Fairy tales are children’s stories about imaginary and magical beings and lands in which improbable events lead to a successful conclusion. Due to bizarre extents of the original fairy tales, modern day fairy tales are often “watered down” and “child safe”. This allows children to better understand what the tale’s message is trying to convey. The reason they are “watered down” is due to the protection of young minds. Children are very fragile creatures, therefore what they take in (as far as information and media) needs to be monitored and appropriate. As evidence, in the original Little Mermaid, when the Little Mermaid (who wasn’t named Ariel) turned fifteen, she can swim to the surface of the water. As she does this, she sees a handsome prince …show more content…
There isn’t a fairy tale that renders so well as Cinderella, and the theme of the inner experiences of the young child in the throes of step-sibling rivalry. Cinderella is degraded and belittled by her stepsisters; her interests are sacrificed due to the selfishness of her stepmother and sisters. She is expected to do all of the housework (cooking, cleaning, washing clothes etc.). Although she performs it well, she receives no credit for it. In fact, she is only demanded of to do more work. Theoretically, this is how children can feel when devastated by the heartache of sibling rivalry. The term “sibling rivalry” refers to the fighting, jealousy, and competition between brothers and sisters. This can be very difficult with the dynamics of the rivalry being between step siblings. Children can, at times, suffer drastically from sibling rivalry due to the fact that parents seldom sacrifice of one child to the other, or they don’t condone the other children’s persecuting one of them. In short, Cinderella teaches children about sibling rivalry in its extremist form; the jealousy and enmity of the stepsisters, and Cinderella’s sufferings because of it. The many psychological issues touched upon in the story are so covertly alluded to that the child does not become consciously aware of …show more content…
The two children save their lives by outwitting her. The story is interpreted as the necessity of independence in thought and action as well as self-reliance in children. Children need to overcome the disastrous desires of dependence on parents; otherwise their parents and society force them for it. Therefore, the abandonment of Hansel and Gretel can indicate that the desire of the parents for the children is to be independent. The anxiety the children have for wanting to returning home is nothing but an attempt to return to passivity. Symbols in the story such as the white duck helping them to cross the river, the white dove on the roof to bid farewell, a white bird guiding them to the gingerbread house can indicate that it is preferable for the children to risk facing the dangers of the
Cinderella is about a beautiful young girl that is mistreated by her step family. They give her the worst chores, make her sleep in a very dirty room up in an attic, and even give her the name “Cinderella” because they say she is always playing in the cinders of the fire. Cinderella is different though because despite being mistreated, she is still very nice and warmhearted. She represents how you should act in a world full of hate. If you are nice to everyone despite their rudeness and hate you will be rewarded in the end. Since Cinderella was so nice to her step sisters throughout her whole life, when she wanted to go to the ball her fairy godmother granted her wish. Cinderella got to go to the ball and looked absolutely beautiful, beautiful enough to catch the attention of the prince. While at the ball she was still very nice to her stepsisters, giving them food and telling them how nice they looked. When the stepsisters got home from the ball that night, they explain how lovely the mysterious princess was and how they thought she was so beautiful, not knowing that the mysterious princess was Cinderella. Cinderella played it off like she knew nothing of the princess but agreed with them that she must have been very beautiful. The next day came around and the stepsisters returned to the ball the
“The Little Mermaid,” by Hans Christian Andersen is about a mermaid who goes to the surface, meets a prince who she saves and falls in love, and goes to a sea witch to temporarily become human, even though she was told she might die. Once she became human, she almost married the prince, however the prince married someone else and she ended up becoming an airy spirit. In the animated version, the prince’s wedding was interrupted and they fell in love again. While the two versions of The Little Mermaid share a common theme, the Disney animated film version is by far a more interesting story because of the characters.
