Audience Quote by Marina Warner
“I don't think that there's a target audience at all. These stories were in circulation. The stories were told by men, told in the marketplace by men, but also behind doors by women, but there's no real record of this. It's likely they were told by women to children in their interior rooms. The story could be a negative story, they could be presented as a, "Watch out! Women will get round you, do things to you, weave you in their toils." It could be buried in it an old cautionary story about women and their wiles.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: From the Beast to the Blonde, 1995
Stories about women often lack clear origins, being passed orally and shaped by gendered contexts.
In simple terms: Women’s tales are often unnamed and gender‑shaped.
Key Takeaway
Seek hidden voices in folklore.
Themes
folklore
gender
history
Mood
critical
inquisitive
Type
cultural
historical
When to use this quote
- anthropology
- literature
- gender studies
- education
- media analysis
Key Concepts
oral tradition
cultural transmission
Questions to Reflect On
- What voices are missing from known narratives?
- How does gender shape story transmission?
A Different Perspective
Attribution is uncertain, risking misinterpretation.
