World over, the spirit of feminism has become the clarion call for every woman to free herself from the shackles of ‘femininity’ (a cultural construct) and the patriarchy (the setup that designs this cultural construct to maintain male supremacy). Literature and politics are closely connected. Feminism is incomplete without feminist literary criticism and gender politics.

Fairy Tales are really a repository of some of society’s darkest secrets centred on women. Far from being stories of beautiful women, whom the wood creatures help at the slightest call, they are often tales of abuse, abandonment, violent relationships, the exploration of adolescent sexuality, and even feature macabre themes like necrophilia. Far from the evil-stepmother – beautiful princess – handsome prince face-off, original versions often feature abusive, and jealous mothers, princesses who do not want to marry the Someday Prince, sexually and otherwise abusive Princes, and necrophiliac lovers.