The Western Gate

Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance
Jane Harrington
Black dog & Leventhal Publishing

If I were the guru of some underground sect, undoubtedly I’d have designs that it would be a debauched sex cult and psychedelic infused affair, well that would be the plan, in my heart I know it would probably be an afternoon playing records, conversing over books, perhaps indulging in teas and cakes, and… telling made up stories, camp fire pulp fiction and fairy tales….
A gathering of oppressed high society women from the Sun Kings court assembled together to drink tea, eat cake and tell stories, viz;- The Salon~ the Conteuses .
These were women forced into marriages, the rich were subject to taxes to pay for Louis XIV extravagant palaces, so much so that the only way leverage their dwindling funds was by maternal coupling, bringing together the wealth of two families, alas, for the women this often meant marrying ill-match and older gentry. Perhaps they were married by mercenary men who sought to increase their social standing, whatever the reason, the women were little more than tokens of standing.
Gossip and ‘moaning’ wasn’t polite, in fact, bordering on accusation and even ‘dissing the king would, and did, bring about imprisonment or the risk of execution. For many, the women who dared speak aloud were locked away like Rapunzel.
Some of these downtrodden women gathered, and by means of telling their stories via Fairy tales, for who would believe a fairy tale could depict and reflect life, were able in some way to vent their spleen. Problems shared etc.
It is a fascinating piece of history and certainly a subtle form of feminist action.
Jane Harringtons book discusses seven of these conteuses, whose life was dictated and demanded of by the nobility.
So too a sample of the works of these authors are included. It is refreshing to see the Fairy tales as crafted by the actual author. Grimm, Anderson, Perrault et al after all merely collected the tales that were attributed to them.
There are elements within the tales that strike a chord with older and parallel tales, but none the less, the undercurrent is one of strife, hidden melancholy, desperation.
the tales are not of the happy ever after, gallant prince variety, though these themes do crop up. the heroines have a voice, a vigour and a spirit. The fairies likewise are mischievous and upset, rebellious even at times.
The tales can sometimes waffle on, whether that’s translation or the methods employed, they’re not tales you can read a child for a few minutes before they drift off and I did find my mind wandering to the liminal world at times. I shall not gives glimpses of those liminal worlds, the land of the fae and what happened there, for that journey is discovered without heed of warning or notes of caution.
The background behind these tales make them all the more wonderful, or woeful. Essential reading for the wayfarers who delve into the land of Fae where Iron is abhorred.
N.B. My book shod it’s Gold printed title (see image above) I think because I kept it in an old laptop pouch lined with felt whilst I carried it around to read, and the felt rubbed it off somewhat, it doesn’t matter, all that glitters isn’t gold.

Header illustration;- Richard Dadd, Titania Sleeping (1841).