The Mattress Tests Of Lords and Tinkers, Shrews and Peas

'The Princess And The Pea' by Louise Montillio

A passage from the ballad-folktale "Lord For A Day" caught our eye this week and, though it's not meant to be an important part of the text, it got us thinking about mattresses and peas; that is, tests of nobility or worthiness. Here is the passage, with a little context:

... the Khalif went in to the women of the palace, who came to him, and he said to them, "Whenas yonder sleeper awaketh tomorrow... say to him "Thou art the Khalif." ...
Then the rest of the women of the palace came all to him and lifted him into a sitting posture, when he found himself upon a couch, stuffed all with floss-silk and raised a cubit's height from the ground*. 

*That is, a mattress eighteen inches thick.

*** 

So in this tale, a man sitting on a pile of mattresses, or a very high mattress, is supposed to be 'proof' of royalty? (Even if, in this case, it's set up falsely.)

Where is the next step of proof with the 'pea'? Why is it girls in tales always have to provide the pudding whereas men just get to eat it?

In The Real Princess, the bedraggled girl is immediately assumed to be falsifying her identity, to be common, and must prove she is royal - at physical cost to herself. In Lord For A Day, the ruse is getting a beggar to believe he is rich, then not, then rich again by turns. He is released from this weird torment because he makes the nobleman laugh. Despite being the butt of the joke, he ends up wealthier than he ever was and becomes a part of the noble's household. In The Real Princess, she is "black and blue" before she is accepted to be the person she says, and actually, is - a princess. She is "tamed" before being able to resume her station and be eligible for a new one (royal bride). The man is "freed" before bring raised to his.

Taming of the Shrew by Willy Pogany

Interesting that the Lord For A Day tale/ballad is considered one of the folkloric sources for The Taming of the Shrew. All of the other folktales that this play of Shakespeare's is based on are difficult to read because they are so very cruel; actively, sometimes viciously, stripping a woman of all individuality, autonomy and agency (not dissimilar to what happened to the Real Princess, by some interpretations). Why Lord For A Day, came back around to be used as commentary on suppressing the rights of a potential wife, is worth considering all by itself. The contrast between a man and a woman being raised/accepted in their station, gives great pause for thought, especially as Shakespeare uses a good part of Lord for A Day at the opening of Shrew; a direct set-up for the plot to come.

It's also interesting that most readings of Katherine have her as "feisty" (a word which in essence means the weaker, underdog naturally fights against convention and against the odds), even bawdy, and Hans Andersen's tale of the rain-soaked princess can also be read as feisty and (very) bawdy too.

An interesting note on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew:

Stephen Roy Miller argues that “Shakespeare was not adapting the folktale straightforwardly, but ironically” (1998, 14). He points to the changes that make Petruchio less of a violent ogre than the folktale husband, and concludes that “Shakespeare overwrites the ‘old testament’ of Type 901 with the ‘new testament’ of domestic relations,” a humanist emphasis on eschewing domestic physical abuse (Miller 1998, 14). Shakespeare alters the traditional shrew-taming tale, like and through Katherine (and Petruchio, who is constantly performing as tamer), by following it closely and overenthusiastically, caricaturing it. (Extract from paper by Charlotte Artese 2009, quoting Miller, The Taming of a Shrew: The 1594 Quarto, 1998)

Petruccios Hochzeit (Petruccio's Wedding) by Carl Gehrts

Given the connections between Shrew, Real Princess and the folktale sources for Shrew, and the fact that Shakespeare is generally thought to be running social commentary on old and new relations between men and women by use of parody and exaggeration, it makes us wonder if Andersen was making (subconscious?) reference to this story group Shakespeare's play used in Taming of the Shrew, to do his own form of 'story taming'? Or, was he, in complete contrast, making his own caricature of these still entrenched conventions in society, having his own commentary safely hidden within a 'proper' tale of correctness and the required fragility of noblewomen?

We never made a connection between The Taming of the Shrew and the Princess and the Pea before. Now we cannot disconnect them.

Note: We are currently reading Shakespeare and the Folktale: An Anthology of Stories by Charlotte Artese. We hope to put up a review of the whole anthology soon, but at this moment we can tell you that this is a very interesting read so far and great food for thought. Obviously, Andersen's The Real Princess a.k.a. The Princess and the Pea, was written many years after Shakespeare's time and has no bearing on the Bard's writing. The speculation above came out of reading the book below (and a little further afield) and wondering if Shakespeare, in turn, had an influence on Andersen for the famous mattress tale. The two short extracts below sum up extremely well what we are enjoying about this book and why it's worth a read for people who love fairy tales and folklore - even if you're a little rusty on your Shakespeare.

