About the book:
Bettelheim's thesis is that fairy tales are not for entertainment they are the oldest technology for helping children survive their own inner chaos.
Fear, abandonment, sibling rivalry, the terror of growing up: the original tales hold all of it, unsentimentalised.
Adults who soften these stories are, Bettelheim argues, stealing something children genuinely need.
Essential reading for writers, parents, and anyone interested in narrative, myth, and the unconscious.
Bettelheim was a child psychologist and Holocaust survivor who spent decades working with severely withdrawn children.
Condition:
Good secondhand condition.
Some wear to cover.
Inscription on inner front cover.
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About the author:
Bruno Bettelheim (1903 to 1990)
Born in Vienna, Austria, Bruno Bettelheim was a psychologist, writer, and one of the most influential (and later controversial) thinkers on childhood, fairy tales, and emotional development in the 20th century. A Holocaust survivor who endured Dachau and Buchenwald before emigrating to the United States in 1939, he became a professor at the University of Chicago and director of the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, a residential treatment centre for emotionally disturbed children.
Bettelheim brought a passionate Freudian perspective to his work, arguing that many childhood psychological problems stemmed from early emotional environments and could be healed through understanding, empathy, and carefully structured therapeutic settings. He rejected heavy reliance on medication, favouring instead deep psychoanalytic insight and a supportive milieu approach.
Major works include:
- Love Is Not Enough (1950) and Truants from Life (1955) early explorations of his work with disturbed children
- The Empty Fortress (1967) his influential (though later heavily criticised) study of autism
- The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (1976) his masterpiece and National Book Award winner, which remains a landmark text
In The Uses of Enchantment, Bettelheim powerfully argued that classic fairy tales are not mere entertainment but essential psychological tools. They help children confront their deepest fears, desires, and internal conflicts offering symbolic language for growing up, separating from parents, and developing a strong sense of self. This book is still widely read by parents, educators, writers, and anyone interested in the hidden power of stories.
Though some of his theories (especially on autism) have been strongly challenged in later decades, Bettelheims writing retains a humane, insightful, and deeply literary quality. He remains essential reading for anyone fascinated by child psychology, the darker side of fairy tales, or the ways stories shape the human psyche.
