The Tales of Mother Goose - Charles Perrault

Rating: ★★★
19/01/14

Yes. I'm reviewing The Tales Of Mother Goose and I'm not ashamed of it.

So, I was looking at my childhood shelves (yes, that actually exists) this morning and I ended up re-re-re-re-reading Perrault's fairy tales. I decided to write some lines because, well, it's Sunday and I didn't have this book on my GR shelves (even though as a kid, I was a big fan of "the guy who wrote Cinderella"). And by "lines" I mean just one thought. These 17th-century fairy tales are really, honestly, so fucked-up. Wolves and ogres eating little kids, snakes coming out of girls' mouths, cruel/negligent parents and subjugated kids, several killings for different reasons (hunger, disobedience). I wouldn't have been able to get a good night sleep after hearing about grandma's desire of eating her grandsons. And what about hubby serial killer Bluebeard? Wasn't he a delight?

Disney certainly gave us a lighter version of all these.

There are little pieces of truth inside those innocent tales (“The Fairies”, where there's a mother who loved the elder daughter because she resembled her so closely –“as people naturally love their own likeness”) and other stuff are confusing and unfair (ugly people telling you it's more important to be smart than beautiful but eventually, they end up being beautiful too, so...).

I've always enjoyed the morals; those little verses at the end of the tale that shows the author's interpretation. After a bloody, disturbing tale, there's usually a lesson to be learned.

Nature oft, with open arms,
Lavishes a thousand charms;
But it is not these that bring
True love's truest offering.
'Tis some quality that lies
All unseen to other eyes --
Something in the heart or mind.