Full Description
Everyone is familiar with the tale: a man marries a woman, and she transforms into a crane. Or a seal. Or a bear. Or a woman marries a beast, who transforms into a man; or a man who transforms into a beast. Tales of shapeshifting animal spouses have long been a staple of folklore around the world.
In this collection, fantasy and fairy tale scholar Jennifer Pullen selects fourteen classic tales that explore the boundary between the human and the beastly, showing how their telling and retelling reflects a constant longing for-and terror of-what seems to be "other."
Contents
Cupid and Psyche By Lucius Apuleius
The Green Serpent By Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy
Beauty and the Beast By Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont
The White Cat By Madame D'Aulnoy
The Little Mermaid By Hans Christian Andersen
The Fisherman and his Soul By Oscar Wilde
East of the Sun and West of the Moon By Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe
The She-Bear By Giambattista Basile
Mr. Fox By Joseph Jacobs
Bisclavret By Marie de France
The Good Man O' Wastness By Walter Traill Dennison
The Robe of Feathers By Grace James
The Fair Melusina By Horace E Scudder
Prince Bairâm and the Fairy Bride By Reverend Charles Swynnerton
