Many of the fairy tales Perrault published had been in circulation for a long time as oral stories. The language is far removed from present-day English, but Perrault writes about the importance of patience in love and happiness. Of humour sweet, with many years to stay,ĭoth sleep with such profound tranquillity: At the end of Perrault’s story, we find a moral: Purposeįolklore and fairy tales are primarily told both to entertain and instruct children. The translators bring the story to a wider audience by making it available in another language. I am working with a 1922 version, translated from the original French into English. This is similar today, although the audience is no longer limited to aristocratic families. Perrault’s primary audience would have been the children of these families, although parents and older family members would have enjoyed the stories as well and may be considered a secondary audience. His Tales of Mother Goose (from which this story is taken) is his most famous work.¹ AudienceĪt the time Perrault was writing these stories, fairy tales were becoming very popular under the aristocratic courts of France. Charles Perrault lived from 1628 to 1703, and is widely regarded as the founder of the modern fairy tale genre.
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