Biography of Charles Perrault: childhood and youth
Charles Perrault (1628-1703), now known to all adults and children as the author of “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Puss in Boots”, “Rike with the Tuft”, “Tom Thumb” and other fairy tales, was born more than 390 years ago - in the city of Tournai on January 12, 1628.
They say that at birth the baby screamed so that it could be heard at the other end of the block, announcing to the whole world about his birth. Charles Perrault grew up in a wealthy, educated family. Charles Pierrot's grandfather was a wealthy merchant in Turin. Charles's father, Pierre Pierrot, received an excellent education and was a lawyer in the Parisian parliament. Charles Perrault's mother came from a noble family. As a child, Charles Perrault lived for a long time on his mother’s estate - in the village of Viry, from where the images of his “village” fairy tales may have originated.
The family had many children. Charles had five brothers. One brother, François, Charles’s twin, died before he was a year old. Researchers in the biography of Charles Perrault claim that his shadow haunted Charles throughout his life and greatly disturbed him in childhood. That was until Charles made friends in college with the boy Borin, who helped “lift Francois’s spell” and became his true friend, about whom they say “you can’t spill water” and actually replaced his departed twin brother. After this, Charles became more confident and more successful in his studies.
The four Pierrot brothers, like Charles Pierrot, would become worthy people in the future and occupy important positions - Jean would become a lawyer, Pierre would become a tax collector in Paris, Claude was admitted to the Academy of Sciences, became an architect, built the Paris Observatory and the Louvre colonnade, created decorations for the Versailles Cathedral, studied medicine - Nicolas wanted to become a professor at the Sorbonne, but did not have time, since he lived only 38 years. He taught theology.
All Pierrot brothers, including Charles, graduated from Beauvais College. Charles Perrault entered this college at the age of 8 and graduated from the Faculty of Arts. There are different opinions about how young Charles studied. And all these opinions are very contradictory. Some say that he studied very poorly, others that he was a brilliant student. Are there any facts? Yes, I have. It is known that in the early years Charles Perrault did not shine with success in his studies, but then everything changed dramatically when he became friends with a boy named Borain. This friendship had a very positive influence on Charles, he became one of the best students and, together with his friend, developed his own system of classes - such that he even surpassed the program in history, Latin and French.
In those years, literature was just a hobby for a young college student, Charles Perrault. During his first year at college, he began composing his first poems, poems and comedies. His brothers composed literary works. The Perrault brothers communicated with the leading writers of the time (Chanlin, Moliere, Corneille, Boileau) in the then fashionable salons and introduced him to the best writers of that time.
Childhood
The famous author of fairy tales was born in 1628, in Tournai.
They said that immediately after birth the baby screamed so loudly that it could be heard even in neighboring houses. Thus, young Charles announced to people that he had been born. Everyone knows him from such popular fairy tales as “Puss in Boots” and “Little Red Riding Hood”. The boy grew up in an educated family of wealthy people. His grandfather was once reputed to be the richest merchant in the city. Father Pierre worked successfully in the legal profession. The mother was a noblewoman from a noble family. Throughout his childhood, the boy stayed with his mother on an estate called Viri. It was precisely this rural area that prompted him to write world-famous fairy tales.
Charles had many brothers, as many as five. True, one of them died and could not live to see a year. At that time it was difficult to obtain medications, and children sometimes died from the common cold. The scientists who conducted the research learned detailed facts. It turns out that at a young age Charles was haunted by the image of his brother, in the form of a shadow. Most likely, the boy already had a rich imagination and was born impressionable. Because soon after meeting Boren, the vision immediately disappeared. The boys decided to perform some kind of ritual to “exorcise the ghost.” Charles was very grateful to his new comrade, and they became friends. The children played together all their free time. The teachers said that they could not live without each other. Boren helped Charles get rid of sad memories of his dead brother. By the way, a little later the fact was revealed that the deceased boy was Charles’ twin. No wonder they say that there is some connection between them. Apparently it was not for nothing that Charles saw the ghost of his brother.
Biography of Charles Perrault: adult years
Charles Perrault, at the insistence of his father, first worked as a lawyer, and then went to work for his brother, in his department as a tax collector. He diligently pursued his career, and did not even think about literature as a serious occupation. He became rich, strong, influential. He became an adviser to the king and the chief inspector of buildings, headed the Committee of Writers and the department of the Glory of the King (this was the department, now it would probably be called the “king’s PR department” at that time :)).
At the age of 44, Charles married young Marie Pichon, she was 18 years old at the time. They had 4 children. There are different opinions about Charles’s family life, and again contradictory ones. Some biographers of Charles write about his tender love for his wife and family, others have the opposite opinion. They did not live a long family life - only six years. Charles Pierrot's wife died quite early - at the age of 24 - from smallpox. At that time it was impossible to cure this disease. After this, Charles Perrault raised his children himself - three sons - and never married again.
Personal life
Charles Perrault married quite late, at 44 years old. His chosen one was a young, 19-year-old girl, Marie Guchon. They had four children. But the marriage did not last long; Marie died at the age of 25 from smallpox. Charles never remarried and raised his daughter and three sons on his own.
The famous author of fairy tales died on May 16, 1703.
In the Chevreuse Valley, not far from Paris, is the Domain of Puss in Boots, the castle-museum of Charles Perrault, where wax figures of characters from his fairy tales can be found on every corner.
The literary life of Charles Perrault
What kind of era was this - the era of the life of Charles Perrault - in the development of French literature and the cultural life of this country? She is well known to us from Dumas' novels. At this time there was a war between England and France. And at the same time there was a flourishing of classicism in French literature. Let's compare the dates: around the same time, Jean-Baptiste Moliere (1622), Jacques La Fontaine (1621), Jean Racine (1639), Pierre Corneille, the father of French tragedy (1606), were born. Around Pierrot, the heyday of literature flourishes - the “golden age” of French classicism. There is no interest in the fairy tale yet and will appear only in a hundred years; the fairy tale is considered a “low” genre, “serious” writers do not pay attention to it at all.
At the end of the 17th century, there was a dispute in literature between the “ancients” and the “new”. The “Ancients” argued that literature had already reached perfection in ancient times. The “new” ones said that modern writers are already discovering and will continue to discover to humanity something completely new in art, previously unknown. Pierrot became the “leader” of the new ones. In 1697 he wrote a four-volume study, The Parallel between the Ancients and the Moderns. What can be contrasted with ancient antiquity? The same ancient folk tale!
Perrault said in his work: “Look around! And you will see that it is possible to enrich the content and form of art without imitating ancient models.” Here are his words about ancient and modern times:
Antiquity, no doubt, is respectable and beautiful, But we are accustomed to prostrate ourselves before it in vain: After all, even the great ancient minds are not inhabitants of heaven, but people, like us. And I will compare the age of Louis with the age of Augustus, without being a boastful person. […] If anyone in our age would decide at least once to throw off the veil of prejudice from his eyes and look into the past with a calm, sober gaze, then alongside perfections he would see many weaknesses - and finally understand that not everything for us is antiquity a model, And no matter how much they tell us about it in schools, In many ways we have long been ahead of the ancients. (Charles Perrault, translation by I. Shafarenko)
Biography of the writer
Perrault was born in Paris in 1628 in the family of a wealthy lawyer. At the age of nine he was sent to the Collège de Beauvais day school. Although he was always first in his class, his school career ended prematurely when he quarreled with his teacher while debating philosophy. Young Perrault left school, never to return! But he was not left alone. One of his friends, a boy named Beurein, supported him and left school with him. Over the next four years, both boys studied together and remained lifelong friends.
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In 1651, Charles received a degree from the University of Orléans. He tried many professions, including medicine, theology and law . He then took a job in the office of his brother Pierre, who was then chief tax commissioner. Work was scarce, and he read books from his brother's extensive library.
Later he returned to writing poetry, which he loved very much as a child. His poems, published anonymously, instantly became so popular that one famous poet even took credit for some of them. Then Perrault considered it necessary to reveal his authorship. But when he learned that the poet had used his poems to impress a young lady, he forgave the fraud.
Later, Perrault turned his attention to architecture. In 1657, he drew up plans for a house for his brother and supervised its construction. The French minister Colbert was so impressed by Charles's work that he took him into charge of the construction of the royal buildings and put him in charge of Versailles, which was then under construction.
Perrault took on this work with enthusiasm, but continued to do other things: he wrote odes in honor of the king, planned projects and even found time to encourage musicians and support the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully. He also worked with his brother Claude to found the Academy of Sciences.
