SOURCE: Hubert, Renée Riese. “Poetic Humor in Madame d'Aulnoy's Fairy Tales.” L'Esprit Createur 3, no. 3 (fall 1963): 123-29.

In the following essay, Hubert discusses d'Aulnoy's use of humor in her fairy tales, including humor directed toward the genre itself.

Perrault, the famous author of Ma Mère l'Oye, so skillfully imitated the apparent simplicity of folklore that the underlying sophistication of his tales can easily be overlooked. Perrault's aristocratic contemporaries, Mme d'Aulnoy, Mme Murat, Mlle de La Force do not even require the services of an imaginary homespun narrator. They show fondness for detailed descriptions and contempt for straight storytelling. Magic usually plays a decisive part in their tales, and none of the characters manage to display the human ingenuity and resourcefulness of a Petit Poucet or a Riquet à la Houpe. Whereas Perrault never completely lost sight of reality, many of his feminine counterparts maintained a close connection with...