desayunoencama | From the Small Beers/Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet e-newsletter

A letter concerning LCRW no.15 (http://www.lcrw.net/issues/lcrw15.htm) where the writer pretends we published a "comic" or narrative of a "graphic" persuasion. While we love being persuaded, we neither remember anything funny nor narrative associated with that issue. While it seems there may be a loose copy or twenty-five we could go and check this out on, they would be all the way over there and we are all the way under here. (Apologies: we misplaced our prepositions of place. We have the interns searching as we type.)

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January 18, 2005

Dear Tiger and/or Lady:

Thank you for the enlightening and enlivening essay from Schimel and Rojo, "The Well-Dressed Wolf." I could refer to this piece as a graphic essay, but that might create an erroneous impression, leading to untoward (1) inquiries from the Justice Department. I note that you place it under the heading "Comic"‚ which neatly circumvents the ambiguity of "graphic"‚ but hardly
does justice (ahem) to Schimel and Rojo’s work.

Their analysis is masterful! Lawrence Schimel has pierced the heart of a critical subtext within the fairy tale genre. And yet I feel the focus of the article is slightly soft: The true key to understanding Schimel's thesis is not the wolf himself, but the clothing. As someone (2) once said, "Clothes make the man." (Schimel’s promise of a followup article on tailors suggests that this has not escaped him.)

It is a psychological commonplace that clothing symbolizes the persona. While appreciating Schimel’s refreshing openness regarding gender issues, I respectfully draw attention away from the cross-dressing and toward the fact that the wolf in each tale wears clothing not his own. Red becomes the hero of her tale when she sees the wolfish nature mendaciously hidden beneath the flannel nightie. Whether the wolf or the sheep triumph in other cases depends on the perspicacity of the sheep; alas, not one of their strengths.

This pattern is repeated in other tales. Cinderella’s stepmother seeks to control her identity by encasing her in thrift shop items without even a shred of retro chic. The fairy godmother replaces these sad rags with high fashion designer wear reflecting Cinderella‚s true inner beauty. When Cindy is once again forced into yucky clothes, her princely hero sees through the false persona to the prom queen beneath. As someone else once said, (3) it’s all about the dress.

Consider the subversive tale, The Emperor‚s New Clothes. The Emperor decides to spend some of his political capital on a suit of clothes so precious it doesn’t actually exist. Yet the political climate is chilly enough that no one comments on this total absence of persona until an innocent child blurts out the obvious. The Emperor's advisors should never have placed him in such a ridiculous position, but one would think that someone reaching the level of Emperor could think for himself. Wouldn’t one?

It is also well known that brownies will desert a house in which the master (or mistress) tries to give them clothing. The reluctance of any self-respecting sprite to assume a human persona is perhaps understandable, but has not (to my knowledge) been explicated in this way.

I could go on. Indeed, I could, and will with the slightest encouragement. And if Ms. Rojo were available to illustrate the final copy, that would be cool, too.

Sincerely,

A Devoted Reader

1. I have nothing personal against the Justice Department. Really. The blessing from Fiddler on the Roof comes to mind: God bless and keep the tzar...far away from us.

2. Mark Twain: "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." I thought it was Viola, until I looked it up. You could see why. I’ve always liked her.

3. I've heard this from several people, including my daughter, and she should know.