About
Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy, was born around 1650 in Normandy. Married at fifteen to a man thirty years her senior, she fled France in 1669 after a failed plot. She traveled in Spain, England, and the Netherlands before returning to Paris around 1690, where she hosted a literary salon. She coined the term 'fairy tales' and published the first literary fairy tale, The Island of Happiness (1690), seven years before Perrault. Her collections Tales of the Fairies (1697) and New Tales (1698) feature independent heroines and critique forced marriage. She also wrote memoirs, travel narratives, and historical novels.
* 1652-01-01 — † 1705-01-14
Major works
- L'Île de la Félicité (1690)fairy tale
- Les Contes des Fées (1697)fairy tale collection
- Contes Nouveaux, ou Les Fées à la Mode (1698)fairy tale collection
- Mémoires de la cour d'Espagne (1690)memoirs
- Relation du voyage d'Espagne (1691)travel narrative
Key milestones
- 1669Implicated in a plot against her husband, she fled France.
- 1690Back in Paris, she published The Island of Happiness, the first literary fairy tale.
- 1697Publication of Tales of the Fairies, which popularized the genre.
Themes
forced marriagefemale independencethe marveloussocial critiquecourtly love
Sources: britannica.com · oxfordreference.com