker content. I'd definitely recommend it to older girls who are fond of princesses but find Disney Princess and Barbie movies too childish. The language is very complicated, though definitely easier to read than Tolkien - keep in mind that the stories were originally intended for an upper-class audience (d'Aulnoy was a baroness). While French literary fairy tales are my favorite fairy tales, most of them don't have the universal appeal that the Brothers Grimms' stories have. In other words, this collection probably isn't for everyone.
Actual copies of this book are kinda hard to find, but the entire collection is available on SurLaLune Fairy Tales.
Contemporaine de Perrault, Madame d'Aulnoy était une conteuse reconnue et appréciée de la cour au XVIIe siècle. Aujourd'hui pourtant, elle est tombée dans l'oubli. Cette édition Folio Classique permet de redécouvrir une autrice étonnante et des contes tels que je n'en avais jamais lus.
Les contes sont bien plus longs que ceux avec lesquels j'ai grandi, ils sont aussi très riches : moult animaux, sortilèges, rebondissements et magnificence imprègnent le texte. À noter, le style d'Aulnoy et surtout, son usage du vocabulaire : il est précieux, enfantin et sera perçu comme tantôt charmant, tantôt horripilant, selon les goûts (elle adorait les mots à syllabes répétées et fut, paraît-il, la première à employer "joujou" pour dire "jouet", vous êtes prévenu·es !)
Sur le fond aussi, ces contes changent la donne. Adieu princesse amoureuse au premier regard, ici les héroïnes apprennent à connaître leur prince avant de les épouser ! La représentation du mariage dans ces contes est beaucoup plus libre que ne l'était réellement le mariage à l'époque. Madame d'Aulnoy elle-même a été mariée à l'âge de 15 ans à un homme de 30 ans son aîné. (Elle le quittera 3 ans plus tard, alors qu'elle est enceinte de leur 4e enfant.)
La lecture a été parfois charmante, parfois redondante. La succession des 9 récits présents dans ce recueil a eu raison de ma motivation, j'ai sauté quelques pages sur la fin pour venir à bout de l'ouvrage. Néanmoins, mon amour pour l'histoire de la littérature, pour les autrices oubliées et pour le féminisme naissant font que je suis heureuse d'avoir découvert ce livre et que je vous conseille de lire quelques contes d'Aulnoy, que ce soit par amour des mots, des aventures féériques ou par féminisme.
Je conseille de lire la préface de cette édition qui met en lumière la finesse et l'intelligence de l'intertexte d'Aulnoy.
When I was a child, my favourite fairy tales were by Madame d'Aulnoy. I had the most beautiful edition with amazing pictures. I still have this book in my collection and I love to read it from time to time.
The fairy tales are weird. There is a lot of courtly love, there are arranged marriages almost in every fairy tale, the lovers are crying, making flowery declarations, wearing clothes covered in jewels... There is cruelty in these fairy tales, the fairies are mean, not all ends well, which was a shock to me as a child.
When I grew up I realised that the fairy tales depict the court of Louis XIV and are full of social and political commentary.
j’ai été tout particulièrement touchée par le conte intitulé « l’oiseau bleu » puisque qd j’etais petite mon ami imaginaire etait un oiseau bleu qui s’appelait Oiseau Bleu
C’était très agréable à lire, plusieurs petits contes, mais bon c’était souvent très niais…. Je suis contente de lire une femme autrice du 17eme siècle, et je suis meme étonnée de la teinte presque féministe de certains aspects du recueil. Après, ça reste des contes, trop romanesques et galants pour moi. C’était une parenthèse enchantée dans mon été, et ça ne me gênera pas d’en relire quelques uns.
Do you remember the worst stereotypical fairy tale heroines? I mean all those fainting ladies in distress. Even though they are considered wise and intelligent by the universe, as a matter of fact their sole reason for existence is complaining and waiting for their Prince Charming on the white horse to solve all their troubles. All of them are written this way here unless they're fated for bitter rivalry with the leads. I wouldn't make a big fuss of this if not for a tiny crack in the characterization it causes.
