As in real life, many folktales have protagonists who attain riches and/or happiness by questionable means. Bluebeard, Charles Perrault’s serial killing nobleman, obviously deserves his fate. However, it is also hard to see how his last wife, who first rejected him based on his looks, seemingly only married him for his riches, and then betrayed his generosity and trust by entering a forbidden room, deserves a “happily ever after” future. Themes include judging by appearances, greed, vanity, betrayal of trust and justice. One question remains: if the beard made women and girls run away, why didn’t Bluebeard shave it off? More…
The Town Musicians of Bremen
The Town Musicians of Bremen is a story about four animals that have worked hard all their lives. They are now too old to work and face either being badly treated or killed by their owners. One by one they leave their homes and set out together to become musicians in the town of Bremen. However, they never reach Bremen. During the journey, the animals come upon a house owned by a band of robbers. By working together, they are able to frighten the robbers away and live happily in the house for the rest of their days. More…
The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones
Stephen Leacock’s The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones takes a sarcastic look at the themes of shyness and polite social conventions. Many readers mistakenly associate Melpomenus’s refusal to give a false reason to leave the house with his being a clergyman. Not so! In the introduction, we are told the young curate was too modest (shy) to tell a lie. His downfall is because of shyness, not honesty. The absurd outcome is as much the over-polite hosts’ fault as it is Melpomenus’s. If anyone was responsible for his spirit rushing from the house like a hunted cat, it was them. More…
The Feather Pillow
In this story by Horacio Quiroga a healthy young woman slowly wastes away and dies over the three months following her wedding. Her husband’s impassive manner, coupled with spending her days alone in his cavernous, unwelcoming house, destroy her childhood fancies of married life. Her fate is sealed when she decides to cast a veil over her former dreams and live like a sleeping beauty in the hostile house. Later, we learn that it is not their house that is hostile, but her feather pillow. Themes include innocence, love and marriage, isolation and loneliness, disillusionment, depression and death. More…
To Room Nineteen
On the surface, Doris Lessing’s protagonist had a perfect life. “Happily” married, financially secure, big house, healthy well-adjusted children, home help; what more could a woman want? The story is a product of its time (the early 1960s). Susan’s anguish about losing her independence and lack of fulfillment in life leads to depression, mental decline, and temporary escape from her demons in Room 19 of a seedy hotel. Too afraid of being ridiculed to confide in her husband and ask for help, she sees only one way out. Themes include loss of autonomy/identity, unsatisfying marriage, depression, communication breakdown, isolation, suicide. More…