Class Description
When we think of fairy tales today, we often imagine children’s stories filled with magic and happily-ever-afters. Yet the first French literary fairy tales were written for adults — and mostly by women in the salons of late seventeenth-century Paris. While later, male-authored versions by writers such as Perrault and the Brothers Grimm came to dominate literary memory, these earlier tales explored serious questions about love, marriage, gender roles, and women’s authority.
In this class, we will read stories by Madame d’Aulnoy, Henriette-Julie de Murat, and Marie-Jeanne L’Héritier to see how enchantment became a way to question social rules and imagine alternatives. Through brief lectures, close reading, and guided discussion, participants will explore how fairies, transformations, and clever heroines reflect debates about consent, reputation, education, and personal agency.
No prior knowledge of French literature is required; all readings will be provided in English translation.
Fanny Alice Marchaisse holds a Ph.D. in French from Northwestern University and teaches French to adult and high school students in Chicago. Her work explores women’s writing and fairy tales in early modern France.
What to Expect
Format: In Person
Class Capacity: 18
Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged
Materials List
Required
- Digital Course Packet
- Selected tales, historical context summaries, visual and supplementary materials, and reference lists. All readings will be provided in English.
First Assignment
- Short historical overview of Parisian salon culture
- Excerpt from Durand, L’Origine des fées
- Excerpt from Madame d’Aulnoy, Le Prince Lutin
A Brief Syllabus
- Inventing the Fairy: Women, Salons, and Literary Culture
- Love, Manners, and Moral Testing: Critiquing Gallantry
- Transformation and Gender Play
- The Disappearance of the Fairies: From Magic to Human Agency
Cost and Registration
4 Sessions, $175 ($157.50 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($175), Community Supported ($160), and Sponsor ($190) Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
Having trouble signing up? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to registration by clicking here.
RegisterThe views and opinions expressed in this class and/or by the instructor are not necessarily representative of the Newberry. We aim to ensure that in our classes, participants can have respectful disagreement to foster critical thinking. This is a space to challenge and expand our own worldviews to work towards better understanding and appreciating humanity.
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