Puss In Boots
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"Puss in Boots" (; ; ; ) is a European
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...
about an
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand in marriage of a princess for his penniless and low-born master. The oldest written telling version (Italian for "Lucky Costantino") by Italian author
Giovanni Francesco Straparola Giovanni Francesco "Gianfrancesco" Straparola, also known as Zoan or Zuan Francesco Straparola da Caravaggio (ca. 1485–1558), was an Italian writer of poetry, and collector and writer of short stories. Some time during his life, he migrated fro ...
, included in ''
The Facetious Nights of Straparola ''The Facetious Nights of Straparola'' ( 1550–1555; Italian: ''Le piacevoli notti''), also known as ''The Nights of Straparola'', is a two-volume collection of 75Nancy Canepa. "Straparola, Giovan Francesco (c. 1480–1558)" in ''The Greenwood En ...
'' (), in which the cat is a fairy in disguise who helps his owner, a poor boy named Costantino from
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, to gain his princess by duping a king, a lord, and many commoners. There is a version written by Girolamo Morlini, from whom Straparola used various tales in ''The Facetious Nights''; another version was published in 1634 by
Giambattista Basile Giambattista Basile ( – 23 February 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. His collections include the oldest recorded forms of many well-known (and more obscure) European fairy tales. He is chiefly remembered for writi ...
with the title . The most popular version of the tale was written in French at the close of the seventeenth century by
Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , , ; 12 January 162816 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his ...
(1628–1703), a retired civil servant and member of the .
Puss in Boots "Puss in Boots" (; ; ; ) is a European fairy tale about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand in marriage of a princess for his penniless and low-born master. The oldest written telling version ...
appears in DreamWorks' ''
Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...
'' franchise, appearing in all three sequels to the
original film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the '' I Know What You Did Last Summer'', '' Cruel Intentions'' and ''Fast & Furious'' franchises, the ...
, as well as two spin-off films, ''
Puss in Boots "Puss in Boots" (; ; ; ) is a European fairy tale about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand in marriage of a princess for his penniless and low-born master. The oldest written telling version ...
'' (2011) and '' Puss in Boots: The Last Wish'' (2022), where he is voiced by
Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...
. The character is signified in the logo of Japanese anime studio
Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
, and is also a popular
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
in the UK.


Analysis


Tale type

In
folkloristics Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...
, ''Puss in Boots'' is classified as Aarne–Thompson–Uther ATU 545B, "Puss in Boots", a subtype of ATU 545, "The Cat as Helper".
Folklorists Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...
Joseph Jacobs Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916) was an Australian-born folklorist, literary critic and historian who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Born in Sydney to a Jewish family, his work went on to popula ...
and
Stith Thompson Stith Thompson (March 7, 1885 – January 10, 1976) was an American folklore studies, folklorist: he has been described as "America's most important folklorist". He is the "Thompson" of the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, which indexes Folklore, ...
point that the Perrault tale is the possible source of the Cat Helper story in later European folkloric traditions. Similarly, Frisian professor
Jurjen van der Kooi Jurjen van der Kooi ( Hurdegaryp, 22 December 1943 – Drachten, 4 September 2018) was a Dutch university lecturer and folklorist from Frisia. He was widely recognized as an authority in the field of folk tales from Frisia, Northern Netherlands a ...
noted that variants from oral tradition were only starting to be recorded from the 19th century onwards, and tales from Central and
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
follow Perrault's and Grimm's redaction very closely. In the same vein, French folklorists
Paul Delarue Paul Alfred Delarue, born 20 April 1889 in Saint-Didier, Nièvre, died 25 July 1956 in Autun, Saône-et-Loire, was a French folklorist. A specialist in the field of folklore, his crowning achievement was his , a catalog of folktales found in ...
and
Marie-Louise Ténèze Marie Louise or Marie-Louise is a French feminine compound given name. In other languages, it may take one of several alternate forms: * Maria Luiza (Bulgarian, Portuguese) * Maria Luisa (Italian, Spanish) * Maria Luise (German) * Maria Louisa ...
, editors of the French Folktale Catalogue, concur that oral variants where the cat appears as the helper (especially those in which he wears boots) were influenced by Perrault's tale.


