350 years ago in Paris, Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy retired from espionage and formed a Fairy Tale Resistance. Her team of women wrote over 70 fairy tales, each with hidden critiques of patriarchy and gender roles. We now know their stories as Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, and more. But in their original versions, strong women saved themselves.
So how did the Brothers Grimm get it so spectacularly wrong?
Professor Jane Harrington unearths the story of Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, whose real life was wilder than any fairy tale.
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image courtesy of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association
Jane Harrington teaches wordcraft and fairy tale studies at W&L University and in the graduate
program at Hollins University. Her research and writing passions include the 17th-century
French salon writers who shaped the fairy tale tradition, Irish lore and history (with a focus on
Lady Wilde and the Great Hunger), and the ecology and culture of the US Appalachian region
she calls home. Jane’s short fiction, creative nonfiction, and essays have been published widely,
and her indie novel In Circling Flight (2022) was the winner of the Brighthorse Book Prize and
longlisted for the Crook’s Corner Book Prize. Her latest book, Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance: The Forgotten Founding Mothers of the Fairy Tale and the Stories That They
Spun (Black Dog and Leventhal 2025), received a starred review from Library Journal and is
described by ALA’s Booklist as “perfect for readers drawn to feminist literary history, narrative
reclamation, or the enduring influence of myth.” It is an American Booksellers Association
Indiebound Nonfiction bestseller, and is currently a finalist for the Library of Virginia’s People’s
Choice Literary Award. IG: @mejaneh FB: @janefharrington BS: @janeharrington.bsky.social
Music featured in this episode includes:
“None Shall Plunder,” “Blew Cap,” and “Parthenia” performed by Philip Serna, composed by Wm. Lawes 1651; “FairyTale Waltz,” “Pooka,” and “Arcadia” by Kevin MacLeod; “Magical Forest,” “Spying in the 60’s” by Sir Cubworth; “Dark Elves” by Jimena Contreras; “The Palace Gardens” by Asher Fulero; “Toy Piano” by Wayne Jones; “A Baroque Letter,” and “In the Temple Garden” by Aaron Kenny
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