The phrase ‘a tale as old as time’ remains synonymous with the Beauty and the Beast story, thanks to Angela Lansbury’s unforgettable performance as Mrs. Potts in the Disney adaptation of the same name. But, is it really the same tale that has been told for all time?

Be our guest on this weekend study course, as you unpick the tale and it’s many re-tellings, and deepen your understanding of the evolution of fairy tales. Whether it’s the Cupid and Psyche myth, East of the Sun and West of the Moon or another of the countless re-telling’s, Beauty and the Beast remains a narrative that captures both anxieties of the unknown, and the potential for human transformation.

Read the full course outline (PDF).

This course will run across two dates:

• Saturday 11 November, 10.30 – 17.00
• Sunday 12 November, 10.30 – 17.00

Previous experience

None required. A willingness to participate in group discussion will help you get the most from this course.

Tutor

Michelle Anya Anjirbag is an academic researcher in the fields of fairy tale and folklore, children’s literature and media, and adaptation studies. Her research interests include adaptation, fairy tales and folklore, Disney, magical libraries, the intersection of literature, media, and culture, representations of gender and age, and cross-period approaches to narrative transmission across cultures and societies. She earned her doctorate at the University of Cambridge before joining the University of Antwerp as a postdoctoral researcher. Her research focuses on questions of representation in adaptations of fairytale and folklore in fantasy media and other speculative fiction, and has appeared in a variety of journals and edited collections.

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