Bloody Chambers and Labyrinths of Desire: Sexual Violence in Marina Warner's Fairy Tales and Myths

Propst, Lisa G., Marvels & Tales

Introduction: Revisionist Myths and Fairy Tales

In August 2004 Marina Warner read fifteen of her favorite poems at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. One was a passage from Ovid's Metamorphoses that told the story of the rape of Thetis, the sea nymph. In an interview with me that summer at her home in London, Warner explained that she chose the passage "because it's almost a description of art. She keeps changing shape as Peleas tries to pin her down." Warner's description ascribes two roles to Thetis. She is an art object, taking on different shapes or figuras, the same word that Ovid uses for his images. She is also an artist, effecting her own transformations. Warner …

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Publication information: Article title: Bloody Chambers and Labyrinths of Desire: Sexual Violence in Marina Warner's Fairy Tales and Myths. Contributors: Propst, Lisa G. - Author. Journal title: Marvels & Tales. Volume: 22. Issue: 1 Publication date: January 1, 2008. Page number: 125+. © 2003 Wayne State University Press. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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