Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales, Children, and the Culture Industry

By Jack D. Zipes

Book Overview

First Published in 1997. Happily Ever After is Jack Zipes's latest work on the fairy tale. Moving from the Renaissance to the present, and between different cultures this book addresses Zipes's ongoing concern with the fairy tale- its impact on children and adults, its role in the socialisation of children- as well as the future of the fairy tale on the big(and little) screen. Here are Straparola's sixteenth-century 'Puss in Boots' and a 1922 film of the story; Hansel and Gretel and child abuse; the Pinocchio of Colladi and of Walt Disney. AN ardent champion of children's literature and children's culture, Zipes writes also about oral tradition and the rise of storytelling throughout the world. But behind each of his essays lies the key question that all fairy tales will raise: what does it tale to bring about happiness? And is happiness only to be found in fairy tales?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415918510
• ISBN13: 9780415918510
• Release Date: June 1997
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Food for thought

I definitely didn't agree with a lot of what Zipes had to say - he was much too pessimistic and bitter for my tastes. Additionally, the idea of Disney-as-embodiment-of-all-things-evil is a little tired. However, what I enjoyed about the book was how much it got me thinking about my own views on the material. Quite a few times I wished Zipes was in front of me so we could discuss and debate. That is always a sign of a good book to me - something that gets me thinking about my own belief system, whether I agree with the author or not. A very interesting read.

Helpful and Intriguing View of Tales and Culture

I really disagree with the previous review of this book. Zipes doesn't distort the tales meaning at all. Instead he avoids the facile, obvious surface reading, and goes deeper into the many varied meanings of what any one tale can mean. I especially enjoyed the sections on how tales were twisted and edited to reinforce our ideas of childhood and what is appropriate for children to read. For instance, the Grimms' tales were heavily edited over time making them less violent, adding in strict moral messages, and generally making the female characters more annoying (see Bottigheimer's Grimms Bold Boys and Bad Girls for a great analysis of this). I highly reccomend this book.