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Author: Duggan, Anne

Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers

Published on 18 September 2023 by REAKTION BOOKS in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 320 pages, 39 illustrations, 10 in colour
146 x 224 x 28 | 482g

People often associate fairy tales with Disney films, and with the male authors from whom Disney often drew inspiration – notably Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. In these portrayals the princess is a passive, compliant figure. By contrast, The Lost Princess shows that classic fairy tales such as ‘Cinderella’, ‘Rapunzel’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ have a much richer, more complex history than Disney’s saccharine depictions. Anne E. Duggan recovers the voices of women writers such as Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, Marie-Jeanne L’Heritier and Charlotte-Rose de La Force, who penned popular tales about ogre-killing, pregnant, cross-dressing, dynamic heroines who saved the day. This new history will appeal to anyone who wants to know more about the lost, plucky heroines of historic fairy tales.