Into the Woods! What Disney Didn't Tell You About Fairy Tales

This seminar aims to explore the complex history of the fairy tale genre and to address the many critical questions it raises. Class materials will include the canonical texts by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault but also many other, lesser-known versions, ranging from Ancient Rome to the Italian Renaissance and the French 18th century, as well as scholarly interpretations and artistic illustrations of these stories. The second half of the course will focus on the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde as well as contemporary Anglo-American retellings and adaptations.