Motifs


The animal helper

According to scholars (e.g., van der Kooi,
Hans-Jörg Uther Hans-Jörg Uther (born 20 July 1944) is a German literary scholar and folklorist. Biography Born 20 July 1944, in Herzberg am Harz, Uther studied Folklore, Germanistik and History between 1969 and 1970 at the University of Munich and between 1970 ...
, Stith Thompson and
Ines Köhler-Zülch Ines Köhler-Zülch (1941–2019) was a German folklorist and human rights activist. She is remembered for her contributions from 1974 to the Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales (Enzyklopädie des Märchens). Her work focused in particular on sagas and fai ...
), while the cat appears mostly in Europe as the animal helper, variants across cultures replace the cat with a jackal, a fox or another species of animal, like a dog, a rooster, or an ape. German folklorist Köhler-Zulch noted the geographical distribution of the different animal helpers: a fox in
Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
and
Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...
, as well in the Caucasus and
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
; and an ape, a jackal or a gazelle in Southern Asia and in Africa. For instance, professor
Damiana Eugenio Damiana Ligon Eugenio (September 27, 1921 – October 10, 2014) was a Filipino female author and professor who was known as the ''Mother of Philippine Folklore'', a title she received in 1986. Apart from teaching at the University of the Phi ...
remarked that the helpful animal is a monkey "in all Philippine variants". In the Hungarian National Catalogue of Folktales (MNK), in tale type 545B, ("The (Tom)cat with boots"), the protagonist may be helped either by a cat or a rooster received from his father as his inheritance, or rescues a fox from peril (e.g., starvation or hunters), and the animal promises to help him in return. According to Swedish scholar , a cycle of tales that developed in Northern Europe involves the spirit of a dead man instead of a cat. This cycle is found in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
,
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
and
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
.


The fox helper

French folklorists Paul Delarue and Marie-Louise Ténèze, editors of the French Folktale Catalogue, argued that the existence of variants with a helpful fox instead of a cat indicate an "oral tradition
hat is A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mechan ...
independent from the printed versions". As such, they locate such variants in, besides some tales in France, peninsular Italy, in Sicily, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Finland, Turkey and Mongolia. According to the description of the tale type in the East Slavic Folktale Catalogue (), last updated by scholar in 1979, the hero may be helped either by a cat (), or by a fox (). Similarly, the
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
n Folktale Catalogue names type 545B as ("The Miller and the Fox"). In the ("Turkish Folktale Catalogue"), by
Wolfram Eberhard Wolfram Eberhard (March 17, 1909 – August 15, 1989) was a professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley focused on Western, Central and Eastern Asian societies. Biography Born in Potsdam, German Empire, he had a str ...
and
Pertev Naili Boratav Pertev Naili Boratav, born Mustafa Pertev (September 2, 1907 – March 16, 1998) was a Turkish folklorist and researcher of folk literature. He has been characterized as 'the founding father of Turkish folkloristics during the Republic'.Arzu Öztü ...
, both scholars listed the variants with the fox as the animal helper under Turkish type TTV 34, ("The Miller and the Fox"), which corresponds in the international classification to tale type ATU 545B. Hungarian orientalist
László L. Lőrincz László L. Lőrincz (Leslie L. Lawrence) (born 15 June 1939, Szilvásszentmárton) is a Hungarian orientalist, science fiction author, and translator. His 1982 collection ''A nagy kupola szégyene'' (The Shame of the Great Dome) deals with crime ...
established the classification of the
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
n tale corpus. In his system, the story appears as type 32, ("The grateful, sly
red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
"), in two variations: the fox replaces the cat as the protagonist's helper; the protagonist either hunts the fox himself and releases it (variation "A"), or he hides the fox from a hunter (variation "B"); in return, the red fox helps the protagonist marry a khan's daughter. Tales of the Caucasian Region also register the fox in the place of the cat. For example, Georgian scholarship registers tale type ATU 545B in
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, with the name "The Fox and the Peasant", wherein the cat is replaced by the helpful fox. Similarly, in the index of Adyghe folktale corpus, a fox helps a poor carpenter to marry the daughter of a (lord), and in the
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
i Folktale Index, in Azeri type 545B, ''Armudan bəy'', the fox helps the miller's son in marrying the padishah's daughter.


Distribution

The tale has also spread to the Americas, and is known in Asia (India, Indonesia and Philippines). Greek scholar Marianthi Kaplanoglou states that the tale type ATU 545B, "Puss in Boots" (or, locally, "The Helpful Fox"), is an "example" of "widely known stories (...) in the repertoires of Greek refugees from Asia Minor".


Adaptations

The saying "enough to make a cat laugh" dates from the mid-1800s and is associated with the tale of Puss in Boots."https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/enough+to+make+a+cat+laugh">enough to make a cat laugh The Bibliothèque de Carabas book series was published by
David Nutt David John Nutt (born 16 April 1951) is an English neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as addiction, anxiety, and sleep. He is the chairman of Drug Science, a non-profit ...
in London in the late 19th century, in which the front cover of each volume depicts Puss in Boots reading a book.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * * *


External links


Origin of the Story of 'Puss in Boots'


– English translation from ''The Blue Fairy Book'' (1889)

by
D. L. Ashliman Dee L. Ashliman (born January 1, 1938), who writes professionally as D. L. Ashliman, is an American folklorist and writer. He is Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Pittsburgh and is considered to be a leading expert on folklore and ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Puss In Boots 1697 short stories European fairy tales Grimms' Fairy Tales Cats in literature Fictional cats French fairy tales Italian fairy tales Works by Charles Perrault European folklore characters Characters in fairy tales Fictional marquesses and marchionesses Fictional tricksters Anthropomorphic cats Fairy tales about talking animals Fairy tales about magic Fairy tales about wizards ATU 500-559