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Princes, Beasts, or Royal Pains: Men and Masculinity in the Revisionist Fairy Tales of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
- Marvels & Tales
- Wayne State University Press
- Volume 20, Number 1, 2006
- pp. 30-46
- 10.1353/mat.2006.0006
- Article
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It is illustrated that the stories of late-nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century American author Mary E. Wilkins Freeman contain much more than implied by the "regional realism" and "proto-feminist" labels so often applied to them. Freeman's strong use of fairy-tale themes and tropes is examined in selected short stories. Special attention is given to tropes of masculinity and Freeman's interaction with them in her role as fairy-tale revisionist to illustrate that Freeman's understanding of masculinity matches current critical notions and is much more complex than has been considered to date.