Although considered by many readers to be a “cult classic,” Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 novel The Last Unicorn has been unrepresented in literary scholarship. Many fantasy critics in the past have dismissed the work as lacking a sense of reality through its mixing of modern language with a medieval, fantasy setting. However, the novel’s purposeful muddling of reality raises questions of ontology and the nature of storytelling/world-projection. The objective of this study is to not only to act as a sort of apologetic for The Last Unicorn, but also read the novel in the context of fairy tale/mythic studies and postmodern theory—specifically through the critical lenses of Bruno Bettelheim, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Barth, and Brian McHale. By simultaneously deconstructing and following fairy tale conventions/tropes, The Last Unicorn offers its reader a postmodern story that explores the reality of fiction. The complex merging of reality and myth demonstrates The Last Unicorn’s literary merit and paves the way for future postmodern fantasy works.
","abstract_html":"<p>Although considered by many readers to be a “cult classic,” Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 novel <em>The Last Unicorn</em> has been unrepresented in literary scholarship. Many fantasy critics in the past have dismissed the work as lacking a sense of reality through its mixing of modern language with a medieval, fantasy setting. However, the novel’s purposeful muddling of reality raises questions of ontology and the nature of storytelling/world-projection. The objective of this study is to not only to act as a sort of apologetic for <em>The Last Unicorn</em>, but also read the novel in the context of fairy tale/mythic studies and postmodern theory—specifically through the critical lenses of Bruno Bettelheim, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Barth, and Brian McHale. By simultaneously deconstructing and following fairy tale conventions/tropes, <em>The Last Unicorn</em> offers its reader a postmodern story that explores the reality of fiction. The complex merging of reality and myth demonstrates <em>The Last Unicorn</em>’s literary merit and paves the way for future postmodern fantasy works.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hayes, Athena"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts - English","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Michael Martin","Kevin West","Steven Marsden"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-05-08T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-05-08T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:30Z","subjects":["Peter S. Beagle","The Last Unicorn","postmodernism","John Barth","American literature","fairy tale","Literature in English, North America"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/370","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Michael Martin","Kevin West","Steven Marsden"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hayes, Athena"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-05-06T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts - English"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Peter S. Beagle","The Last Unicorn","postmodernism","John Barth","American literature","fairy tale","Literature in English, North America"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/370"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Although considered by many readers to be a “cult classic,” Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 novel The Last Unicorn has been unrepresented in literary scholarship. Many fantasy critics in the past have dismissed the work as lacking a sense of reality through its mixing of modern language with a medieval, fantasy setting. However, the novel’s purposeful muddling of reality raises questions of ontology and the nature of storytelling/world-projection. The objective of this study is to not only to act as a sort of apologetic for The Last Unicorn, but also read the novel in the context of fairy tale/mythic studies and postmodern theory—specifically through the critical lenses of Bruno Bettelheim, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Barth, and Brian McHale. By simultaneously deconstructing and following fairy tale conventions/tropes, The Last Unicorn offers its reader a postmodern story that explores the reality of fiction. The complex merging of reality and myth demonstrates The Last Unicorn’s literary merit and paves the way for future postmodern fantasy works.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Unicorns Are Not Real and Neither Are You: Peter S. Beagle's Postmodern Fairy Tale"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Michael Martin","Kevin West","Steven Marsden"],"dc:creator":["Hayes, Athena"],"dc:date.available":["2021-05-06T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Although considered by many readers to be a “cult classic,” Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 novel The Last Unicorn has been unrepresented in literary scholarship. Many fantasy critics in the past have dismissed the work as lacking a sense of reality through its mixing of modern language with a medieval, fantasy setting. However, the novel’s purposeful muddling of reality raises questions of ontology and the nature of storytelling/world-projection. The objective of this study is to not only to act as a sort of apologetic for The Last Unicorn, but also read the novel in the context of fairy tale/mythic studies and postmodern theory—specifically through the critical lenses of Bruno Bettelheim, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Barth, and Brian McHale. By simultaneously deconstructing and following fairy tale conventions/tropes, The Last Unicorn offers its reader a postmodern story that explores the reality of fiction. The complex merging of reality and myth demonstrates The Last Unicorn’s literary merit and paves the way for future postmodern fantasy works.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/370"],"dc:subject":["Peter S. Beagle","The Last Unicorn","postmodernism","John Barth","American literature","fairy tale","Literature in English, North America"],"dc:title":["Unicorns Are Not Real and Neither Are You: Peter S. Beagle's Postmodern Fairy Tale"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts - English"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:30Z"}