Archetypal Patterns in Fairy Tales

From the author’s Preface:

“This book is a collection of fairy tale interpretations I presented in a series of lectures at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zürich.  I did not want to focus on a specific theme but rather to wander through many countries and types of fairy tales.  I chose some that challenged me because they were unusual.  I wanted to show both their diversity and their underlying similarities, so that one could appreciate what is nationally or racially specific and what is common to all civilizations and all human beings.  I wanted to show how Jung’s method of interpreting archetypal fantasy material could be applied to these diverse tales.”

Archetypal Patterns in Fairy Tales is the first new volume of Dr. von Franz’s legendary Zürich lectures to be published since 1980.  There are in-depth studies of six fairy tales – from Denmark, Spain, China, France and Africa, and one from the Grimm collection – with references to parallel themes in many others.  Featuring the symbolic, non-linear approach she is famous for, it offers unique insights into cross-cultural motifs, as well as being an invaluable resource for understanding dream images.