Beauty and the Beast
by Maria Tatar
One of our most beloved and elemental fairy tales, in tellings from across the centuries and around the world--published to coincide with Disney's live-action 3D musical film Beauty and the BeastA Penguin ClassicThe "tale as old as time," in versions from across the centuries and around the world-published to coincide with Disney's live-action 3D musical film starring Emma Watson, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, Audra McDonald, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, Dan Stevens, and Emma ThompsonNearly every culture tells the story of Beauty and the Beast in one fashion or another. From Cupid and Psyche to India's Snake Bride to South Africa's "Story of Five Heads," the partnering of beasts and beauties, of humans and animals in all their variety-cats, dogs, frogs, goats, lizards, bears, tortoises, monkeys, cranes, warthogs-has beguiled us for thousands of years, mapping the cultural contradictions that riddle every romantic relationship.In this fascinating volume, preeminent fairy tale scholar Maria Tatar brings together tales from ancient times to the present and from a wide variety of cultures, highlighting the continuities and the range of themes in a fairy tale that has been used both to keep young women in their place and to encourage them to rebel, and that has entertained adults and children alike. With fresh commentary, she shows us what animals and monsters, both male and female, tell us about ourselves, and about the transformative power of empathy.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Paperback
English
Brand New
Author Biography
Maria Tatar (editor) is the John L. Loeb Professor of Folklore and Mythology and Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. She is the author of many acclaimed books, including The Heroine with 1,001 Faces, as well as the editor and translator of The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, The Classic Fairy Tales- A Norton Critical Edition, The Grimm Reader, and The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Review
[This] new book from Penguin ... provides some historical context [to the Disney film] ... Most of the stories about young women and animal grooms follow a predictable pattern ... But the Penguin book also includes plenty of stories in which the genders are flipped, pairing young men with animal brides. * The New Yorker *
The tales in Tatar's compilation swing from vicious to romantic, from comedy to horror ... Tatar's book alone contains stories from almost two dozen countries. * NPR.org *
A rich, intriguing volume highly recommended for fairy-tale fans. * Booklist *
Maria Tatar's new collection for Penguin Classics ... ventur[es] deeper into the rich universe of animal bridegroom stories ... There is also the parallel tradition of animal bride stories-swan maidens and selkies with a much sharper edge than The Little Mermaid ... The source material here is much richer in possibilities than turning Belle into a crusader for women's literacy. * Jezebel *
Maria Tatar rounded up stories about animal brides and grooms from around the world in this new Penguin Classics collection, and while I am a certified fairy tale nerd, there was plenty in this book that was new to me. -- Constance Grady * Vox *
Superb ... Each story is basically an expression of anxiety about marriage and relationships-about the animalistic nature of sex, and the fundamental strangeness of men and women to each other ... Tatar points out, too, that every generation of monsters speaks to the anxieties of its time. * The Atlantic *
Promotional
One of our most beloved and elemental fairy tales, in versions from across the centuries and around the world-published to coincide with Disney's live-action 3D musical film starring Emma Watson, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, Audra McDonald, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, and Emma Thompson.
Review Text
[This] new book from Penguin ... provides some historical context [to the Disney film] ... Most of the stories about young women and animal grooms follow a predictable pattern ... But the Penguin book also includes plenty of stories in which the genders are flipped, pairing young men with animal brides.
Review Quote
"[This] new book from Penguin . . . provides some historical context [to the Disney film]. . . .
Promotional "Headline"
One of our most beloved and elemental fairy tales, in versions from across the centuries and around the world-published to coincide with Disney's live-action 3D musical film starring Emma Watson, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, Audra McDonald, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, and Emma Thompson.
Excerpt from Book
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Contents Model Couples from Ancient Times - Zeus and Europa (Ancient Greece) - Cupid and Psyche (Ancient Rome) - The Girl Who Married a Snake (India) - Hasan of Basra (Persia) Charismatic Couples in the Popular Imagination - Beauty and the Beast (France) - East of the Sun and West of the Moon (Norway) - King Pig (Italy) - The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich (Germany) - The Swan Maidens (England) - Princess Frog (Russia) - The Peri Wife (Hindu-Persian) Animal Grooms - The Condor and the Shepherdess (Bolivia) - The Parrot Prince (Chile) - Nicholas the Fish (Colombia) - The Muskrat Husband (Alaska) - A Boarhog for a Husband (West Indies) - The Monkey Bridegroom (Japan) - Tale of the Girl and the Hyena-Man (Ghana) - The Story of Five Heads (South Africa) - The Golden Crab (Greece) - The Girl Who Married a Dog (Native American) - The Snake Prince (India) - The Small-Tooth Dog (England) - The Queen of the Pigeons (South Africa) Animal Brides - The Grateful Crane (Japan) - The Piqued Buffalo-Wife (Native American) - The Turtle and the Chickpea (Greece) - The Frog Maiden (Myanmar) - Chonguita (Phillipines) - Urashima Taro (Japan) - Oisin in Tir na n-Og (Ireland) - The Dog Bride (India) - The Swan Maiden (Sweden) - The Hunter and the Tortoise (Ghana) - The Peasant and Zemyne (Lithuania) - Puddocky (Germany) - The Man Who Married a Bear (Native American)
Details
