Record Details

International Beauties and Beasts: A feminist and new historicist analysis of Beauties and the Beasts from around the world

Literator

 
 
Field Value
 
Title International Beauties and Beasts: A feminist and new historicist analysis of Beauties and the Beasts from around the world
 
Creator Banks, Monique
 
Subject Literary analysis; feminist studies; new historicism; character analysis; gender archetype Beauty and the Beast; international fairy tale; 19th century; Russian fairy tale; Portuguese fairy tale; Danish fairy tale; Italian fairy tale; Chinese fairy tale; feminism; new historicism; patriarchy; gender expectations in tales; social context
Description Other than the most widely-recognised Beauty and the Beast tales of de Beaumont and Disney, a number of writers from all over the world have recreated the tale. These writers originate from a number of social contexts, and each has recreated the tale according to the expectations of these societies. Alexander Afanasyev’s Russian tale The Enchanted Tsarévich, Consiglieri Pedroso’s Portuguese tale The Maiden and the Beast, Evald Tang Kristensen’s Danish tale Beauty and the Horse, the Italian tale Zelinda and the Monster and Chinese folk tale The Fairy Serpent are analysed in this article. These international remakes will be analysed using the New Historicist and Feminist frameworks. The article aims to understand the extent to which these less-recognised tales share patriarchal ideas. Moreover, the analysis draws connections between the ideas presented in the tales and their historical backdrop, emphasising that a literary work cannot be separated from its social context. The tales tell the story of gender inequality. They perpetuate patriarchal behaviours and expectations through the behaviours of and relationships between the beauties, Beasts, fathers and sisters depicted. The male characters are empowered decision-makers, who for the most part have control over their lives; however, the female characters are submissive and passive, given little to no control. Moreover, the tales relate closely to their social contexts, and this article analyses each tale in parallel with a discussion of its social context. The patriarchal nature of each tale suggests that the 19th century encouraged gendered inequality and differences as well.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2022-09-19
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Literary Analysis —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/lit.v43i1.1793
 
Source Literator; Vol 43, No 1 (2022); 9 pages Literator; Vol 43, No 1 (2022); 9 pages 2219-8237 0258-2279
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1793/3637 https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1793/3638 https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1793/3639 https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1793/3640
 
Coverage — 19th Century —
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Monique Banks https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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