Madame d'Aulnoy

Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy (September 1652 – 14 January 1705), also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French author known for her literary fairy tales. Her 1697 collection Les Contes des Fées (Fairy Tales) coined the literary genre's name and included the first story to feature "Prince Charmant" or Prince Charming. She is considered to have been a member of les conteuses group of French female authors.

Biography

Early life and marriage D'Aulnoy was born in Barneville-la-Bertran, in Normandy, as a member of the noble family of Le Jumel de Barneville. She was the niece of Marie Bruneau des Loges, the friend of François de Malherbe and of Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac. In 1666, she was given at the age of fifteen (by her father) in an arranged marriage to a Parisian thirty years older—François de la Motte, Baron d'Aulnoy, of the household of the Duke of Vendôme. The baron was a freethinker and a known gambler.

Political scandal and exile In 1669, the Baron d'Aulnoy was accused of treason (speaking out against imposed taxes by the King) by two men who may have been the lovers of Mme d'Aulnoy (aged nineteen) and her mother, who by a second marriage was the Marchioness de Gadagne.

Scholars Jack Zipes and David Blamires suggest that, due to the high number of similarities of Mme d'Aulnoy's literary work with recognizable folkloric material, she must have been acquainted with the oral tradition or their literary reworking during her time. In addition, according to Jacques Barchilon and Marc Soriano, d'Aulnoy's literary fairy tale works can be classified under some popular tale types of the international index of folktale classification, such as "The Animal Bride" and "Animal as Bridegroom" tale types.

Issue Madame d'Aulnoy had six children, two of whom were born after she became estranged from her husband, although they bore his name: Marie-Angélique (26 January 1667, died young, probably before November 1669 ) Dominique-César, her only son (23 November 1667, died young) Marie-Anne, Dame de Barneville (27 October 1668 – before 1726 ); she married on 29 November 1685 Claude-Denis de Héère (1658 – before June 1711 Luisa Maria Pucci; she was the first wife of Francesco Guicciardini. Thérèse-Aimée (13 October 1676 – after 1726 The Benevolent Frog or The Frog and the Lion Fairy (La Grenouille bienfaisante) The Hind in the Wood or The White Doe (La Biche au bois) The White Cat (La Chatte Blanche) Belle-Belle (Belle-Belle ou Le Chevalier Fortuné) The Pigeon and the Dove (Le Pigeon et la Colombe) Princess Belle-Etoile (La Princesse Belle-Étoile) Prince Marcassin (Le Prince Marcassin) The Dolphin (Le Dauphin)