Introduction: The struggle for meaning

Part One: A pocketful of magic

Life divined from the inside

"The fisherman and the Jinny": fairy tale compared to fable

Fairy tale versus myth: optimism versus pessimism

"The three little pigs": Pleasure principle versus reality principle

The child's need for magic

Vicarious satisfaction versus conscious recognition

The importance of externalization: fantasy figures and events

Transformations: The fantasy of the wicked stepmother

Bringing order into chaos

"The queen bee": achieving integration

"Brother and sister": unifying our dual nature

"Sindbad the seaman and Sindbad the porter ": fancy versus reality

The frame story of "Thousand and One Nights"

Tales of two brothers

"The three languages": building integration

"The three feathers": the youngest child as simpleton

Oedipal conflicts and resolutions: the knight in shining armor and the damsel in distress

Fear of fantasy: Why were fairy tales outlawed?

Transcending infancy with the help of fantasy

"The goose girl": achieving autonomy

Fantasy, recovery, escape, and consolation

On the telling of fairy stories

Part Two: In fairy land

"Hansel and Gretel"

"Little Red Riding Hood"

"Jack and the Beanstalk"

The jealous queen in "Snow White" and the myth of Oedipus

"Snow White"

"Goldilocks and the Three Bears"

"The Sleeping Beauty"

"Cinderella"

The animal-groom cycle of fairy tales.