Aurelia: Art and Literature Through the Mouth of the Fairy Tale

In this work, author Mavor (art history & visual culture, Univ. of Manchester, UK; Blue Mythologies) draws connections among the stories, themes, and imagery found in fairy tales, nursery rhymes, literature, art, film, and more. Chapters center on a theme or subject (e.g., innocence) often addressed or represented in story (e.g., Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's Paul and Virginia), analyzed and expanded to an in-depth, enriched examination of the topic. An impressive number of references span countries, cultures, and time, employing allegory, linguistics, visuals, history, etc., to support the author's discourse. For example, in her discussion of glass and its association with transformation, vision, and epiphany, she references fairy tales (Cinderella's glass slippers), art (Jonny Briggs's glass Shoe), the natural world (the transformation of sand into glass), and more.