From Charlotte Artese's Shakespeare and the Folktale: An Anthology Of Stories:

Folktales often served as common ground in Shakespeare’s theater. The playwright and some members of his audience would have read literary versions of a play’s folktale source, and those who could not read might have heard those tales told. In our own culture, when a movie or television show (or short story or novel) adapts a fairy tale, the creator knows the expectations the audience will bring, and the audience knows that the creator knows. The audience waits to see how this version of a well-known story will conform to tradition and how it will vary. Will Red Riding Hood fall in love with the wolf? Will the evil fairy repent and rescue Sleeping Beauty? When we learn the folktale traditions that Shakespeare adapts, we can join this interplay between playwright and audience. 

Belsey+ concludes that the resemblances between Shakespeare’s plays and folk narratives help to explain Shakespeare’s place at the center of the Western literary canon. By absorbing the narrative traditions on which Shakespeare drew, we may peer into the heart of what makes him great: a profound connection to his audiences through the centuries and around the world.

+Catherine Belsey (author of Why Shakespeare? 2007), quoted in Artese's introduction to the volume.

Sensitive Tales As A Metaphor For Living With Conditions and Illness

These beautiful illustrations, by artist, Diana Renjina, are not, as it might first appear, for - or from - a fairy tale, but they illustrate beautifully how unusual tales of sensitivity can bring a different perspective to living with illnesses, particularly those that manifest on the skin. As you can see from the text accompanying the images, the blooming flowers and sprouting greenery symbolize psoriasis, a common, non-contagious skin condition in which the skin gets "rosy" and sometimes scaly or flaky, and can be itchy and even painful. 

Tales that come most quickly to mind are those like The Princess and the Pea, in which the princess bruises easily but also those other tales that feature skin marks and other unusual symptoms when the main character is affected by the elements (from the lightest touch of a petal - perhaps allergies, to moonlight - which could substitute easily for conditions brought on by the environment like asthma). With The Most Sensitive Woman (from Italy) and The Three Delicate Wives of King Virtue-Banner (from India) it's not difficult to extrapolate different medical conditions that might be occurring here. Tales like Donkeyskin and Allerleirauh, in which the maiden hides herself under mud and more, show a physical response to being touched/affected by the world and their various environments. In these cases, the Donkeyskin tale types can illustrate how being abused can bring about conditions of illness, though we won't go into that in this post.

Tales of transformation, too, can bring a new perspective on living with visible diseases. From The Frog King, to Hans My Hedgehog to The Wild Swans, it's clear the transformation is not wanted, is painful and considered ugly, and, sadly, often less than human, so that these poor cursed or affected people have to prove themselves worthy or find a way (usually a difficult, extreme and long-term process) to be cured.

More recently, possibly due to technology such as digital animation and art, it's becoming more common to see fairy tale-type illustrations in which patterns, flowers, plants, frost and other beautiful natural manifestations sprout - literally - from the skin. There's no doubt these images call to mind fairy tales, even if they're not specific and familiar ones we've heard, and whether or not it's intentional, it seems instinctive to parallel the tragic beauty of a natural - yet unusual - physical manifestation of a condition with the (usually) melancholic hero or heroine it's happening too, such as could be described in these images in this post.

When we do not "feel good in our own skin" we cannot help but try to do something about it. Some try to deal with it by using salves, medicines, trying to find a cure. Others try to escape it all together and find ways to cover themselves; we put on costumes, (either by dressing differently than we otherwise would, or literally creating a costume which incorporates - or hides - the condition) or, essentially, a different skin. 

In fairy tales this can happen literally. There is an interesting looking book titled: Fairy Tales and the Social Unconscious: The Hidden Language written by Ravit Raufman, that discusses the idea of how we identify with our skin - and how we look. We have only skimmed it, so cannot speak to the whole work but it has very interesting things to say about the physical manifestations in fairy tales such as Donkeyskin indicating an unhealthy state - whether that's psychologically or (sometimes and) physically.

What we have to wonder is, if we could see some of these diseases as not needing to be 'cured' but more of an unusual condition that manifests under certain circumstances (like stress - which is a trigger for almost everything), would we be more understanding and accepting of people's conditions than we, as society, currently are right now?

Here's an illustration by a different artist, Lynore Avery, showing the youngest brother in The Wild Swans tale-types, having to live with his only partially 'healed' condition. Illustrated like this, with feathers overlapping like scales or unusual skin cells, it seems to underscore the physical issues of the problem and shows the remnants of the 'hidden' curse, but it also hints at a Magic, and, possibly, a potential we haven't yet considered. 

Accepting this about oneself if always easier when others close to you do, and this is where sensitive stories like these could be helpful. While using fairy tales to explore these ideas could be condemned as romanticizing a very real condition, we think it might also bring healing and new understanding, especially for those of us who live with and love their swan princes, just the way they are. Then we might be able to finally accept our own skin and live out our story, happy ending-possibilities and all.

