Dissecting Dragons: Episode 196: Tale as Old as Time - Why Fairytales Endure

Episode 196: Tale as Old as Time - Why Fairy Tales Endure

 

Many writers draw on the huge body of myths, legends, lore and fairy tales when working on their own speculative fiction - the dragons have done so themselves. Fairy tales in particular are told, retold, reimagined, reinvented and rebooted. So what is it about fairy tales that makes them so eminently reusable? Why is it that some retellings soar, seeming to touch some hidden need within readers, while others flop completely? Jules and Madeleine have a theory. Going back to the origins of the fairy tale, they look at why these stories endure taking examples such as Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, and looking at various permutations; Naomi Novak - Spinning Silver, Beast - a Tale of Love and Revenge - Lisa Jensen, Deep and Darkest Red - Anna Marie McLemore and many others.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic