Abstract
Employing a critically disenchanted analysis influenced by Luce Irigaray and other contemporary feminist thinkers and cultural scholars, this paper offers a subversive reading that highlights the disruptive subtext of the Grimm tale, “The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes” (KHM 133). I argue that the princesses’ nightly forays into the wondrous and festive netherworld they construct explicitly rejects the deep paralysis commonly prescribed for Grimm heroines. At the same time, they remain vulnerable to the socioeconomic imperatives of the typical male career marchen. If only momentarily, the princesses nocturnal activities suspend and undermine the compulsory heteronormative enactments of femininity and masculinity.
Recommended Citation
Thomas, Hayley S.. "Undermining a Grimm Tale: A Feminist Reading of "The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes" (KHM 133) ." Marvels & Tales 13.2 (1999). Web. <https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/marvels/vol13/iss2/2>.
