Decadent fairy tales

Here’s a review of a fascinating-looking new collection of fairy tales by French decadent writers around the fin de siècle. The editors say

Nearly a century before postmodern fairytales by Margaret Atwood, AS Byatt, Angela Carter and others upend fairytale stereotypes about gender and sexuality, decadent writers created female characters unlike the virginal beauties of the classic tales, and exposed the romantic myths associated with the genre

It seems unlikely that Angela Carter was influenced directly by these tales but it’s interesting to note that the title story of The Bloody Chamber is itself coloured by a Decadent mentality, drawing on and referencing writers and artists such as Baudelaire.

About William the Bloody

Cat lover. 18C scholar on the dialogue and novel. Co-convenor OGOM Project
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