Three forgotten tales by Madame d’Aulnoy

Three tales, three princesses of great modernity: the first is demanding in love, the second saves her prince, the last dresses up in disguise. Are these contemporary tales? No… they date back to the 17th century! They were written by a woman, Madame d’Aulnoy. In 1697, just a few months after Charles Perrault’s tales, this Norman aristocrat published her Contes des fées (Fairy Tales) in three volumes, followed a year later by a fourth volume entitled Contes nouveaux ou les fées à la mode (New Tales or Fairies in Fashion). They were widely distributed in the 18th and 19th centuries, notably thanks to their reissue in Le cabinet des fées, a collection of tales compiled by Chevalier Mayer (published 1785-1789).
Today, Mme d’Aulnoy’s fame is nowhere near that of Charles Perrault or the Brothers Grimm. Yet more than a transcription of folk tales, her work shows real inventiveness, delightful subversion, rich and eclectic intertextuality, humor, love, and intelligence.
The motifs are renewed: refusal of forced marriage (of which Mme d’Aulnoy herself was a victim at the age of 16), gentle princes, discredited men, powerful fairies who protect women, courageous princesses…
Rediscovering these three forgotten tales means reveling in feminist stories ahead of their time and asking ourselves: how can we explain why we didn’t read them sooner?