Perrault, Charles

pa-ro, Charles (1628-1703), a French poet and story writer. Perrault was a man of wide learning. His name was brought into prominence by a famous literary controversy between himself and Boileau, as to the respective merits of the ancients and moderns. Perrault's poetry was not of a high order and won him no lasting fame. He is better known as the author of two prose works, Illustrious Men of the Seventeenth Century and a collection of stories entitled Tales of Mother Goose. These were from varied sources, some of oriental origin but retold in modern form. The book is mentioned frequently as Perrault's Tales. It includes eighteen stories. Among them are Puss-in-Boots, Cinderella, Bluebeard, and Little Red Riding-Hood.