Twisted Kingdom

Okay, like I needed to add another book to the collection, but I got Don't Bet on the Prince by Jake Zipes in the mail the other day, and decided why not just add it in. So, now, I have been trying to read at least one fairy tale per night. The other night at work, I managed to read one from each book. I tried that again last night, but I only got one fairy tale read, and it was from Don't Bet on the Prince. I think, though, that this evens things out. While I am reading books put together by three men and only one by a woman, the Jack Zipes one is about "Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England".

Don't Bet on the Prince
The Princess That Stood on Her Own Two Feet
by Jeanne Desy
This fairy tale takes a spin on the common ideas held in fairy tales that princesses are meant to be shorter than the prince, only speak when spoken to, and behave in a very lady-like fashion. The princess in this story has had a very hard time finding a man to marry her, so when she finds a possible choice, she does everything she can to get him to marry her. But, she learns an important lesson in this story, because there really is only one thing in the world that loves her for who she is, and it takes a loss for her to understand what she is giving up for what she thinks is love.

Prince Amilec
by Tanith Lee
Tanith Lee is actually a very proliferic fantasy author. One of the ones that I would like to read a lot of, so I was happy to see that she was included in this collection. Her short story goes along with the idea that the thing that truly matters might be the think that is right in front of your face. The Prince has come to offer a princess his hand in marriage, but she does not wish to be married and fights him at every turn. He thinks he loves her, though, so he continues to do nearly impossible things in the name of love. He does not do it alone, a witch, that breaks all the witch stereotypes, lends him a hand.

Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters
The Three Sisters and Their Husbands, Three Brothers
I had actually read this folktale before. I am not sure when or where, but it was very familiar to me. It is about three sisters that marry three brothers, obviously. It shows the idea that women are smart, and men are not always as smart as they would like people to think that they are. In the story, the three sisters end up dining with their landlord, he will give free rent for ten years and money to the sister that can embarass their husband the most. You really have to laugh at the things that happen in this tale.

The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
Faithful John
In a way, this is a rather disturbing story. But then, it is the Grimm's, so what else should you expect. In the story, a King dies and leaves his son the crown. On his death bed he asks his faithful servant, John, to look out for the young king. This leads to some problems for John when the prince finds the woman that he intends to marry. John learns that the marriage may not be as simply as they thought, and has to do things that will put his faithfulness to the test.

The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
Little Ida's Flowers
I have always thought that this fairy tale is one of the cutest ones written. It is about the magic of flowers and one little girls kind heart. You see, a man tells young Ida that her flowers look so horrible because they had been out dancing the night before and were tired. Ida believes this man when he tells her that there are balls for flowers all over the kingdom when the humanfolk are not watching. He tells her a wonderful tale of how it all comes to happen, and though she is told not to believe him, she does anyways. In this way, the magic is able to come alive for Ida.