"The Fairy Tale That Won’t Behave"?: Ageing and Gender in Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and Matthew Vaughn’s Film Adaptation

Crofts, Matthew; Hatter, Janine

Abstract

Fairy stories, it seems, are growing up. Neil Gaiman’s novel Stardust (1999) and Matthew Vaughn’s 2007 film adaptation of the same name are just two examples of the form’s recent resurgence, particularly in film. Recent additions to the genre are distinctly different from those of the classical variety by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, because they have been up-dated for their (post)-modern readers; hence Tim Burton, Angela Carter and Neil Gaiman are renowned for their playing on classical conventions and twisting traditional storylines. According to Gaiman, Stardust’s magical setting of Faerie is “the perfect metaphor for a lot of places, and for a lot of things and a lot of ideas” (Interview 210). As Stardust can be seen as adapting the Snow White tradition (Whelehan, 88), ideas and concerns surrounding age and ageing – as represented primarily by the conflict between Yvaine and the witch-queen – are prominent throughout the text. With Jack Zipes contending that “[t]he classical fairy tale for children and adults reinforced the patriarchal symbolic order based on rigid notions of sexuality and gender” (74), it would suggest that these “rigid notions” are prime for disruption in a genre that bends reality by creating its own rules, settings and civilizations. In Fairy Tale: The New Critical Idiom (2013), Andrew Teverson’s recognition that revisionist fairy tales “batter at the gates of conformity and sterility” is seemingly reiterated through the tagline for Vaughn’s adaptation of Stardust (139). The film proudly declares itself “The Fairy Tale That Won’t Behave,” seemingly contending that this fairy tale is indeed convention-defying, flaunting its subversive nature. Nevertheless, while both Stardusts possess a great deal of originality that separates them from the stereotypes and classical tales of their form, this article examines how their theoretically subversive ageist ideology fails to live up to its potential. Through interrogating fairy tale conventions and subsequent revisionist arguments, we postulate that while Gaiman’s novel readdresses gender and ageing stereotypes – particularly with the witch-queen/Yvaine’s relationship – Vaughn’s film essentially “behaves,” reinforcing patriarchal notions of age and ageing that undermine the power of the novel.

Citation

Crofts, M., & Hatter, J. (2016). "The Fairy Tale That Won’t Behave"?: Ageing and Gender in Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and Matthew Vaughn’s Film Adaptation. Femspec, 16(1), pp.19-43

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2016
• Deposit Date: Aug 22, 2023
• Journal: Femspec
• Print ISSN: 1523-4002
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Pages: pp.19-43
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4361071
• Publisher URL: https://www.femspec.org/