In the second half of the 17th century, a dispute arose between French writers about the advantages of modern writers compared to writers of antiquity. Charles Perrault played an important role in this debate, arguing against the genre and thematic limitations of classical literature.
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His youthful habit of independent thinking drew him into this most famous literary controversy of that era . In one of his poems, Perrault praised the writers of his age, but humiliated the authors of the ancient classics. This led to a huge scandal with writers rushing to attack Perrault, who defended himself with good humor and published his defense in four volumes, Le Parallèle des Anciens et des Modernes (The Parallel of the Ancients and the Moderns). This work was published in 1688-1696. Charles felt great pride in this dry and boring work, which is now completely forgotten.
Charles Perrault as the author of famous children's fairy tales
A mysterious story about the authorship of fairy tales we know
Who wrote “the tales of Charles Perrault”?
“... My stories are even more worthy of being retold than most of the ancient legends... Virtue in them is always rewarded, and vice is punished... All these are seeds thrown into the soil, which at first give rise only to outbursts of joy or attacks of sadness, but later certainly brings to life good inclinations.” Charles Perrault. Introduction to a collection of fairy tales.
Charles Perrault's fairy tales were written as "moral" tales and teaching life lessons. And they were... in verse! How??? You will be surprised... why in verse, since we read Charles Perrault’s fairy tales to children in prose, and not in verse? Let's look into this very mysterious story about what kind of fairy tales Charles Perrault wrote and who wrote them in general.
The history of the creation of Perrault's fairy tales is similar to a detective puzzle, which still does not have a single answer. Since the publication of Charles Perrault's fairy tales in prose (1697), there has still been debate about their authorship.
The only known and generally accepted fact is that the basis of all the plots of Charles Perrault’s fairy tales are well-known folk tales, and not his author’s intention. Perrault created his own literary fairy tale based on them.
There are very different versions about the writing of Charles Perrault's fairy tales
Version 1. Charles Perrault wrote only fairy tales in verse, and the children's fairy tales in prose that we all know were written by his son Pierre.
This is how it was - one of the versions.
The fairy tales of Charles Perrault that we know were included in his collection “Tales of Mother Goose,” which was reprinted several times with changes and additions.
The fourth edition of the collection contained fairy tales in verse (1691 - fairy tales “Griselda”, “Donkey Skin”, “Amusing Desires”). And it was published under the name of Charles Perrault himself.
In the fifth edition of the same collection, “Tales of Mother Goose” (1697), there were five fairy tales in prose: “Sleeping Beauty”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Bluebeard”, “Mr. Cat, or Puss in Boots” and “Sorceresses” . But... there is one very important “but”. All these fairy tales were signed not by Charles Perrault, but by the name of his youngest son as the author of the fairy tales! The author of the fairy tales known to us was stated to be “Pierre d'Armancourt”. He was dedicated to his name in the collection (it was dedicated to the young nephew of Louis XIV, Elizabeth Charlotte of Orleans).
The manuscript of “Tales of Mother Goose”, signed with the initials P.P (Pierre Perrault - son of Charles Perrault), has been preserved. The father knew what he was doing. Pierre presented the manuscript of fairy tales to the princess. And.. very soon Pierre received a noble title. When the collection was published, instead of P.P. it already included the authorship of “Pierre d'Armancourt”.
A year later, “Fairy Tales of Mother Goose” was re-released once again and three more new fairy tales appeared in them: “Cinderella, or the Shoe Trimmed with Fur,” “Ricke with the Tuft,” and “A Boy About Thumb.” The stories were selling out. And their author, Pierre Perrault, became famous.
But the situation changed dramatically in a tragic direction. Pierre, the son of Charles Perrault, killed a man, a neighbor's guy, with a sword in a fight. For this he was arrested. Charles Perrault managed to buy his son out of prison and send him as a lieutenant to the army, where he died in battle. And three years later, Charles Perrault himself died.
For another twenty years the book was published under the name of Perrault's son - the author on the cover was listed as Pierre Perrault d'Armancourt. And after that, another name appeared on the cover of fairy tales in prose - Charles Perrault, since he was a much more significant figure in the life of the state and French literature. After this, fairy tales in prose and fairy tales in verse were combined into one collection, “Tales of Mother Goose,” and began to be published under the same name of the author - Charles Perrault.
