Jack and the Beanstalk is about exactly what it sounds like. Photo / Supplied
When creative writing lecturer and author Claire Corbett first learned that the iconic fairytale Jack And The Beanstalk was one long extended metaphor about penises, she laughed.
"First off I thought, 'Oh this is ridiculous,'" she told news.com.au.
"But then when I thought about it, I saw something in it."
The academic, from the University of Technology Sydney, has devoted her life to the study – and the writing – of speculative fiction.
But for a long time she couldn't see the point of Jack And The Beanstalk.
After a close Freudian study, Corbett's mindset changed. "And for me what was a slightly mysterious and unsatisfying story became quite powerful and easy to understand," she said.
"A lot of fairytales are about growing up, like Cinderella," Corbett said.
"(The theme of) sexuality in Red Riding Hood doesn't come as a shock to most people."
Jack And The Beanstalk is no exception.
Child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim first pointed out that the beanstalk was symbolic of a phallus in the 1970s.
In Corbett's pursuit to prove him wrong, she soon discovered that there was a ring of truth to the idea.
The author cites, "Male individuation, male growing up (and) male sexual awakening," as the prominent themes of the tale.
CLUE IS IN THE TITLE
Corbett's first piece of evidence is the title.
"It's Jack And The Beanstalk. Not Jack And The Golden Harp or Jack And His Adventures In The Sky," she said.
"That's because the beanstalk is driving the action.
"If the beanstalk is maturing male sexuality then Jack And The Beanstalk is a story about male individuation and growing up."
"Jack and his mother are living alone in the cottage. No dad," Corbett said. "His mother tells him to sell their beloved cow at market because she's not giving any more milk.
"Could there be a clearer image of a post-menopausal woman? No more fertility, no more mummy's milk.
"She's dried up. Jack is understandably upset by this. He's being asked to cut a childhood tie to his mother."
With two sons of her own, Corbett can understand the difficulty of severing connections with your mother and making your own way in the world.
But it's a vital part of growing up.
Turns out there's more to magic beans, too.
"He sells the cow for magic beans," Corbett said.
"There's two really important points here. Firstly, Jack disobeys his mother. He does what she asks but he does it his way, using his judgment. This is the first sign that Jack … is growing up.
"Secondly, he recognises his bond to his mother is sacred, it's not subject to the logic of the market. It can only be traded for something magical because mother love is part of the realm of the sacred, that cannot be bought and sold."
Next in the story comes the beanstalk … get ready for some pretty obvious innuendos.
"Jack plants the beans and they shoot out of the ground and up into the sky with all the unruly liveliness and power of adolescent male desire," Corbett said.
"I use the word desire because it includes sexuality but also all those other longings – to explore, to succeed, to conquer, to become an important or at least an adult man and so on.
"And Jack takes that amazing testosterone ride."
You gotta admit, we're starting to see her point.
Jack then finds himself in a land of giants … or should we say, a land of adults.
Corbett believes the female giant is nice to Jack, because "she's not a direct competitor in this story".
But it's different for the male giants.
"He (the giant) is every adult man standing in the way, competing with younger men, perhaps even a mentor testing and judging them," she went on.
"Are you bold enough, quick enough, to compete with these adult men? They're not going to give the golden goose and the golden harp to Jack, you're going to have to take it."
The ending might seem a little baffling with this X-rated interpretation.
"But if the beanstalk is the phallus, why does he cut it down?" Corbett asked.
The answer is simple; he doesn't really cut it down.
"I don't think that powerful beanstalk is destroyed," she said.
"It's fulfilled its function of propelling him … into manhood and now it's part of him, part of himself, not external anymore.
"Perhaps a bit more under his control."
Corbett has shared this story to show fairytales still have an important part to play in childhood development.
As well as being a novelist, she's also an expert in early childhood development, having been a senior policy advisor in the Child and Family Health branch of NSW Health.
"Research shows one of the single most important factors for development (is) nursery rhymes and fairytales.
"They're great for the imagination, link us to our heritage and good for language development.
"People love didactic tales. Fairytales are the wisdom of society, passed onto their kids."
She's also against the Disneyfied, sanitised versions of stories now making it onto the shelves.
"(Fairytales) help children handle their feelings in their stage of development," Corbett said.
"If you feed them sanitised stories, it doesn't acknowledge the confusion going on in their lives."
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