ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that The Devil Wears Prada and The Nanny Diaries represent the evolution of a familiar type of fairy tale: a maiden overcomes subjugation by a more powerful older woman to gain freedom and happiness. It discusses the evolution of a familiar subset of fairy tales: the story of a maiden overcoming subjugation by a more powerful older woman to gain freedom and happiness. The wicked stepmother and the innocent, persecuted heroine are major fairy-tale archetypes. The stepmother is so important to the Western coming-of-age story that that she is no longer a domestic terrorist infiltrating the heroine’s home; the young women must seek her out on her own territory. With an ambitiousness as inspired as it is naive, our young woman is about to become the heroine of the modern-day fairy tale. Many European fairy tales began as products of oral folklore before being published, often existing in multiple forms in different periods and locales.
