Tales of Mother Goose

Histoires ou contes du temps passé or Les Contes de ma Mère l'Oye (Stories or Fairy Tales from Past Times with Morals or Mother Goose Tales) is a collection of literary fairy tales written by Charles Perrault, published in Paris in 1697. The work became popular because it was written at a time when fairy tales were fashionable amongst aristocrats in Parisian literary salons. Perrault wrote the work when he retired from court as secretary to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister to Louis XIV of France. Colbert's death may have forced Perrault's retirement, at which point he turned to writing. Scholars have debated as the origin of his tales and whether they are original literary fairy tales modified from commonly known stories, or based on stories written by earlier medieval writers such as Boccaccio.

Elaborate embellishments were a preferred style at the French court. The simple plots Perrault started with were modified, the language enhanced, and rewritten for an audience of aristocratic and noble courtiers. Thematically, the stories support Perrault's belief that the nobility is superior to the peasant class, and many of the stories show an adherence to Catholic beliefs, such as those in which a woman undergoes purification from sin and repentance before reintegration into society.

Charles Perrault came from a large, well-known and respected bourgeois family, whose father was a lawyer and member of parliament. As a young man, Perrault began writing, receiving royal attention for a series of honorary poems written for Louis XIV of France in 1660, which may have been the catalyst for his two-decade post as secretary to Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Perrault established and administered academies for arts such as the Académie de peinture et de sculpture (Academy of painting and sculpture) and the Académie d'architecture (Academy of architecture) during those years, . He retired from public duty and returned to writing on the death of Colbert.

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