In “Cinderella” by the Grimm Brothers, the moral is that one should never lie or be wicked to others. In the story, Cinderella’s mother passed away and a year later her father gets remarried to an evil woman who has two daughters. The wife and daughters torment Cinderella, making her complete tedious chores. Eventually, Cinderella attends a ball for the Prince and they fall in love. However, she runs away every night and he cannot find her. The Prince finally takes one of her slippers and sets out to find the love of his life. He then goes to her household and asks all the sisters to try the slipper on. The stepsisters try to deceive the Prince but “the blood was streaming from” their feet and they are eventually caught. When Cinderella tries on the shoe it fits perfectly and the two get married. At the reception, two birds peck out the stepsisters’ eyes, punishing them “with blindness as long as they lived.” The archetypes in the story are Cinderella who is the damsel in distress, the Prince who saves her and the evil stepsisters and mother who are the villains. A convention is that true love always...
Bettelheim relays his argument about sibling rivalry with evidence mostly based on his Freudian way of thinking, and comprehension of his article may be challenging to one who isn’t familiar with this psychological type, such as when he explains how children have incredibly vile thoughts of murder (281). Other ideas on romantic love for a parent and the ridding of parents because of guiltiness may all seem unorthodox to one who doesn’t agree to what Bettelheim is insinuating on these topics. But, also interests in the way it shows a different view on a child’s feelings of jealousy and attention. More supporting evidence from other scholars or writers on these issues to back up Bettelheim’s claims could help with the believability and understanding of what his statements are saying. On the other hand, had Bettelheim used others as references, the relation of sibling rivalry to Cinderella may not have been as vivid or interpreted in a way Bettelheim did not intend. Bettelheim writes specifically to show an outside thought process on Cinderella and her step-sisters, and emphasizes the feelings of jealousy and malice in relation to a child and the child’s siblings. Each statement of his article does generalize to this main topic, helping to better understand the overall meaning of “sibling rivalry”, which is a fascinating topic, despite a possible disagreement of
In the article, “Fairy Tales and a Dose of Reality,” Catherine Orenstein attempts to show the contrast between the modern romanticism of marriage and the classic fairy tale’s presentation of them (285). She looks at the aristocratic motivations for marriage and the way these motivations are prominent in Cinderella. She then looks at the 20th century to highlight the innate difference of our mentalities, showing a much more optimistic and glorified relationship. In the article, “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior,” Elisabeth Panttaja claims that Cinderella’s success can be attributed to her craftiness (288). She shows her and her mother as an equal to the stepfamily, analyzing each family’s goals and values. She attempts to show their similarities,
Bettelheim, Bruno. ""Cinderella" A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipial Conflicts." Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. 1976. 279-282.
...depicts human love as a product of maturity, whereas Disney depicts it as a cause of maturity” (Trites 4). This fundamental change of maturity in Disney’s version is where the problem rests, teaching audiences that seeking a mate is the path to maturity and independence for women, when in reality love is complicated and ever changing. The “disneyfication” of The Little Mermaid perpetuates negative aspects of American cultural ideals, losing the moral integrity and lessons intended to be taught from the original fairytale.
The version in the United States is known as Cinderella. Cinderella's mother dies when she is young and her father remarries. The woman he gets married to has two daughters. They become Cinderella´s new evil stepsisters. Her sisters are jealous because she is very pretty and petite. They treat her very poorly. She is to do chores around the house and attend to every need of her stepmother and stepsisters. The Prince is having a ball and requests that every available lady in the kingdom attends. Cinderella is told by her stepmother that she can not attend the ball unless she finishes her chores. She finishes her chores and
In both Hans Christian Andersons “The Little Mermaid,” and Disney’s version of the story, the main character— a young and beautiful mermaid— waits anxiously for her fifteenth birthday to venture from her father’s underwater castle to the world above the water. As the story carries on the mermaids priorities change; her modest and selfless nature is revealed towards the end in Andersen’s version. However, Disney’s version encompasses a rather shallow ending and plot throughout. The theme found in comparing the two versions reveal that Andersen’s substance trumps Disney’s entertainment factor in fairy tales.
