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Women, Enlightenment and the Literary Fairy Tale in E nglish
Author(s) -
Douglas Aileen
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal for eighteenth‐century studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.129
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1754-0208
pISSN - 1754-0194
DOI - 10.1111/1754-0208.12188
Subject(s) - enlightenment , literature , literary translation , history , literary genre , indigenous , art , philosophy , theology , ecology , biology
In eighteenth‐century E ngland the literary fairy tale was known mainly through translation from the French, especially of the works of M arie‐ C atherine, Comtesse d' A ulnoy. There were, however, several indigenous efforts at the form, including the two fairy tales in S arah F ielding's The G overness (1749) and The F airy‐ R ing, or E meline (1783), by E lizabeth S heridan. Particularly identified with the female reader, the literary fairy tale was also hospitable to women writers. Appealing to the imagination through their fantastic and marvellous elements, the fairy tales of F ielding and S heridan are also concerned with the exertions of female reason and the foundations of female autonomy.