According to the text, a true princess must be beautiful, humble and noble, right? Well, these girls are living proof that beauty and virtue don't go hand in hand. Indeed, they are vain! Is it right to make a judgment basing on one's appearance? Apparently, yes and they do. For example, in "the Green Snake" the heroine is cursed with such ugliness that her parents, as well as the courtiers, can't stand her. This didn't stop Laidronette from rejecting the titular snake for the same reason. But his wealth... Oh yes, that would sway even a stone.
It seems Madame d'Aulnoy is equating evil with ugliness, but I kept my fingers crossed for all these "bad, ugly monsters" of the fairy tale world. Rejected by the heroines and sometimes by the world I find them much more likable than lovers.
There was a period in history, and especially in French history, in which the creation of new fairy tales was all the vogue. Some may dispute my assertion that this is a dead genre, considering all the new fairy tale adaptations that continually appear in movies, books, and plays every year, but those are always adaptations of extant fairy tales rather than creations from whole cloth. In the 1600’s, well-born authors and authoresses were suddenly taken by the fancy to ape their peasant nursemaids and tell fairy tales. Charles Perrault, Villeneuve, de’Beaufort, and of course D’Aulnoy feverishly penned many tales to be read in fancy salons for the delectation of bored aristocrats. Though Perrault and a few others merely copied from memory the tales they had been told as children and thus preserved the oral tradition, others such as D’Aulnoy decided to break with tradition and write her own.
D’Aulnoy attempted to convey the spirit of traditional tales, but as is usual whenever authors try to imitate the style of tales told and retold for hundreds of years by thousands of voices, she is only able to capture a part of the rich tapestry. She successfully mimics the bizarre and often random style of fairy stories, with old crones, fairies, dragons, and giants appearing conveniently whenever the story demands just in time to reward or punish the main characters. Though she can’t match Perrault for clever wordplay, D’Aulnoy’s dry wit can dimly be seen in such understated lines as “for it was such an extraordinary thing for a horse with three heads and a dozen feet… to come just at the right moment” or in such studied randomness as “The queen, while wandering and lamenting her ill luck, noticed that the water of the spring became agitated; a big lobster appeared and said, ‘Great queen…’”. The stories proceed with almost no rhyme or reason and take long diverging paths on their rambles. They are clearly designed to be read aloud and last for precisely one hour so that the attendees at the noble soirees could be entertained, with jokes, misdirection, tragedy, drama, and comedy spaced out evenly throughout.
However, in other ways the stories fall far short of their traditional counterparts. D’Aulnoy loses some of the elements that make the fairy stories so memorable, particularly the repeated elements, such as sets of three or insignificant objects that later are given to the hero and are later shown to be of immense value or magical import. Instead, elements are introduced and then dropped as the story moves on to an entirely different setting. Nothing is connected together which swiftly makes the stories run together in one’s head. There is nothing to remind a reteller of stories of what comes next in the tale. She is also heavily influenced by the culture she participated in and that she was righting for, perhaps understandably. Eschewing the plucky peasant heroes and heroines of traditional tales, all of D’Aulnoy’s MCs are disguised princesses and princes and the happy ending always involves them discovering their royal heritage. This is by no means an unknown element in other fairy tales, but D’Aulnoy never allows the other kind of fairy tale to appear, in which a roguish trickster wins the hand of the princess and becomes royalty. In fact, her princesses woefully resist the charms of their peasant swains until they gratefully discover that the handsome shepherd boy they are infatuated with is actually a prince as well. Blood always tells in D’Aulnoy’s world, and even unknown princes and princesses somehow know that they are “well-bred” and never act inappropriately to their rank even when raised in ogres’ dens. Similarly, handsome and beautiful always means good, and ugly always means evil. The simple and repetitive morals pall quickly on a reader when consuming the stories all at once. Of course, some of these themes do appear in traditional fairy tales, but there is much more variety in them than D’Aulnoy allows to appear in hers. In traditional tales, neither gender, rank, nor appearance bar one from being the hero of the story and cleverness, rather than birth, is the most highly praised quality.
