The Anti-Feminist Aspects of Emma Donoghue’s ‘Feminist Retelling’ of "The Tale of the Rose" Anjali Vallikkat College

Once upon a time, the first fairytales were written down from their folkloric origins, thus giving rise to one of the most popular genres of literature. Ever since then, these fairy tales have been enchanting us and there have been thousands of retellings presenting the original tales in a new light. The women’s liberation movements gave rise to feminist retellings which afford voices to the oppressed female heroines, offering them chances to tell their stories. In “Feminism and Fairy Tales”, Karen Rowe discusses the anti-feminist messages conveyed by most popular fairy tales. Although we expect the modern retellings to be more feminist in nature, many of her arguments referring to passiveness and objectification of heroines still apply to them. Therefore, it is important to consider whether these modern retellings, which appear to endorse gender equality and female rights, could have an underlying patriarchal tone. Madame de Beaumont’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was published in 1756 and it inspired Emma Donoghue’s retelling ‘The Tale of the Rose’ which presents the traditional story of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in a unique manner. Donoghue’s tale follows the budding romance between two women and contains a female Beast instead of a...