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Bettelheim Fear Of Fantasy

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Bettelheim Fear Of Fantasy
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Concerning Copyright Restrictions
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This policy is in effect for the following document:
Bettelheim, Bruno.
Fear of Fantasy; Hansel and Gretel; The Jealous Queen in 'Snow White' and the Myth of Oedipus;
Snow White / from The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, NY:
Vintage Books, 1975. pp. 116-123; 159-66; 194-99; 199-215.
Selection falls within Fair Use for Winter 2004 ONLY.

Fear of Fantasy

Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and
Importance of Fairy Tales (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976).
This document may contain typographical errors due to the text conversion process used in scanning.

FEAR O F FANTASY
WHY W E R E FAIRY TALES OUTLAWED?

Why do many intelligent, well-meaning, modern, middle-class parents, so concerned about the happy development of their children, discount the value of fairy tales and deprive their children of what hese stories have to offer? Even our Victorian ancestors, despite their emphasis on moral discipline and their stodgy way of life, not only permitted but encouraged their children to enjoy the fantasy and xcitement of fairy tales. It would be simple to blame such a prohibion of fairy tales on a narrow-minded, uninformed rationalism, but this is not the case.
Some people claim that fairy tales do not render “truthful” pictures of life as it is, and are therefore unhealthy. That “truth” in the
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