The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales is a 1976 book by Bruno Bettelheim, in which the author analyzes fairy tales in terms of Freudian psychoanalysis. The book has been a subject of controversy regarding possible plagiarism. Structure and contents The book is divided into two main sections. The first, "A Pocketful of Magic," outlines Bettelheim's thoughts on the value of fairy tales for children. The second part, "In Fairy Land," presents psychoanalytical readings of several popular fairy tales, specifically: "Hansel and Gretel" "Little Red Riding Hood" "Jack and the Beanstalk" "Snow White" "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" "The Sleeping Beauty" "Cinderella" The "animal bridegroom" cycle of fairy tales, including "Beauty and the Beast", "The Frog Prince" and "Bluebeard". Bettelheim presents a case that fairy tales help children solve certain existential problems such as separation anxiety, oedipal conflict, and sibling rivalries. The extreme violence and ugly emotions of many fairy tales serve to deflect what may well be going on in the child's mind anyway. A child's unrealistic fears often require unrealistic hopes. And furthermore, "The Frog King" may be superior to modern sex education in that it acknowledges that a child may find sex disgusting, and this may serve a protective function for the child. In his introduction, Bettelheim stated that he was writing the book as "an educator and therapist of severely disturbed children." However, after his death, his credentials in those fields were found to be faked, and Bettelheim had only taken three introductory classes in psychology. Reception and influence In the U.S., Bettelheim and The Uses of Enchantment won the 1976 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism and the 1977 National Book Award in category Contemporary Thought. Robert A. Segal writes, "It is the disjunction between Bettelheim's up-to-date approach to fairy tales and his old-fashioned approach to myths that is striking." The Uses of Enchantment has been cited as an influence in many subsequent works that utilize fairy tales in adult terms, including the 1987 film Dolls, the 2011 Catherine Hardwicke film Red Riding Hood and the 2014 fantasy horror film Red Kingdom Rising. It was claimed by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine as the inspiration for their 1986 musical Into the Woods. Plagiarism In the Winter 1991 edition of the peer-reviewed Journal of American Folklore, Alan Dundes, then a 28-year veteran in the anthropology department at the University of California,