Perrault Fairy Tales - The Story of Charles Perrault

Who was Charles Perrault?

Charles Perrault (French: [ʃaʁl pɛʁo]; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known of his tales include Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), Cendrillon (Cinderella), Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots), La Belle au bois dormant (The Sleeping Beauty), and Barbe bleue (Bluebeard). Some of Perrault's versions of old stories may have influenced the German versions published by the Brothers Grimm more than 100 years later. The stories continue to be printed and have been adapted to opera, ballet (such as Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty), theatre, and film. Perrault was an influential figure in the 17th-century French literary scene, and was the leader of the Modern faction during the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns.

Born	12 January 1628 Paris, France
Died	16 May 1703 (aged 75) Paris, France
Genre	fairy tale

Charles Perrault: The Modern Fairytale's Fairy Godfather

Perrault was born in Paris in 1628, and was a lawyer before turning his hand to the written word. 

While the Brothers Grimm are widely credited with creating the fairy tale as we know it, Perrault actually wrote stories called Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, La Belle au bois dormant and Cendrillon a full 200 years before.

In 1695, aged 67, he wrote Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals, a series of moral tales designed to prompt the reader to reflect on the dilemmas presented to the protagonist, which were well-known from folklore even then.

The volume contained the story now known as Mother Goose, alongside perrenially recognised titles such as Puss in Boots, Blue Beard and Cinderella, and less famous stories Ricky of the Tuft and Little Thumb. Puss in Boots Google Doodle The book was enormously successful, and was eventually translated into English in 1729 by Robert Samber. However, readers may be shocked to discover that Perrault's original tales have lost much of their grisly detail today.

His version of Little Red Riding Hood, for example, made it more explicitly obvious that the 'wolf' is a man intent on preying on young girls who wander alone in woods.

Charles Perrault | French author

"From this story one learns that children, especially young lasses, pretty, courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers, And it is not an unheard thing if the Wolf is thereby provided with his dinner," he wrote.


"I say Wolf, for all wolves are not of the same sort; there is one kind with an amenable disposition – neither noisy, nor hateful, nor angry, but tame, obliging and gentle, following the young maids in the streets, even into their homes. Alas! Who does not know that these gentle wolves are of all such creatures the most dangerous!"

Stories or Tales from Times Past

1. La belle au bois dormant (The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood)
2. Le petit chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood)
3. La Barbe bleüe (Blue Beard)
4. Le Maistre Chat, ou le Chat Botté (The Master Cat; or, Puss in Boots)
5. Les Fées (The Fairies)
6. Cendrillon, ou la petite pantoufle de verre (Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper)
7. Riquet à la Houppe (Ricky of the Tuft) Le petit Pouçet (Little Thumb)

Sleeping Beauty

The version of Sleeping Beauty we know now is a combination of a tale by Perrault (which in turn was based on older stories dating back to the 14th century) and the Grimm Brothers's Briar Rose, which was an oral version of Perrault's.