“Hansel and Grethel”, the story for children holds the cruel reality of the world, where the poor children live in a world lacking food, manners, love, and support. They are expected to grow up in the snap of a finger, without any help whatsoever, and fend for themselves. The author uses symbolism -the use of objects , thoughts, characters, and actions, to represent different meanings or ideas than the literal meaning to convey a specific message. “Hansel and Grethel” by The Grimm Brothers displays the theme of lost childhood innocence, in a world of deprivation, using symbolism of the stepmother, the bread, and the witch.
Variations of these tales have been told and shared in different parts of the world for centuries; they’ve become a vital part of literature and pop culture. Children live and learn through these fairy tales and popular stories. Parents read these stories to their children – unknowingly instilling indications of violence and punishment. Heroines and villains alike are abused and tortured in the enjoyable classics pop culture currently reanimates. Namely, Cinderella exhibits elements of extreme violence and revenge. In variations of the classic tale, the beautiful, mother-less daughter is abused by, arguably the most famous villains, the jealous, spiteful trio: her step mother and two stepsisters. In addition to the violence and hatred inflicted
There is obvious competition between Cinderella, her step-mother, and her step-sisters. The conflict between them began because they both want the father’s/ husband’s love and attention; this explains the step-mother’s cruelty toward the step-daughter. Cinderella 's stepmother declared “No, Cinderella..../you have no clothes and cannot dance./That 's the way with stepmothers”(li.53-55); this statement reveals the step-mother’s abiding envy towards Cinderella because even after she had picked up the lentils the step-mother had thrown, she still made up excuses to keep Cinderella at home and isolated. Although there were two step-daughters, “Cinderella was their maid./She slept on the sooty hearth each night/ and walked around looking like Al Jolson(li.30-32). This line refers to how Cinderella walked around the house with dirt and sludge on her all day and slept on the fireplace each night while the two step-sisters walked around the house clean and slept in comfortable beds. This shows the contrast between the two step -sisters and Cinderella and how they are treated differently throughout daily life. Obviously, there is no reason the step-family should envy Cinderella; however, they do anything in their power to make sure they receive the most attention from the rich father/husband to get whatever they
Fairytales, the short stories that most children heard as they went to bed, are actually folktales from previous decades. The fairytales today are primarily adaptations of older versions recreated by Disney— the pioneers of this generation. With that said, the modern versions consistently display good triumphing over evil, a prince charming that constantly came to the rescue, and a happily ever after ending. However, the original folktale version didn’t always come with fortunate events, but often were more violent and gruesome. With the fairytale Cinderella, Disney maintains a similar theme as its Grimm version; however, the conflicts, events, and characters that support this idea are rather different.
We all know the classic story of Cinderella, and if you don’t, it’s a simple story. A poor girl named Ella lived with her evil stepmother and her two stepsisters, who were just as evil. None of them treated Ella nicely, in fact they treated her more like a servant than a family member. Her two sisters were always making fun of her because she was always dirty from cleaning.One day they called her Cinder- Ella and it just stuck. Cinderella wanted to go to the ball just like everyone else in the kingdom, but her stepmother wouldn’t let her. She decided to sneak out to go to the ball, with the help of her fairy Godmother.Her fairy Godmother used her magic to give Cinderella a beautiful outfit, a cute pumpkin carriage, and everything that goes
Fairy tales, of course, have been around for a very long time. Some longer than others, but are still extremely popular today. They help to teach children an understanding of right and wrong, good and evil forces, and how to address emotions not through direct teaching, but through implication. Not only do fairy tales express the unconscious longings, wants, hopes, and desires a child has, but they also speak in a language that only children can comprehend thus, making fairy takes very valuable to a child’s development. Their broad appeal to both young and old readers and their moral teachings are among the factors that greatly contribute to their prolonged relevance. Fairy tales are still very accordant in today’s society because they continue