Monthly Archives: April 2011

I have always read Mr. Fox a kind of anti-tale, a English folktale response that riffs on The Robber Bridegroom in order to comment on Bluebeard. Despite its categorisation by folklorists as a variation of The Robber Bridegroom, Mr. Fox appears to be quite old (Mr. Fox appears to have been referred to in Much Ado About Nothing[1]).

I am not certain that Mr. Fox was intended as anti-tale, or that it neatly fits the category. It is only in context – specifically, in the context of contemporary Western society, in which Bluebeard is far better-known – that Mr. Fox takes on the appearance of an anti-tale. But what an anti-tale it is. Continue reading →