Childish. Naive. Magical. These are usually the first thoughts in people’s minds when they hear the words fairy tale. From growing up on films like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, to playing games based on these concepts, or even reading their darker original texts, fairy tales have shaped numerous lives. But there is so much more to fairy tales than just that. A fairy tale is, essentially, a short story, mostly associated with folklore, relating to magic, fairies, and the supernatural, where protagonists face challenges and battle evil beings. Marie de France’s “Lanval” and Madame d’Aulnoy’s “The Blue Bird” serve as key examples of what a fairy tale is, as well as being perfect reflections of their time and periods– “Lanval” of the Medieval era, and “The Blue Bird” of the pre-Rococo (transitional) period. Through vivid descriptions and the reversal of the set roles characters in fairy tales were intended to play, both works serve the same purpose: to challenge the notion of what a fairy tale should be.

By looking at either work, you’d see a simple fairy tale, but they are both much more than that. At first glance, “Lanval” is the story of the knight Lanval, who serves as part of King Arthur’s famed Round Table, and how he goes from being overlooked by all to being a very important figure in Camelot. Similarly, “The Blue Bird” could initially be read as the story of how Princess Florine surpassed the challenges bestowed upon her by her evil stepmother and stepsister, eventually being reunited with her true love, King Charmant. However, both these stories were crafted to convey deeper meanings.

“Lanval” begins by explaining its protagonist’s predicament in terms of recognition–all the other knights would constantly get gifts and praise, while Lanval was often ignored. One day, Lanval finds himself being led to this Fairy Queen, who’s beauty “surpassed the lily and the rose” (Marie de France 56). Upon meeting him, she promises to not only reward him with gifts and riches, but to love him and grant him happiness without equal, all under the condition that he does not speak of her to anyone. Lanval soon becomes a model for his society and gains the favor of, not only his fellow knights, but of Queen Guinevere as well, who essentially asks Lanval to become her lover. He refuses, honoring his code of chivalry with the king instead. Enraged, the queen accuses Lanval of inappropriately approaching her. To prove his innocence, Lanval must testify in court that the accusation is false and, ultimately, reveals the secret of his Fairy Queen–where the story takes a turn. After a long time in court, where it seemed like he would not be able to prove his innocence, the Fairy Queen shows up, and saves him. In its essence, “Lanval” is a story of love, trust, and honor–the trust that was broken when Lanval exposed his lover, the honor he stood by in his denial of being with the Queen, and the love between him and his fairy, which ultimately saved him.

“The Blue Bird” follows Princess Florine through her journey of character development after years of mistreatment from her stepmother and stepsister. The story’s action takes off when the girls are of age, and King Charmant is introduced to the daughters, falling in love with Princess Florine, regardless of the sabotage from her stepmother. Florine and King Charmant see each other in secret and are discovered. After getting locked in a tower, Florine realizes her love, King Charmant, has been transformed into a bird (because of his refusal to be with her stepsister). King Charmant, as a bird, falls into a trap and gets hurt, believing it was Florine who set him up. The princess, who had no idea of what King Charmant believed, becomes saddened and ill, assuming her love does not want to be with her. Eventually, Florine becomes Queen, and uses her power to first stabilize her kingdom, and then find and save her love. Through magic and her own strength and will, she manages to rescue the king and lives happily ever after. Florine proves, through her personal growth, that valor and strength are not just characteristics of men–this story was made to center around her, and to showcase her capacity to be the hero.

“Lanval” and “The Blue Bird” are clearly products of the eras in which they were written–that is to say, they contain characteristics of the Medieval and pre-Rococo periods. Through its use of rhyme and allusions, “Lanval” very clearly stands out as a Medieval story. Actually, Lanval is a Lais poem–a short, lyrical poem that narrates a story of adventure and romance–which is very characteristic of this era. A great example of this form is in the lines “It was at Pentecost and he gave / rich gifts to his noble and brave / barons and knights of the Round Table,” where Marie de France incorporates the rhyme of “gave” and “brave,” as well as alluding to both the Pentecost (a religious holiday) and the Round Table, part of the medieval myth of King Arthur, which is where this story takes place (55). Similarly, “The Blue Bird” employs vivid descriptions and alliterations to emphasize its pre-Rococo nature, as well as its inspiration from medieval literature. Though this story isn’t exactly a part of the Rococo, it was written in its preceding moments, so aspects like the ornateness and vividness of descriptions are present throughout. For example, in the line “She preferred light morning dresses of taffeta fastened with a few jewels and the finest flowers, which produced an admirable effect when twined with her beautiful hair,” we can see the very detailed and ornate descriptions of Florine and her clothes–the light dresses with taffeta, and the effect produced when the finest flowers were twined with her hair (d’Aulnoy 100). Additionally, d’Aulnoy uses alliteration, as can be seen with “finest flowers” and “fastened…few.” One last thing to note, that distinguishes this story as pre-Rococo, is how it’s clearly resemblant of the Rococo salon culture, where women would, in aristocratic homes, write in their salons, which were designed to entertain and foster intellectual growth. This is evident in the actual length of “The Blue Bird,” because it breaks the standard of how long a fairy tale should be (that is to say, it is much longer, and more thought provoking).

These stories are both perfect examples of, and challenge completely, the set expectation of the fairy-tale, and what it should be. Fairy tales are built to follow a specific structure: first, a hero, usually a man, is introduced. Then, there is a massive problem drawn into the story, usually in the form of an evil character plotting against the kingdom or even the very hero. The protagonist must then face challenges set by the antagonist and prove their valor, leading up to a happy ending, very frequently revolving around some sort of marriage or reunion with their true love, who was in danger somewhere along the mix. This isn’t at all what happens in either of these works. Sure, both have these “knight in shining armor” characters who are supposed to save the damsel in distress, but that isn’t exactly what plays out. In Lanval’s case, he isn’t the quintessential hero until he meets the Fairy Queen, and, around a third into “The Blue Bird,” King Charmant is transformed into a bird, so he loses a lot of the power imposed on him by his title. Additionally, while these tales have the basic set characters of a fairy tale, like the damsel, the knight in shining armor, the antagonist and some magical being, there’s another layer to them. Princess Florine’s evil stepsister has her own fairy godmother, both Lanval and King Charmant are deemed powerless at certain points in time, and both men are saved by their lovers who are the highlighted women of their stories.

These tales present what could be seen as a ‘feminist heroine’—anachronism aside—as the Fairy Queen and Princess Florine are the very reason these stories’ prominent male characters even get the chance to live freely and happily. Lanval’s dependency on the Fairy Queen breaks the standard set by the fairy tale–the knight in shining armor is dependent on the supernatural Fairy Queen, who, powers aside, is a woman. Instead of Lanval, the literal knight, saving his damsel, she takes on the role of knight and saves him. A similar structure is followed by “The Blue Bird,” where Princess, now Queen, Florine takes on that same knight or even “prince charming” role, and saves King Charmant from her stepsister and evil fairy godmother. Florine faces the very challenges a male protagonist would be expected to face, going through countless obstacles just to save her love and proves that she does have the valor and honor that is mainly associated with that “knight in shining armor” figure. Here is where Madame d’Aulnoy’s direct influence from Marie de France is clear: she uses the same type of “plot twist” to propel that pre-feminist ideal of women being fully capable of being the hero.

Overall, these works challenge the notion of what a true fairy tale is, and present a commentary on the importance of women in fiction and even real life. Through the complete reversal of set roles and use of rhyme, alliteration, and vivid imagery, both works rewrite the set definition of fairy tales, and put into question how deep and meaningful they truly can be.

Works Cited