Advertising From the (Unpublished) Vault: Sky Broadband Fairy Tale Commercials & Fairy Tale Times

We don't think we ever posted these from 2010, a few (!) years ago, but they're worth a repeat viewing either way. We like that the theme of change (linked to transformation in fairy tales) is used so inventively. We do remember posting The Boy Who Cried Wolf ad from 2011 though. (You can find that HERE.)

The Princess and the Pea

The Frog Prince

 Little Red Riding Hood

Aladdin

Pretty fun take on fairy tales we think!

We also recently found these Fairy Tale Times pages for Sky Broadband, which we hadn't seen before. Looks like the advertising team had a lot of fun with these! We've included full sizes of each page where available, as the text really is an enjoyable read.

               

           

 We love the variety of tales included here! Kind of makes us wish we could subscribe to a fairy tale newspaper.

CFP: 'So Many Mattresses: Truth, Reality Fiction on a European Bed' (Australia)

The Princess And The Pea' by Louise Montillio

The Australian Fairy Tale Society has just released their Call for Presentations and Papers, for their Annual Conference, and it's not your average fairy tale theme! We're looking forward to seeing what papers and performances are inspired by 'So Many Mattresses' (so many possibilities!) and look forward to seeing how the conference shapes up for June.

Click to enlarge:

The conference will be held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on June 24, 2017. Deadline for proposals is January 27th, 2017, at 5pm AEST.

UNICEF is "Giving Tales" To Help Children Around the World (With Some Help From Celebrity Friends)

Hans Christian Andersen's stories are getting retold to help children, with a little help from UNICEF and their celebrity friends. The project is called GivingTales.

Have a look at the neat behind-the-scenes promo video:

From LookToTheStars (emphasis in bold and underlined, is mine):

Developed in association with Sir Roger Moore, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, GivingTales features the voice talents of world-renowned actors including Ewan McGregor, Unicef UK Ambassador, Stephen Fry, and Dame Joan Collins. Hans Christian Andersen’s timeless fairy tales have now been modernised, condensed and paired with vivid illustrations that capture the universal and timeless life lessons synonymous with Andersen’s stories.

“I’ve been a long time admirer of Hans Christian Andersen’s work, and I think it’s a wonderful collection of fairy stories for children and adults alike,” said Sir Roger Moore.

..Three additional stories are available in the first series: The Emperor’s New Clothes (Dame Joan Collins, DBE), The Little Match Girl (Ewan McGregor, OBE) and The Ugly Duckling (Stephen Fry). 

Today’s children are increasingly accustomed to consuming content in one short sitting. While paper books may be giving way to digital versions, classic fairy tales never grow old. There’s a big need to adapt traditional stories into shorter, animated versions, so they can captivate and inspire another generation of young readers.

“Taking care not to lose the essence of what makes Hans Christian Andersen’s stories so great, GivingTales has condensed the stories down so they can be enjoyed in minutes, not hours. Using the voices of renowned actors gives them new life in a memorable and entertaining way,” Jacob Moller, CEO of GivingTales. 

“We’re overwhelmed by the initial support we’ve received, both from the celebrities affiliated with our project, as well as our ongoing relationship with the Unicef UK. Together, we hope to make a difference in the lives of many of children around the world,” said Klaus Lovgreen, Chairman, GivingTales.

These newly retold and illustrated/animated stories have been developed by an award winning team that creates digital entertainment content, by making apps for Apple's App Store and GooglePlay. The first stories are becoming available this weekend (the first with Roger Moore as the narrator, retelling The Princess & the Pea, is free), with more stories and content to come in future weeks and months.

As part of the company’s mission to educate and support children, GivingTales kft is committing 30% of its revenue to Unicef UK to help children around the world.

Princess Apocalypse On the Horizon (New Toy Line For Girls Who Like Princesses AND Zombies)

This hasn't been on my radar at all and I didn't pick up any note of it around ComicCon time either BUT prepare to see some new fairy tale dolls - with an undead difference - entering stores in the near future: from the toy company that brought you Angry Birds, meet the princesses of Once Upon A Zombie. (Aimed at girls aged 6+ yrs.)

Initially released in Brazil (and received with great enthusiasm!) these dolls  - and corresponding game - are designed for little girls who love princesses but also love monsters, or more specifically, zombies. It's Monster High meets Ever After High.

Rather than talk about them at length I'll just show you the marketing and a bunch of released images as well as an introductory video. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know.

The marketing in the US appeared to begin at SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) this year, with cos-players carrying the dolls and posing them in various locations for photo ops, as well as a booth display.