D’Aulnoy’s attempt to pander to her own culture’s values, and her lack of extraordinary flair, means that her stories did not survive her own generation. Her contemporary Perrault had better luck simply because he built on the bones of traditional tales rather than striking out on her own. D’Aulnoy, in contrast, wallowed in contradictions and mediocrity. If you are interested in the heyday of literary fairy tales, then you should check out D’Aulnoy’s collection, but otherwise they are safe to skip.
morale de l'histoire : il faut être beau et bien né pour réussir ; à partir du moment où tu donnes à manger à un animal, tous tes souhaits seront réalisés ; enfermer quelqu'un dans une tour n'est pas une solution qui fonctionne (les trois étoiles c'est pour Cabriole et la bonne petite souris)
le meilleur livre proposé par le programme de l’ENS. Facile, efficace, sympa, et vrm intéressant dans le sens où on y porte rapidement de l’intérêt. J’ai le temps d’attention d’un iPad Kid, et pourtant je voulais trop le finir ce livre. Je mets 4 étoiles pcq jsuis une rageuse des autres bouquins de l’ENS (à part Jean de Léry <3)
premier et dernier livre que j’apprécierai de l’année khâgne je pense 🙏 par contre madame aulnoy c’est quoi ce kink de vouloir absolument se faire enfermer dans une tour ?
En quelques brèves années, Madame d’Aulnoy a écrit une quantité considérable de contes, développés souvent sur plusieurs dizaines de pages, dont ce volume constitue une anthologie. Il semble que ces publications soient la suite de jeux de salons, la conteuse composant ses histoires à plaisir et les notant avec facilité et surtout avec virtuosité, derrière l’apparente négligence qui découle de cette genèse. Les sujets et les péripéties de ces contes sont donc originaux, même s’ils se laissent souvent rattacher à des types de contes folkloriques tels que les ont recensés Aarne et Thompson. Madame d’Aulnoy a des scénarios favoris, et le rapprochement de « La Princesse printanière » et de « La Princesse Rosette », où il s’agit à chaque fois d’une jeune fille élevée sans accès au monde extérieur pour éviter la malédiction d’une méchante fée, et qui tombe amoureuse sans discernement à sa sortie, montre toute l’étendue de la fantaisie de la conteuse, qui habille ce scénario semblable d’incidents et de personnages d’une grande variété. Le ton de l’ensemble du recueil est particulièrement enjoué, et l’ornementation, loin de la sobriété de Perrault, va jusqu’à la fantaisie verbale : quand les ruisseaux de larmes versés par les personnages et par hyperboles se trouvent habilement canalisés dans des rigoles, on n’est pas loin du style de « L’Ecume des jours ». De tels traits, un usage constant du burlesque voire du grotesque (je recommande notamment un combat contre un dragon particulièrement rabelaisien) et une onomastique passablement farfelue (on croise des personnages appelés Fanfarinet, Truitonne, Torticolis, Giroflée, Belle Belle — et les princes s’appellent Percinet, Sans-Pair, Avenant, voire Charmant comme dans « Shrek »), montrent que Madame d’Aulnoy s’inscrit dans le registre de la parodie burlesque. Or elle est la première avec Charles Perrault (c’est presque une question de semaines) à faire du conte de fées (expression dont elle a la primeur) un genre littéraire, de sorte que le conte littéraire apparaît ici comme parodique dans son essence (et ce serait intéressant de relire Perrault avec cette idée à l’esprit). Qui plus est, le conte folklorique est ici croisé avec tous les genres qui plaisaient alors à un public cultivé : la poésie galante, la pastorale, l’épopée merveilleuse à la façon du Tasse ou de l’Arioste, fournissent plus d’une page, et les allusions à des œuvres phares de la fin du siècle, comme « Psyché » ou « La Princesse de Clèves », viennent enrichir la dimension intertextuelle de la parodie. Il n’est pas jusqu’aux châteaux et aux fêtes qui, dans leur dimension extravagante, ne reflètent en souriant les fastes de Versailles et des châteaux d’Île-de-France. On peut se demander si Mme d’Aulnoy ne prépare pas le terrain, à son tour, aux extravagantes aventures du baron de Münchhausen. Pourtant, dans ses meilleurs contes, Madame d’Aulnoy montre aussi de la profondeur voire de la gravité. On peut donner une interprétation féministe du monde qu’elle présente, où les rois sont généralement défaillants et les princes pas toujours à la hauteur de leur rôle ; mais il ne faut pas méconnaître ici l’intention parodique, ni oublier que les personnages féminins ne sont pas mieux lotis. Plus convaincante serait l’identification de l’autrice aux très nombreuses fées qui peuplent ses contes, et dont les enchantements tissent la trame du récit. Il est de plus certain qu’elle maîtrise les implications symboliques des motifs folkloriques qu’elle emploie, comme celui de la princesse enfermée dans une tour, ou de la métamorphose, notamment dans l’admirable « Biche au bois ». C’est à ce niveau plus souterrain que ces « Contes » me semble refléter de façon vibrante la condition féminine. Enfin, le ludisme de son écriture va, dans « Le Nain jaune », jusqu’à couper court brutalement aux conventions du conte, remplacées par celles de l’épopée moderne, ce qui donne au dénouement un caractère sidérant.
After reading this book of books, I am now stuffed up to here with fairy tales and cannot stomach anymore. It seems to me that fairy tales are constructed from extremes of every sort. There are only royalty and peasants, with nothing in between in any any realm. There are only the filthy rich and the dirt poor. There is no middle class. There are gorgeous specimens most fair to look upon, and medusas. There are unparraleled heroes and sniveling cowards. Also, every family has either 17 children, or none, but either situation really, really stresses them out. Succession and legacy are massive, all-consuming concerns. But no worries, the heroes uses magic that he finds to save the day, and make all problems go away. As for anyone that's average, they don't exist, and if they did, there's no hope for them. Only heroes get to live happily ever after.
Par la vertuchou c’était de loin la lecture la plus agréable du programme jusqu’ici (même si j’attends encore mon détour au Brésil avec Jean Léry… j’y crois moyennement, mais ne soyons pas défaitiste). Par contre ce qui m’a manqué, c’est une vraie singularité dans ces contes : on retombe grosso modo sur la même trame, les mêmes archétypes de personnages et parfois les mêmes décors (overdose de tours sur nous). J’imagine que la meilleure approche aurait été d’étaler ma lecture, parce qu’en dévorant les 9 contes en deux jours, les répétitions ont fini par me désintéresser alors que j’étais trop hypée ??? Mais franchement, ça se lit bien et on stan une femme dans l’univers hyper fermé des contes (même si la postérité l’a un peu zappée)
Con esta autora descubrí un mundo de cuentos nuevos, unos que nutren de una forma muy diferente el imaginario que posee del vasto mundo de este género.
Me encantaría que fuera más conocida, que se hicieran adaptaciones en otros medios de sus historias, porque en cierto punto jay cuentos que están más que trillados, y aquí hay ciertos soplos de frescura.
Para todos amantes de los cuentos de hadas, y aquellos que desean ampliar más su conocimiento de este género, les recomiendo esta obra. Conozcan a una de las primeras impulsoras del cuento de hadas como género literario, y que debido a que era mujer, fue olvidada por mucho tiempo.
God, I hated all these stupid characters. Die, characters.
Stories ranged from "okay but boring" to "obnoxious and repetitive". Madame d'Aulnoy works within the fairy tale format without much additional imagination. Authors like Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm enhance the formula with distinctive flights of fancy or unusual details, but once you've read one d'Aulnoy story you pretty much know how the rest of them are going to go. The vast majority are about two lovers trying to prove how much they love one another, with neither one believing the other. Why am I supposed to care about these dimwits.
The most worthwhile story is probably the gender-bending "Belle-Belle".
C'était un peu long par moment mais j'ai apprécié les contes. Certaines ressemblent à des contes assez connus aujourd'hui mais d'autres sont méconnus, ce qui donne un air frais aux contes. Ce n'est définitivement pas un livre pour enfants. Avec un oeil plus adulte, la lecture prends un tournant plus sérieux, pas négligeable vu l'écriture de l'époque.
La autora es la primera en utilizar el término "cuentos de hadas ". Son cuentos diferentes porque en algunos no se siguen con la tradición de los cuentos de hadas sino que hay sorpresas en sus personajes. No todas las madres son buenas y se comportan como acostumbran comportarse la madrastra.
Laissez tomber un peu Charles Perrault et les frères Grimm, on connaît la chanson, et lisez Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy un peu. Lisons des conteuses, lisons des femmes.