Thus, fairy tales about Cinderella, Puss in Boots and Little Red Riding Hood are still published in collections called “Tales of Mother Goose, or Stories and Tales of Bygone Times with Teachings” by Charles Perrault.
During his lifetime, Charles Perrault never claimed to be the author of fairy tales in prose; his son was considered their author. And even in his autobiography, he did not mention a word about the authorship of fairy tales in prose and never once in his life did he put his signature on them.
Version 2. Traditional version. Charles Perrault deliberately hid his authorship and presented his son as the author of fairy tales, since fairy tales were not then considered a serious activity for a “real writer.”
In 1697, Charles Perrault published the collection “Tales of Mother Goose” under the name of his son and on the cover of the collection Pierre Perrault d'Armancourt is listed as the author. The collection includes eight fairy tales: “Sleeping Beauty”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Bluebeard”, “Puss in Boots”, “Fairies”, “Cinderella”, “Rike with the Tuft”, “Tom Thumb”. In subsequent editions, the collection was replenished with three more fairy tales: “Funny Desires” (in other translations – “Funny Desires”), “Donkey Skin”, “Griselda”.
The dedication in the book was as follows (written on behalf of the son of Charles Perrault as the author of fairy tales): “Your Highness. Probably no one will find it strange that a child would come up with the idea of composing the fairy tales that make up this collection; however, everyone will be surprised that he had the courage to offer them to you.” Indeed, what is prohibited for an adult is forgivable for a child or youth.
The proof of this point of view is that, in particular, the fairy tales reflect the life impressions of Charles Perrault, and not his son. It is considered a known fact that the Sleeping Beauty Castle is the famous Castle of Ussay on the Loire. Now it houses the Charles Perrault Museum with wax figures of his fairy-tale characters. Charles Perrault first saw this castle when he was intendant of royal buildings. At that time, the castle was already in disrepair, in dense thickets, above which towered crenellated towers - exactly as it was described in the fairy tale by Charles Perrault.
And also as proof is the fact that fairy tales end with poems - moral teachings that a child or young man would hardly write.
Charles Perrault was the first European writer who took it upon himself to introduce the “low genre” of fairy tales into the circle of classical literature.” And that is why Charles had to hide his name in the authorship of the collection with the popular title “Tales of Mother Goose.” After all, at that time he became an innovator, and innovation was not always safe and was not always encouraged.
The traditional version is convincingly proven by French literary scholars of the 20th and 21st centuries, in particular Marc Soriano. And also in literature textbooks.
Version 3. Young Pierre Perrault wrote down folk tales, and his father Charles Perrault seriously edited them. Or perhaps Charles Perrault composed these tales for his son when he was little and later simply wrote them down in his name.
According to this version, every evening Charles Perrault told his children fairy tales that he remembered from childhood. Then there were not enough stories, and he began to collect them from servants, cooks, and maids, which greatly amused them, because fairy tales were not considered something serious then. His passion for fairy tales was also inherited by his youngest son, Pierre. The boy started a notebook in which he wrote down all the magical stories he heard from his father and other people. It was this notebook that became the basis for our favorite fairy tales in prose, created in the co-creation of father Charles Perrault and his youngest son.
Whatever the case and whoever composed the fairy tales, it is generally accepted that it was Charles Perrault who first introduced the folk tale into noble society. And he became the founder of a whole trend - literary fairy tales for children.
And who was the true author of “Cinderella” or “Puss in Boots” - Charles Perrault himself or his youngest son - will probably remain a mystery. I adhere to the traditional point of view (version 2) and therefore call the author of the fairy tales in this article - the name already familiar to all of us - Charles Perrault.
Did Charles Perrault write fairy tales for children?
Very interesting facts of fairy tale history
The collection “Mother Goose Tales” was not intended for children at all; it was written primarily for adults and had adult overtones. Each fairy tale by Charles Perrault ended with a moral lesson in verse. Let's look at what lessons were embedded in some fairy tales.
Little Red Riding Hood
For example, now many fairy tale therapists are arguing about the fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood and the meanings inherent in it. But Charles Perrault himself revealed the meaning in his poetic afterword to the fairy tale. Here it is:
It is not without reason that little children (And especially girls, beauties and spoiled girls), meeting all kinds of men on the way, cannot listen to insidious speeches, - Otherwise, the wolf may eat them. I said: wolf! There are countless wolves, But among them there are other Tricksters, so savvy, That, sweetly exuding flattery, They guard the honor of the maidens, Accompany them on their walks home, Guide them bye-bye through dark corners... But the wolf, alas, the more modest he seems, The more modest he is always craftier and scarier!
