The Witch Must Die: How Fairy Tales Shape Our Lives - Couverture rigide

Cashdan, Sheldon

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0465091482 ISBN 13 : 9780465091485

Editeur : Basic Books, 1999

Synopsis

What accounts for the enduring charm of fairy tales? The answer, says the author of this enchanting and insightful book, lies in the way these stories help children deal with classic psychological conflicts. The tales do this by projecting the child's own internal struggle between good and evil onto the battles between the characters in the stories. Cinderella, Rumpelstilskin, and Pinocchio vividly dramatize envy, deceit, gluttony, lust, and sloth, giving children a safe stage on which to confront their own “deadly sins.” When good triumphs over evil, readers also vanquish their sinful tendencies. Cashdan elegantly analyzes how fairy tales speak to human concerns, highlighting the roles played by iconic images like glass slippers and gingerbread houses, stepmothers, and sorcerers. He shows how fairy tales differ from culture to culture (in the Grimm version of Cinderella birds pluck out the stepsisters' eyes but in Japan the stepsisters apologize and are forgiven); what happens when the tales are “Disneyfied”; and how fairy tales can have a surprisingly salutary effect on adult readers. Along the way he probes the eternal questions: Why does Snow White eat the poison apple? Why is the stepmother so mean? Why is Cinderella's father never around when she needs him? TheWitch Must Die recalls a time in all our lives when fantasy was king and life's important lessons emerged from magical tales.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

What accounts for the enduring charm of fairy tales? The answer, says the author of this enchanting and insightful book, lies in the way these stories help children deal with classic psychological conflicts. The tales do this by projecting the child's own internal struggle between good and evil onto the battles between the characters in the stories. Cinderella, Rumpelstilskin, and Pinocchio vividly dramatize envy, deceit, gluttony, lust, and sloth, giving children a safe stage on which to confront their own deadly sins.” When good triumphs over evil, readers also vanquish their sinful tendencies. Cashdan elegantly analyzes how fairy tales speak to human concerns, highlighting the roles played by iconic images like glass slippers and gingerbread houses, stepmothers, and sorcerers. He shows how fairy tales differ from culture to culture (in the Grimm version of Cinderella birds pluck out the stepsisters' eyes but in Japan the stepsisters apologize and are forgiven); what happens when the tales are Disneyfied”; and how fairy tales can have a surprisingly salutary effect on adult readers. Along the way he probes the eternal questions: Why does Snow White eat the poison apple? Why is the stepmother so mean? Why is Cinderella's father never around when she needs him? TheWitch Must Die recalls a time in all our lives when fantasy was king and life's important lessons emerged from magical tales.

Biographie de l'auteur

Sheldon Cashdan, Ph.D., is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is the author of Abnormal Psychology, Interactional Psychotherapy, and Object Relations Therapy.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Basic Books
• Date d'édition: 1999
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0465091482
• ISBN 13: 9780465091485
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 304
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible