Word: bettelheim
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Dates: during 1980-1980
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...Uses of Enchantment, Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim addresses those problems by examining the implications of fairy tales. Weary of bedtime books that ignore or sugar-coat the real world, Bettelheim ransacks the stories for Freudian subtexts. In his view the Oedipal drama plays itself out in the giants that Jack slays and in the demands of scheming stepmothers. "While it entertains the child," he concludes, "the fairy tale enlightens him about himself, and fosters his personality development." The psychologist does not neglect aesthetics: "Fairy tales are unique not only as a form of literature, but as works of art which...