Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folktales by Alison Lurie
"Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folktales" by Alison Lurie is a collection of fifteen folktales that reimagines stories from various cultural and ethnic traditions with a focus on female protagonists. Lurie's goal is to highlight the bravery and intelligence of women, countering the traditional narratives where female characters often play passive roles dependent on male heroes. The tales vary in complexity and are illustrated by Margot Tomes, adding a visual element to the storytelling. Key stories include "Clever Gretchen," where the titular character outsmarts the Devil to help her suitor, and "Manka and the Judge," in which a clever woman aids her husband in his judicial duties. Other notable tales feature themes of courage, kindness to animals, and the importance of emotional intelligence, demonstrating that women can be pivotal figures in their own narratives. While the collection has received both praise and critique regarding its feminist interpretations, it remains a significant contribution to the reevaluation of female roles in folklore, encouraging readers to engage with these stories from a fresh perspective.
Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folktales by Alison Lurie
First published: 1980; illustrated
Subjects: Emotions, family, gender roles, love and romance, and the supernatural
Type of work: Short fiction
Recommended Ages: 10-15
Form and Content
Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folktales is a collection of fifteen folktales from various cultural and ethnic traditions rewritten by Alison Lurie. She selected these tales because each narrates an adventure in which a female protagonist shows her bravery and intelligence. Lurie prefaces the collection with a brief introduction in which she explains her foremost aim: to restore the active nature of girls and women to folktales and to combat the stereotype of passivity and helplessness in most stories, in which the female characters are totally dependent on male heroism to rescue them from situations in which the male characters have placed them. The fifteen stories vary in length and complexity, and each is accompanied by a black-and-white illustration by Margot Tomes done in a simple style.
The title story introduces the theme of ingenuity with the tale of Gretchen, a lord’s daughter whose father will not marry her to anyone he does not judge to be the best horseman in the world. A poor widow’s son attempts to win Gretchen in marriage, but she must intervene and help him in his quest when he makes a pact with the Devil, who is disguised as a wandering stranger. Gretchen recognizes the trick and devises a question for her suitor to ask the Devil that he will not be able to answer after he has helped Hans prove his skills; the Devil must accept his defeat and leave Gretchen and Hans to marry happily.
The second story, “Manka and the Judge,” presents a clever young poor woman who wins the favor of a young judge by solving all the riddles that he likes to pose. They marry, and she evens helps him resolve difficult cases by showing him that feelings and emotions are more valuable than material goods, a lesson that he accepts from her.
“The Black Geese,” the third story, combines Russian folklore of the evil witch Baba Yaga with the virtues of being kind to animals, who help a brave little girl rescue her brother and return home safely. The fourth story, “Mizilca,” is the only one in which a female character actually disguises herself as male in order to overcome animal menaces and outwit all her foes, in ways that her lazier sisters cannot.
Of the remaining stories, “The Mastermaid” and “Molly Whuppie” both show young female characters who accomplish Herculean tasks by outsmarting ogres and beasts to win marriage with young nobles. “The Hand of Glory” is a macabre story of a brave young servant girl who defeats robbers in an inn by overcoming their gruesome black magic. “The Sleeping Prince” is a close relative to “Sleeping Beauty,” with a male sleeper who must be rescued by the bravery and devotion of a young woman. “Gone Is Gone” is a familiar cross-cultural tale in which a peasant couple reverses their household tasks at the wife’s suggestion in order to teach the husband the lesson on how much more difficult her responsibilities are than he cavalierly assumes.
“Tomlin” is a traditional Scottish folktale of an enchanted forest where a brave young woman, who has taken as her lover and the father of her child an elf, helps him break a magic spell that is imprisoning him out of his human form. Virtues are taught in “Mother Holle” in which contrasting stepsisters meet an old woman in what is taken to be Heaven. The good sister returns to life rewarded, while the wicked one is suitably punished and disgraced. Similarly, in “The Baker’s Daughter,” two girls—in this case, twin sisters—reveal contrasting traits of goodness and selfishness. A spirit disguised as a beggar arranges for each to be rewarded or disgraced.
Three of the stories are more complex. “Cap O’Rushes” parallels William Shakespeare’s King Lear closely, with three daughters interrogated by a father as to their measure of love and devotion. The youngest replies in a riddlelike fashion, which is eventually solved when her love is recognized.
“Kate Crackernuts” includes elements of the animal-to-human metamorphosis in the story of royal stepsisters who overcome the jealousy of the queen, who wishes to divide them and favor her own daughter. The girls’ mutual devotion and courage save them both and enable them to marry princes, including one who suffers from a spell very similar to the story of the “Twelve Dancing Princesses.”
“Maid Maleen” is the most complex tale in the volume. A clever young princess overcomes her father’s cruel plans for her marriage by finding a way to marry the prince whom she has always loved. She escapes entombment and defeats an ugly and lazy rival for the prince by her wits and faithfulness.
Critical Context
Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folktales was praised in some reviews and criticized in others. Some critics pointed out that while Alison Lurie challenged the passivity of female characters and tried to show them as actively heroic (unless they were the evil contrasts to the other, good girls and women), she did not go far enough to portray their possible rejection of other stereotypes, such as marriage. Their fulfillment was still dependent on the choice and whim of the male characters, usually princes or other nobles. These critics wondered why Lurie was content with reforming the perceptions and portrayals of the female characters but letting the old images of noble and warlike male characters go unchallenged. In addition, they expressed the desire for a less dogmatic feminist view that did not ignore the possibilities for wise behavior from a male character as well.
Other critics noted that Lurie did not succeed in bridging the gap between important writing for juvenile and adult readers but rather privileged the former and mistakenly assumed that adult writing might not have the same important “subversive” potentials. Moreover, while some critics paid much attention to Lurie’s obvious feminism, others noted that many of the tales were not “forgotten” at all and that many of them had long been accessible and available in other sources. The Horn Book magazine of April, 1980, in particular, documented in detail the common sources of many stories in Lurie’s book, including Womenfolk and Fairy Tales (1975), edited by Rosemary Minard, a third of which are the same tales.
The growing importance of feminist literary criticism in the years since Lurie’s book appeared would indicate that she was among the first to work toward a reevaluation of the portrayal of both children and female characters in some of the most lasting and influential stories that continue to be passed on from generation to generation.
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