The following study is interested in questions of diversity and inclusiveness in Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles, a tetralogy of best-selling young adult fairy tale revisions comprised of Cinder (2012), Scarlet (2013), Cress (2014), and Winter (2015). Scholars have expended significant energy defining the fairy tale, tracing its history and development, and analyzing 20th-century adult fairy tale revisions informed by second-wave feminism. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to young adult fairy tale revisions of the 21st Century and less still on The Lunar Chronicles. This study begins the work of filling that gap. Through a close reading of The Lunar Chronicles, I argue that Meyer's tetralogy is an influential, complex, and thematically comprehensive example of an ongoing shift away from feminist fairy tale revisions for adults toward young adult fairy tale revisions that focus on diversity and inclusiveness. My project begins with a chapter situating Meyer's work in the context of existing fairy tale scholarship and the burgeoning emphasis on diversity in contemporary American culture and young adult publishing. The following three chapters provide, respectively, a close reading of The Lunar Chronicles focused on racial identity, gender and sexuality, and disabilities. In showcasing more recent YA fairy tale retellings, the final chapter seeks to draw some tentative conclusions about the continuing importance of diversity and inclusiveness in an evolving genre of reimagined fairy tales for a young adult audience. / Master of Arts / In her bestselling young adult science fiction tetralogy The Lunar Chronicles (2012-2015), Marissa Meyers reimagines four classic fairy tales: "Cinderella" (Cinder), "Little Red Riding Hood" (Scarlet), "Rapunzel" (Cress), and "Snow White" (Winter). Meyer's work continues a tradition of revising traditional fairy tales. Disney's Princess franchise of reimagined fairy tales has essentially defined the genre for generations of American children, while Angela Carter's adult fairy tale revisions challenged its patriarchal orientation in the wake of second-wave feminism. In my detailed textual analysis of The Lunar Chronicles, I argue that Meyer's tetralogy is a relatively early, influential, and comprehensive example of a developing wave of specifically young adult fairy tale retellings that reflects a growing focus on issues of diversity and inclusiveness in 21st-century America. My project begins with a chapter that places Meyer's work in historical context, focusing on the development and definition of the fairy tale and presenting a brief overview of previous approaches to fairy tale revision. In the next three chapters, I analyze The Lunar Chronicles as it complicates questions of, respectively, race, gender and sexuality, and disability. My project concludes with a brief overview of young adult fairy tale retellings of the last decade, exploring how the genre continues to engage with questions of diversity and inclusiveness.

This study examines power structures and oppression in the first two novels of the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Postcolonial theory and concepts as the Other/the other, and mimicry supplemented with an intersectional perspective are applied in the study. The study investigates how the protagonist, Cinder, is treated as a cyborg in a human world, and as a Lunar on Earth. Furthermore, it focuses on what happens when the oppressed becomes the oppressor and gains power. I conclude that the humans in Meyer’s sequel treat cyborgs in a similar way as the colonizer has treated the colonized through history. Cyborgs are suppressed due to fear from humans who neither understand cyborgs, nor have any interest to learn about them. The humans have a preconceived idea about what and who the cyborgs are and in correlation to the colonizer, the humans see no point in changing that view. Therefore, humans take the role as the Other while pushing cyborgs to become the other. In a similar way, Lunars become the Other due to their Lunar gift, which creates a power imbalance that they use to suppress people on Earth. When Cinder accesses her Lunar gift, she transforms from being the oppressed into the oppressor, and she must face the consequences of possessing such power which results in someone’s death. She realizes then that she would rather be the oppressed and be hurt herself than to be the oppressor and hurt others.