Irena is a character in the story-within-a-story in “Telling Fairy Tales.” She’s a Polish woman whom Karol falls in love with while he’s stationed in the Middle East. Irena tells a story of her own, in which a king falls in love with a bear. After they have sex, the king banishes the bear out of shame—and the bear gives birth to a daughter who, like her, is cursed to make men fall in love with her.
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Irena Character Timeline in Only the Animals
The timeline below shows where the character Irena appears in Only the Animals. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Telling Fairy Tales: Soul of Bear (Died 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
...his tent with the bear prince. He wanted to say goodbye to a woman named Irena, but he also missed his wife and son—and he cried when he couldn’t recall his...
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Irena told the story of a handsome king who was strolling in his menagerie one day...
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When Irena finished her story, she kissed Karol’s hand. He admitted he had a wife; Irena said...
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...prince courted the female bear who came to live with him. Occasionally, Karol would remember Irena’s story of the princess trapped in a bear’s body and would tell himself that tomorrow,...
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