Reading Notes: Italian Popular Tales, Part A

Zelinda and the Monster

This story is a lot like Beauty and the Beast that is so popular, except for the addition of "Belle" or Zelinda's sisters, Rosina and Marietta.  Her sisters of jealous of her beauty and kindness, and she is definitely her father's favorite.

The beast has "the figure of a dragon" and of course is furious when the father "steals" a rose and "destroys" his precious rose bush.  This leads to the part where Zelinda ends up a prisoner in the castle.  The beast doesn't really learn any sort of lesson in this version.  The only stipulating is that a beautiful woman must agree to be his wife - she doesn't necessarily have to love him or does he have to learn to love.

It's a lovely tale, but I think it would be fun to add in some different twists.  Perhaps if Zelinda was a boy, Zed, and he had two brothers that envy him through their (still) father adores the youngest boy.  And the beast is a princess who happened to be a brat the day a witch stopped in - now she's a monster, a dragon (I love dragons).

I think I will also have Zed ask for something other than a rose, but I don't know what else he might ask for as of yet.  Compass, maps, swords, and such seem like more adequate requests for young men in this era and society, but I don't know what a softie like Zed would really enjoy.

The Princess-Dragon will be awesome, though.

Image from Pinterest


Story source: Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane (1885).

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