Fairy Tale Queens

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Early Modern Queens and the Intersection of Fairy Tales and Fact

   • Jo Eldridge Carney

   Pages 1-10

3. The Queen’s (In)Fertile Body and the Body Politic

   • Jo Eldridge Carney

   Pages 11-37

4. Maternal Monstrosities: Queens and the Reproduction of Heirs and Errors

   • Jo Eldridge Carney

   Pages 39-63

5. Men, Women, and Beasts: Elizabeth I and Beastly Bridegrooms

   • Jo Eldridge Carney

   Pages 65-86

6. The Fairest of Them All: Queenship and Beauty

   • Jo Eldridge Carney

   Pages 87-115

7. The Queen’s Wardrobe: Dressing the Part

   • Jo Eldridge Carney

   Pages 117-145

8. The Queen’s Body: Promiscuity at Court

   • Jo Eldridge Carney

   Pages 147-176

9. Back Matter

   Pages 177-238

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Most of today's familiar fairy tales come from the stories of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen, but this innovative study encourages us to explore the marvelous tales of authors from the early modern period Giovanni Straparola, Giambattista Basile, Madame Marie-Catherine D'Aulnoy, and others whose works enrich and expand the canon. As author Jo Eldridge Carney shows, the queen is omnipresent in these stories, as much a hallmark of the genre as other familiar characteristics such as the number three, magical objects, and happy endings. That queens occupy such space in early modern tales is not surprising given the profound influence of so many powerful queens in the political landscapes of early modern England and Europe. Carney makes a powerful argument for the historical relevance of fairy tales and, by exploring the dynamic intersection between fictional and actual queens, shows how history and folk literature mutually enrich our understanding of the period.

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'By exploring the confluences between fairy tale motifs and historical records related to queens and royal female consorts, Carney establishes unexpected and enlightening resonances between two cultural spheres, one literary, the other historical. Her contribution to queenship studies offers a unique lens through which to view the historical realities of European queens, from their pregnancy wishes and fears to their obligation to provide a royal heir, from their treatment by male monarchs to their various forms of self-representation. At the same time, this book makes a convincing case for the queen as a central figure, even a hallmark, of the fairy tale genre.' Marguerite A. Tassi, Martin Distinguished Professor in English, University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA

Jo Eldridge Carney is Associate Professor of English at The College of New Jersey, USA. She is the author of essays on sixteenth-century literature, Shakespeare, and fairy tales and has edited essay collections o the early modern period.

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