So there’s a little movie coming out this month. You probably haven’t heard about it because the publicity has been REALLY low-key. The live action Beauty and the Beast? Ring a bell? No? It’s okay – we’ll be covering it, don’t you worry.
As has been mentioned, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale. It works so well as a Romance archetypical story, so I was VERY excited at this offering.
Penguin has a compendium of stories that fall into the same folklore classification as the original French version of Beauty and the Beast, which is “The Search for a Lost Husband.” They have also, in the interest of fairness, included stories in which the woman is the animal- The Man in the Quest for the Lost Wife. (Also noted in the introduction: the very name of these classifications reduces the female protagonist’s agency and very existence.)
The tales start in Ancient Greece with Europa and the Bull, noting that Europa comes off much better from her encounter with Zeus’ thunderdick than most because Hera was apparently not paying attention at the time, and Cupid and Psyche, and move through India, Iran, Scandinavia, Bolivia, Alaska – basically every culture has some version of an animal spouse tale.
Tatar collected 37 different tales, and separated them into four categories: Model Couples in Ancient Times, Charismatic Couples in the Popular Imagination, Animals Grooms, and Animal Brides. She sources each tale in the back of the book and not with the tale, which I think would make more sense, as someone who cares deeply about sources. I know there are people who care considerably less who don’t want their reading interrupted by bibliography. Tatar also did a few of the translations (French and German) and had to reconstruct a few tales from fractured sources.
The stories are all great, and getting the full gamut of versions of my most beloved story is wonderful. There are some that I would not have thought would go in a similar class as “Beauty and the Beast” – The Swan Maidens, for example.
I think my favorite of the stories that I already knew has to be “East of the Sun, West of the Moon.” I remember a beautiful illustrated version from my childhood (and there’s like, seven different versions on Amazon and I don’t remember which one was mine! How can I pass on the right version to my nephew? Life is HARD!). It’s a Scandinavian tale about a girl who is “encouraged” by her father to marry a polar bear (her family would get riches if she did). Of course, the polar bear isn’t really a polar bear, he’s a man that’s been enchanted to be a polar bear by day, and a man by night, and if the girl managed to make it a year without finding out, then the spell would have been broken.
But fairy tale heroines aren’t great at “do this thing and don’t ask questions” so she finds out, and he must go to the witch that enchanted him. The heroine can save him only if she goes east of the sun and west of the moon.
There’s a version of the “Magical animal takes off her cloak of feathers and is a beautiful human-looking woman so human douchebag dude steals the cloak and forces a marriage” story that’s Hindu-Persian in origin that I enjoyed a lot. I always like those stories because they usually end with the douchebag sad and alone. “I thought she loved me! Why wouldn’t a relationship that began with theft and coercion end well?” There’s also a Greek version where a fisherman catches a turtle, and he doesn’t discover that she’s also a woman until she’s cleaned his house, and that ends well for them – he ends up as King.
If you have an interest in folklore and tales from around the world, and in comparing and contrasting similar stories across cultures, I highly recommend this anthology.
This book is available from:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!
Very appealing.
Hmm. For my neck of the woods, the Kindle version is $10.04 and the paperback is $9.27.
While reasonable, I may’ve blown half my book spend already – I don’t call it a budget. There are some months when I don’t buy and put that money toward other needful things. If I budgeted for it, I might insist upon spending it.
Ooh, I almost mentioned in the “whatcha reading” that I had just seen “Beauty and the Beast” and loved it (even with its flaws) and was now hankering after some Beauty and the Beast retellings.
Thank for the recommendation!
So the “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” version of the story was made into an absolutely ridiculous b-movie called “The Polar Bear King.” My five year old self was obsessed. That movie also led me to the realization that these stories were so cross cultural. The first time I read the story of Cupid and Psyche, I was floored by the fact that it was just like “The Polar Bear King” (I must have been about ten).
Thank you for recommending this! The variants of the Beauty and the Beast have always been my favorite folktales. As soon as I saw your review, I placed an order.
I also love East o the Sun, West o the Moon! The illustrated version that I really love is illustrated by P.J. Lynch and I highly recommend everyone get their hands on it somehow, even if it’s just a quick check out from the library because it is sooooo beautiful. There are some absolutely stunning illustrations. I literally drool every time I look at the book! 😀
I also grew up with and loved East of the Sun, West of the Moon, but even when quite young, I thought there were aspects that were grossly unfair for the poor heroine. I clearly need to get a copy of this collection.
Sounds great! Beauty and the Beast is also one of my very favorites.
OOOO! Thanks for this! I’ll have to add it to my fairy tale/folklore shelf.
I think the fairy tale included in Elizabeth Hoyt’s ‘The Raven Prince’ was a nod to ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’, or at least heavily influenced by it.
I have Maria Tatar’s Classic Fairy Tales and it’s catnip for any student of folklore. I will never, not ever, finish reading all the notes in this book. Sounds like Beauty and the Beast will be likewise.