Why James Taggart Is No Prince Charming: Ayn Rand and Fairy Tales

This article examines how and why Ayn Rand uses fairy tales as intertexts in her novels. It argues that she evokes and revises fairy tales to exemplify the metaphysical values that her novels resist. For Rand, fairy tales like “Cinderella” are problematic because they typically endorse conventionali...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of Ayn Rand studies 2014, Vol.14 (1), p.10-37
Main Author: Breashears, Caroline
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Buildings
Children
Fairy tales
Heroes
Heroism
Literary characters
Literary criticism
Metaphysics
Myth
Narratives
Novels
Philosophers
Protagonists
Rand, Ayn
Taggart, James
U.S.A
Villains
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Summary:This article examines how and why Ayn Rand uses fairy tales as intertexts in her novels. It argues that she evokes and revises fairy tales to exemplify the metaphysical values that her novels resist. For Rand, fairy tales like “Cinderella” are problematic because they typically endorse conventionality over the truly heroic. She therefore associates them with secondhanders and villains. She rejects their message that mindless conformity leads to happily-ever-after, and she exposes how fairy tales can be formidable vehicles for promoting the senseless. She reinforces her point by contrasting them with her revisions of myths, which she associates with heroes.
ISSN:1526-1018
2169-7132
DOI:10.5325/jaynrandstud.14.1.0010