I have no doubt there's a market for these. I kept seeing little girls  - 5, 6, 7 years old in the store around school supply buying time, preferring Monster High backpacks and folders to Barbie products, much to the chagrin of their suburbanely-coiffed* mothers (I fully admit to giving these kids a thumbs-way-up behind their parent's backs when I see this happen). The only problem is the quality of the doll design isn't quite up to Mattel's standard so they may seem like a poor substitute.

While they're clearly taking their cue from Disney movies as to which zombie heroine to do next, we may see some surprises. Here are some teased designs from their Facebook page:

They've even started designing some male zombies for the princesses to have adventures with.

I will admit, my reaction on seeing these was "you've GOT to be kidding" which quickly turned into "Well I can understand Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid being turned into zombies but why the others?" which goes to show you I may think about these things a little differently to most others... Heh. My six year old on the other hand: "Once Upon A Zombie? That's funny. They definitely need a zombie Big Bad Wolf..."

While it's most definitely news-of-the-weird** for fairy tales, it's interesting to see the current fascination in pop culture with zombies trickle down to kids - and include fairy tales in the process. Although Disney princesses have been getting the zombie treatment on mass in illustration (especially deviantArt) and on Tumblr for a little while now, and little boys have had their corresponding zombie toys and games since Plants vs Zombies took off in popularity (and won Game of the Year), this is the first overtly undead toy line for girls we've seen.

There are currently six dolls available for order and more coming. No word yet on when they will be hitting stores (ToysRUs, Target, Walmart, Walgreens for starters) but we can expect: a game, story books, notebooks, stationery, backpacks, trading cards, dress-up costumes for Halloween and probably more. If you can't wait you can download the "zombiecam" app and zombie your princess-self to share with your friends...


(If there were ever a time for Pixar  - and other companies - to get moving on their as-yet-untitled Day of the Dead movies, this would be it.)

* "suburbanely-coiffed" - I should copyright that...
** This blog has had some truly odd content recently!  I blame it on the news. And society. What can I say? I'm just telling it like it is.

Fairy Tale Chambers by Ontwerpduo

I really like this take on a fairy tale themed room; something practical and functional without feeling like you've stepped into someone's outdated (and too young for the occupant) princess bedroom. 

The design was a private client commission by a company called "Ontwerpduo" and, looking at their portfolio it's clear they like playing with design and taking some out-of-the-box risks without over saturating people in the concepts.  I really like the simple sophistication and nod to the natural as well as the magical.

Here's how it developed (from the website):

Once upon a time we were asked to design a room in an extraordinary house. A 16th century mansion in a beautiful garden with a long history made us feel like we stepped into a fairy tale. No wonder this became the theme for the design. 

For this room we designed 10 pieces all based on different fairy tales, or themes from fairy tales, such as: the secret room, genie in a bottle, princess on the pea, sleeping beauty, etc.

(You must admit, the photo shoot for this is gorgeous!)

Using some of the same ideas but transplanted to a public place, here are some images from their Room 407 design for the Dutch Lloyd hotel in Amsterdam:

Room 407, a monumental room, which we organized with our newest designs. All designs are based on different fairy tales. The ceiling light and the curtains are overgrowing the room, like the roses overgrew the castle in ‘Sleeping Beauty’. You can also find ‘The princess and the pea’, The ghost in the glass’, Little red riding hood’ and ‘The twelve brothers’ in the room.

From the "What It Is, What It Isn't" design set, inspired by Alice in Wonderland (the website even quotes Carroll's text to set the scene). I do believe that the "viewer" actually makes the furniture look "normal". Although this isn't the first set of melted/ warped through-the-looking-glass furniture I've seen it is the first trying to incorporate the back and forth of traveling through the glass and back again. Very interesting ideas:

Objects are how we perceive them to be. Our minds make things what they are and for us this is reality. Think of a branch hanging in the water. We see, with the refraction of light, the branch under the waterline in a different angle. But we know that in reality the shape of this branch is different. We learned how to see the world. 

What if there was an instrument which would change the world into something that we find strange? And better, what if this instrument can also change it back?

I really like the way these people think. They love to play and also have a lot of child-focused designs, meaning the designs are fun for kids but functional and practical (and chic looking) for adults. combining their sense of play with enchantment they dreamed up a lighting system called Light Forest, which you can make grow over walls and ceilings in any way you desire.

Light forest is a wall and ceiling lighting system. The possibilities are unlimited. The design consists out of different parts, which can de connected to the wall and ceiling. Step by step the lighting system will "grow" across the space.

While the photos look slightly industrial you can see how just a little adaption makes for a fantastic addition to a fairy tale chamber. (See bedroom photo above.)

I have to include this tallow candle set for the instant story feel. Such a great combination (and remind me of a number of fairy tales for some reason...)

I recommend also looking through the Garden of Eden indoor/outdoor furniture set photos too.

Original source: HERE and official Ontwerpduo website HERE.