In Charles Perrault's fairy tale, the hunters do not come and save Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother! There are no hunters at all in the plot of his tale. And in the folk tale and in the same story from the Brothers Grimm, hunters exist and save Little Riding Hood and her grandmother.
Why is there such a difference in the plot of the fairy tale? It is explained very simply. Charles Perrault wrote a fairy tale for frivolous adult girls, wanting to warn them, and not for children at all! The fairy tale was intended for ladies of secular salons - “especially slender and beautiful girls” and was supposed to warn naive girls from insidious seducers.
Charles Perrault was convinced that tragedies in a fairy tale are necessary for teaching life (a fairy tale is a lesson in life) and therefore would be so merciless towards our beloved Little Red Riding Hood. After all, life can also be merciless to the “girl”.
Blue Beard
Another fairy tale by Charles Perrault known to all of us is the fairy tale “Bluebeard”. What do you think was the moral of this tale? Did Perrault condemn an evil husband named Bluebeard? Not at all! It is interesting that in the moral to this tale, the author does not talk about the villain - Bluebeard's husband, but about ... the harmfulness of female curiosity!
Here's the moral of the story:
A woman's passion for immodest secrets is funny; It is known that what came at a price will instantly lose both taste and sweetness.
Puss in Boots
And the moral of the fairy tale “Puss in Boots” in the words of Charles Perrault sounded like this:
And if the miller's son can disturb the Princess's heart, And she looks at him, barely alive, That means youth and joy And without an inheritance will be sweet, And the heart loves, and the head is spinning.
This means that neither life nor a fairy tale is possible without love! If there is love, there will be youth and joy even without an inheritance! Here is such an interesting testament from Charles Perrault.
sleeping Beauty
The afterword with a moral lesson to the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty” sounded like this:
To wait a little for a husband to turn up, Handsome and rich to boot, It’s quite possible and understandable. But for a hundred long years, lying in bed, waiting is so unpleasant for ladies, That not one will be able to sleep. Perhaps, let's bring out the second lesson: Often the links of the bonds that Hymen knits, While scattered, are both sweeter and more tender, So waiting is luck, not torment. But the gentle sex with such fire confirms its symbol of the marriage faith, That to sow a hell of doubts in it We do not have enough gloomy anger.
Patience, female patience as a female virtue that will be rewarded - it turns out that this is what is important in this fairy tale!
How Charles Perrault's fairy tales came to Russia
Translated into Russian, Charles Perrault's fairy tales were first published in 1768 in a collection entitled “Tales of Wizards with Moral Teachings.” Later, the fairy tale “Puss in Boots” was translated into verse by V. A. Zhukovsky. He also wrote The Sleeping Princess.
And in 1867, a collection of fairy tales by Charles Perrault was published with a foreword by I. S. Turgenev and without poetic moral teachings at the end of the tales, with illustrations by G. Doré. Translation by I.S. Turgenev helped fairy tales gain popularity in Russia. But then fairy tales were called differently. For example, instead of “Cinderella” the title of the fairy tale was “Zamarashka”.
This is a collection of 1867 translated by I.S. Turgenev with illustrations by G. Doré has now been republished by the Snow publishing house. It preserves the plots of Charles Perrault without further processing.
“Despite their somewhat scrupulous Old French grace, Perrault's fairy tales deserve an honorable place in children's literature. They are cheerful, entertaining, relaxed..., they still feel the influence of folk poetry that once created them; they contain precisely that mixture of the incomprehensibly miraculous and the everyday-simple, the sublime and the funny, which constitutes the hallmark of real fairy-tale fiction.” I.S. Turgenev. From the preface to the collection of fairy tales
After the publication of Charles Perrault’s fairy tales based on them, the lyrical-comic opera “Cinderella” by Rossini, and the ballet “Cinderella” by Sergei Prokofiev, and the play for children “Cinderella” by Evgeniy Schwartz (the famous film for children “Cinderella” was based on the script of the play) appeared in Russia. .
https://rodnaya-tropinka.ru/sharl-perro-biografiya-i-skazki-dlya-detej/
