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Synopsis

The wolf is tricked by Red Riding Hood into strangling her grandmother and is subsequently arrested. Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella do not live happily ever after. And the fairies are saucy, angry, and capricious. Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned collects thirty-six tales, many newly translated, by writers associated with the decadent literary movement, which flourished in France in the late nineteenth century. Written by such creative luminaries as Charles Baudelaire, Anatole France, and Guillaume Apollinaire, these enchanting yet troubling stories reflect the concerns and fascinations of a time of great political, social, and cultural change. Recasting well-known favorites from classic French fairy tales, as well as Arthurian legends and English and German tales, the updated interpretations in this collection allow for more perverse settings and disillusioned perspectives--a trademark style and ethos of the decadent tradition.

In these stories, characters puncture the optimism of the naive, talismans don't work, and the most deserving don't always get the best rewards. The fairies are commonly victims of modern cynicism and technological advancement, but just as often are dangerous creatures corrupted by contemporary society. The collection underlines such decadent themes as the decline of civilization, the degeneration of magic and the unreal, gender confusion, and the incursion of the industrial. The volume editors provide an informative introduction, biographical notes for each author, and explanatory notes throughout.

Subverting the conventions of the traditional fairy tale, these old tales made new will entertain and startle even the most disenchanted readers.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Gretchen Schultz and Lewis Seifert
• Fairies' Gifts - short story by Charles Baudelaire (trans. of Les dons des fées 1869)
• Fairies of France - short story by Alphonse Daudet (trans. of Les fées de France: Conte fantastique 1873)
• Dreaming Beauty - short story by Catulle Mendès (trans. of La Belle au bois rêvant 1885)
• La Belle au bois dormant - (1867) - interior artwork by Gustave Doré
• Isolina / Isolin - short story by Catulle Mendès (trans. of Isoline-Isolin 1885)
• The Way to Heaven - short story by Catulle Mendès (trans. of Le chemin du paradis 1885)
• An Unsuitable Guest - short story by Catulle Mendès (trans. of Le mauvais convive 1885)
• The Three Good Fairies - short story by Catulle Mendès (trans. of Les trois bonnes fées 1885)
• La forêt de Brocéliande - (1868) - interior artwork by Gustave Doré
• The Last Fairy - short story by Catulle Mendès (trans. of La dernière fée 1885)
• The Lucky Find - short story by Catulle Mendès (trans. of La bonne trouvaille 1888)
• The Wish Granted, Alas! - short story by Catulle Mendès (trans. of Le vœu, hélas ! accompli? 1890)
• The Suitors of Princess Mimi - short story by Jules Lemaître (trans. of Les amoureux de la princesse Mimi 1890)
• Les amoureux de la princesse Mimi - (1890) - interior artwork by E. Loevy
• Liette's Notions - short story by Jules Lemaître (trans. of Les idées de Liette 1905)
• Little Red Riding Hood - (1909) - interior artwork by Arthur Rackham
• On the Margins of Perrault's Fairy Tales: The White Rabbit and the Four-Leaf Clover - short story by Jules Lemaître (trans. of Le lapin blanc et les trèfles à quatre feuilles 1914)
• The Ogresses - short story by Paul Arène (trans. of Les ogresses 1891)
• Fairy Morgane's Tales: Nocturne II - short story by Jules Ricard (trans. of Les contes de la fée Morgane, Nocturne II 1894)
• Bluebeard's Little Wife - short story by Marcel Schwob (trans. of La petite femme de Barbe-Bleue 1894)
• La Barbe Bleue - (1867) - interior artwork by Gustave Doré
• The Green She-Devil - short story by Marcel Schwob (trans. of Bûchette 1894)
• Cice - short story by Marcel Schwob (trans. of Cice 1894)
• Mandosiane - short story by Marcel Schwob (trans. of Mandosiane 1894)
• Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned - short story by Willy (trans. of Mécomptes de fées 1894)
• Riquet with the Tuft - (1867) - interior artwork by Gustave Doré
• The Living Door Knocker - short story by Henri de Régnier (trans. of Le heurtoir vivant 1897)
• The Mortis - short story by Rachilde (trans. of Le Mortis 1899)
• Doktor Schnabel von Rom - (1656) - interior artwork by Paul Fürst
• Sleeping Beauty Didn't Wake Up - short story by Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen (trans. of La Belle au bois dormant ne s'est pas réveillée 1901)
• La Belle au bois dormant - (1867) - interior artwork by Gustave Doré
• Princess of the Red Lilies - short story by Jean Lorrain (trans. of La princesse aux lys rouges 1894)
• Princess Snowflower - short story by Jean Lorrain (trans. of La princesse Neigefleur 1894)
• Mandosiane in Captivity - short story by Jean Lorrain (trans. of Mandosiane captive 1894)
• Prince Charming - short story by Renée Vivien (trans. of Le Prince Charmant 1904)
• The Story of the Prince of Valandeuse - short story by Albert Mockel (trans. of Histoire du prince de Valandeuse 1908)
• Fée Novéliane - (1908) - interior artwork by Auguste Donnay
• The Pleasant Surprise - short story by Albert Mockel (trans. of L'heureuse surprise 1903)
• La vieille loyaliste - (1908) - interior artwork by Auguste Donnay
• The Last Fairy - short story by Pierre Veber (trans. of La dernière fée 1908)
• The Seven Wives of Bluebeard - short story by Anatole France (trans. of Les sept femmes de la Barbe-Bleue 1909)
• La Barbe Bleue - (1867) - interior artwork by Gustave Doré
• The Story of the Duchess of Cicogne and of Monsieur de Boulingrin - short story by Anatole France (trans. of Histoire de la duchesse de Cicogne et de M. de Boulingrin qui dormirent cent ans en compagnie de la Belle-au-Bois-dormant 1909)
• The 28-Kilometer Boots - short story by Emile Bergerat (trans. of Les bottes de vingt-huit kilomètres 1909)
• La 628-E8 - (1907) - interior artwork by Pierre Bonnard
• L'ogre allemand et le petit Poucet français - (1919) - interior artwork by Marcel Capy
• Cinderella Arrives by Automobile - short story by Emile Bergerat (trans. of Cendrillon en automobile 1909)
• Cinderella Continued, or the Rat and the Six Lizards - short story by Guillaume Apollinaire (trans. of La suite de Cendrillon, ou Le rat et les six lézards 1919)
• Cendrillon - (1919) - interior artwork by Gerda Wegener
• Cinderella, the Humble and Haughty Child - short story by Claude Cahun (trans. of Cendrillon, l'enfant humble et hautaine 2006)

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