FT+Intro

 Once Upon a Time, fairy tales weren't even meant to be read by kids. 17th century fairy tales featured a lot more fairies than the tales we are so familiar with today and many early fairy tales were actually quite cruel and gruesome. The cruelty found in the orginal fariy tales in part stems from the cruelty and mistreatment the authors of the tales had to endure; many of the tales were created by women who were rebelling against the constraints placed on them by their restrictive society.

 It’s actually quite amazing how most fairy tales have evolved over the years. For example, the original version of "Beauty and the Beast" was published in 1740 by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Vielleneuve. The original was a long and intricate tale, which delved into a lengthy genealogical history of the characters, the reason for the curse, and the "politics" of the fairy world...Not quite the light-hearted tale that Disney Studios so recently fed our minds. Although large numbers of literary fairy tales were written in 17th century, most of the tales, which are still told and retold now, are far older in origin. Many of the stories were edited and changed as they were written down in the 1600's, removing the darker and more gruesome elements of the stories. However, there is still some controversy today on whether they've been "cleaned up" enough! .

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