Perrault’s Fairy Tales

Eight of the twelve tales in this book are from the master hand of Charles Perrault (1628-1703). Although Perrault enjoyed much distinction in the French literary circle of the late seventeenth century, his fame today rests upon his authorship of the traditional ´Tales of Mother Goose´, or ´Stories of Olden Times´. And it is true to say that as long as there are children to listen spellbound to the adventures of ´Cinderella´, ´Red Riding Hood´, and that arch rogue ´Puss in Boots´, his memory will endure. Three of the tales, ´The Ridiculous Wishes´, ´Donkey-Skin´ and ´Patient Griselda´, are seldom included in Perrault collections as they were written in a very florid verse form. Not only Perrault, but Boccaccio, Chaucer and others have used the story of ´Patient Griselda´. The last story, ´Beauty and the Beast´, again not by Perrault (it was penned by Mme. Leprince de Beaumont 1711-1781), has a similarity of style and celebrity which justifiably merits its inclusion.