There was once a law student named Charles Perrault, who would become known for his captivating stories and charming literary style. Born into a prominent bourgeois family in Paris 1628, Perrault came from a line of talented men. His father was a lawyer and member of the Parliament, and his four brothers, all older than him, achieved recognition in fields such as architecture and law.
From an early age, Perrault demonstrated an inquisitive mind and a love for learning. At the age of 15, he decided to leave the dreams and stories within his pen, to devote his time to learning on his own everything he needed to for his law exams. But soon, that shift proved not to be for his benefit, so he became a secretary to his brother Pierre, who held the position of tax collector in Paris, with only a few years of legal practice.
But then, Perrault’s literary concerns began to come out of the woodwork, and the author gave life to a couple of minor poems. But his career would change forever when his work ventured to touch the grace of the king of France, Louis XIV, with some poems in his honor. It was thus that our protagonist became secretary to Jean-Baptiste Colbert in 1663, Minister of Finance and perhaps the man of the realm.
Perrault achieved great advances in the field of arts and sciences thanks to the protective mantle of his patron. Once part of the French Academy and while continuing his work in poetry, Perrault’s inquiring mind became interested in the cultural affairs of the court. Thus, in 1672, he married Marie Guichon, with whom he had three children.
Charles Perrault Dedicated His Life to Knowledge and Literature, but He Never Had a Happy Ending
Far from a “they lived happily ever after”, this blissful stage of his life would end abruptly with Marie’s tragic death during childbirth in 1678. Heartbroken with grief, Perrault decided not to remarry and to personally undertake the education of his children.
This period, overshadowed by death, was prolonged by Colbert’s passing in 1683, following Perrault’s dismissal from his position in the government. But as not all is sadness in this tale, although Perrault lost his position, he received a substantial pension that allowed him to support his family until his death. Freed from malevolent government duties, the author was able to concentrate even more on literary matters.
In 1687, he initiated the famous ‘Quarrel of the Ancients’, and soon Perrault sided with modernism and believed that France and Christianity could only progress if they incorporated pagan beliefs and folklore, thus developing an enlightened culture. Thanks to this stance, our noble paladin found several enemies on his way.
In those distant times within the realm of French literature, there was a fierce literary dispute involving two prominent men of literature: Nicolas Boileau, the literary critic, and Jean Racine, the playwright. Both defended the opposite position from that of our brilliant writer. While Boileau and Racine advocated the imitation of the great works of the empires Greece and Rome and the adherence to strict classical rules in the arts, Perrault held a diametrically different perspective.
This epic literary quarrel had profound cultural repercussions that endangered the virtue of the kingdom, which lasted until 1697, when King Louis XIV decided to put an end to it in favor of Boileau and Racine. However, this decision would not stop Perrault’s impetus, who would continue to express his ideas in his poetry and prose.
Perrault, who frequented the literary salons of his niece Mlle Théritier, Mme d’Aulnoy and other prominent women, had been deeply upset by Boileau’s satires and insults directed at women. In response, he endeavored to write three tales in verse, Grisélidis (1691), Les Souhaits Ridicules (The Ridiculous Wishes, 1693), and Peau d’âne (“Donkey’s Skin”, 1694).
In addition, he composed a long poem entitled Apologie des femmes (Apology of Women, 1694), advocating for women. While it may be questioned whether these works would be considered pro-women today, Perrault certainly demonstrated a more enlightened approach to this issue than either Boileau or Racine.
In these poems, his pen was at the mercy of a highly refined literary style, perhaps inspired by the wound opened by Boileau’s dagger. The folkloric motifs embodied therein emphasized with elegance a well-honed tongue the need to adopt an enlightened moral attitude towards women and to exercise a righteous authority.
His Fairy Tales Are the Result of His Advocacy for Women’s Rights
With all these adventures at the tip of his pen, it would be in 1696 that Perrault would face his biggest challenge, when he decided to transform various folk tales, full of superstitious beliefs and magic, into moralizing tales that would appeal to children and adults, in order to demonstrate a modern approach to literature.
In 1696, he published a prose version of Sleeping Beauty in the journal Mercure Galant. The following year, he published a complete collection of stories entitled Histoires ou contes du temps passé (Stories or tales of the past), which included new literary versions of Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Cinderella, Tom Thumb, Puss in Boots and The Fairies. All of these fairy tales, now considered “classics,” were based on oral and literary motifs made popular in France, but Perrault transformed them to address social and political issues. This is, undoubtedly, the author’s well-deserved happy ending in the realm of world literacy.
The exploits of the French writer have had repercussions to this day, where fairy tales continue to be a fascinating genre. These tales are deeply rooted in our culture, updated and re-signified from generation to generation through new media, and thanks to authors such as Charles Perrault, these stories have been used as a moral compass and reflect the values of a society, albeit one that needs to look forward and move towards the treasure of tomorrow, hidden at the end of the rainbow.
This story was originally written in Spanish by Joyce Kauffman in Cultura Colectiva News.
