The Feminine in Fairy Tales

by Marie-Louise von Franz

Book Overview

A Jungian psychologist explores what we can learn about women--and men--from the feminine archetypes, symbols, and themes found in fairy tales

In this engaging commentary, the distinguished analyst and author Marie-Louise von Franz shows how the Feminine reveals itself in fairy tales of German, Russian, Scandinavian, and Eskimo origin, including familiar stories such as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Rose Red, and Rumpelstiltskin...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 157062609X
• ISBN13: 9781570626098
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Shambhala Publications
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A deeper morality

Splendid. This is one of von Franz's best. Interestingly, 'The Feminine in Fairytales' revolves much around the moral problem. In our civilization we have deviated from the original Christian "morality of the heart" and have gone over to an ethics by decree. This tells us Europeans, for instance, that we must take responsibility for all peoples of the earth, and also allow them shelter and free provision in our countries. But there is no feeling adaptation in this, it is a mere ethics of the intellect, wholly lacking in instinct. The intellectually moralistic aspiration that all suffering must be eradicated, is a form of inflation. It will have dire repercussions on society in the future. It is high time to change our moral outlook. We ought to look closer at the natural morality of Chuang Tzu, and the original teachings of Jesus. The latter taught us *not to resist evil*. But this is exactly what we are doing today, on a megalomaniacal scale. This will rebound and give rise to an evil on an equally grand scale. M-L von Franz says: "...But such Themis revengefulness in nature brings us to a very serious situation, one of the greatest present-day problems of our world: namely, that created by the great improvement in medicine due to the rational and technical development of the white man's civilization. This is basically due to the domination of the white races. Pretty soon the world will be hopelessly overpopulated; in a couple of hundred years the situation will be absolutely hopeless, but the United Nations and other organizations continue to improve hygienic conditions in India and other Eastern countries and to help overpopulate the earth. Possibly nature will invent a new virus - and a virus is capable of fantastic mutations - or bring about such a state of irritation that Russia or the United States or some other country will use the atom bomb, because somehow humanity has to be reduced. All the well-meaning charitable enterprises in the world are built up on a 'Weltanschauung' that does not take the dark side of Mother Nature into consideration. They are based on Christian ideas. But if one ignores a goddess, she manifests herself again. At one time nature and her dark side were in harmony, but from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries onward - as can be seen for instance in mythology, in poetry, and in religious movements - natural compensation was no longer on the lines of the one-sided light attitude. From that time onward, there was a wrong persistence in an attitude that had hitherto been right. There was no realization that a further evolution was necessary, that an alteration was required and an awareness of the dark side. Instead there was a stiffening on a general scale throughout Europe; what had been right developed into a neurotic attitude, and defense mechanisms were set up against the unconscious compensation." (p.41)[...]

Almost a Lost Art!

This is an excellent and rich tool for therapists or just for serious students of consciousness (male or female) who wish to better understand their inner lives and motivations.

Archetype in Fairy Tale

This book is a rich source of understanding for anyone interested in working to understand the deeper meanings of fairy tales in the cultures of the world.

Enlightening Discernment Between the Feminine & Anima

There are not very many fairy tales geared towards the real woman and the real woman's needs and life journey. Most fairy tales with female characters are based around the real man's inner woman - the anima. Von Franz accurately points out some of the fairy tales which point the way to healing for women, and delves into the meaning of their symbols. Even those who only have a rudimentary idea of Jungian concepts would learn a lot from The Feminine in Fairy Tales. I have read the book several times, learning more and more from each reading. I highly recommend it.