To browse Academia. The foundation of Rome is surrounded by legends and myths written by both Roman and Greek authors to manufacture narratives which legitimized their contemporary contexts. The two accounts contain similarities and differences which reveal the different intentions of the respective authors. Both authors wanted their works to be didactic lessons about how their societies should operate.
These modern renditions of the ancient accounts reveal the American gender norms and their importance to society. This paper places Seven Brides for Seven Brothers within its historical context and analyzes the level of historicism that the writers employed in their respective narratives.
Adele Scafuro. Eleonora Buonocore. Lawrence Hirschfeld. Georgia Cowart. Matteo Cardillo. The "handless-maiden" tale type in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther folklore index Uther -has a long tradition of retelling, including in the first Brothers Grimm collection of I discuss Penta's story as an example of the way in which Western folktales are permeated by a heteronormative social substratum and a conventional depiction of marriage as the exchange of gifts between tribes.
I then focus on the escape phase of the tale, in which the maiden suspends her social function of patriarchal subject and experiences a journey which temporarily excludes her from the dynamics of power and coercion that oppress her, enacting a strategy of resistance against gender violence.
This leads to a discussion of the limited agency of female characters in the logic of folktales, as they represent social models embodying a moral framework. Finally, I examine Margaret Atwood's poem "Girl Without Hands", where the folktale element acquires an allegorical force, inviting reflection on the sense of alienation felt by the contemporary female protagonist. Here I consider how isolation can constitute a strategy of resistance. This article seeks to contribute to the feminist revisionist study of mythology and comparative literature, by establishing an intertextual dialogue between variants of the tale type in different ages and cultures.
