Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm have long been gone from this earth. Their impact, however, remains significant. One of the most lasting inheritances that the modern world has received from the Brothers Grimm is that of the classical, traditional form of the fairy tale. Part of that form is setting, most often seen as the fairy tale forest. This paper reflects on the importance of forests to the Grimms and their fairy tales. While all of my findings are as yet preliminary, they show distinctly that the forest is the predominant agent for change in Grimms’ fairy tales. This paper will begin with the forest in today’s fairy tale, trace this usage of the forest back to Grimms’ tales and discuss why the forest might have been important to the Grimms’ …show more content…
There were all these things because the path went to a palace. The Tradition said that all palaces should have winding paths traveling through mysterious forests filled with enchanting wildlife. So this Palace, although underwater, had such a path (7-8).
These examples illustrate how closely entwined forests and fairy tales have become in today’s society. Indeed, in Germany one can visit any number of Fairy Tale Forests and meet fairy tale characters there, fairy tale theme parks that have become part of the national view of the Germans. What have scholars made of the forest in fairy tales? Very little research has been done on the forest as setting. There are individual tale interpretations that include the forest. There is a chapter here or there that begins this discussion. But no one has tried to pull all of this together to make a definitive statement on what the importance of the forest might be. Here is a taste of what scholars have
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What might have affected the Grimms in their view of the forest? They were Germans. The importance of forest in Germany has a strong background and is rooted in myth and lore. Forests are also predominant in the physical landscape of Germany - even more in the time of the Grimms than today. Jacob and Wilhelm were influenced by Romanticism and believed in looking back to understand Germany’s true identity. The forest and nature played a large role in Romanticism and the forest was seen as a place where the supernatural could live and reign. The importance of forest in this period can be seen in the works of German Romantic artists, poets, writers, and musicians. Robert Harbison, in his book Deliberate Regression, said, “Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm . . . saw themselves recovering bits of national or racial memory.” He went on to discuss the tale “Brother and Sister” where the two siblings leave home and “enter in the forest a life of deepening strangeness . . .. because it matches Romantic notions of life in the woods so well one suspects that much of the feeling is interpolated by the Grimms.” This is a tale, he says, about “wildness” and “civilization”
They see the forest as a place only for the Devil and his minions. Yet, while the Puritans see it as an evil place, it is used as a good place for the ones who the Puritans consider as being evil, or unworthy of being in their sacred community. It is this ever present community embodied again as a forest. The forest is accepting of all of the misfits and outcasts of the mainstream society. “The environment affords Pearl safe surroundings in which to roam and play… [and] is where two lovers are allowed to be alone for the first time in seven years without the frowning disapproval or condemnation of their human peers” (Daniel
...n” is a great example of an old myth or tale reconstructed and adapted for a modern audience in a new medium. It is a progression on one hand in its use of modern language, setting, and style but it is also the product of the old myths in that it is essentially the same on the thematic level. In addition, the level of self-awareness on the part of the narrator and, by extension, the author marks it out as an illustration of the very notion of evolutionary changes of myths and fairy tales. Adaptation is the solution to the fairy tale, and fairy tales have been endlessly changing themselves throughout history and, by some strange transforming or enchanting power endlessly staying the same.”
According to Bruno Bettelheim, in Introduction: The Struggle for Meaning taken from The Uses of Enchantment, the use of fairy tales in a children’s life allows them to deal with their fears in a symbolic way. In order for a story to hold a child’s attention it must “help him to develop his intellect and to clarify his emotions”(263). The use of fairy tales in Burn Your Maps, by Robyn Joy Leff, portrays the subtle but important influence of fairy tales on a child.
This is another setting where a plot of evil happens within the forest. Also, the forest is where the Black Man resides. The book keeps bringing up the Black Man, which can be looked at as ultimately the Devil. The Devil is most of the time considered on the of the atrocious evils in biblical terms, and the Black Man being in the forest aids in the theme of the nature of
Wilhelm married a woman named Dortchen Wild. They had a baby in 1826, who died (Hettinga pg.68 + 108). They had a second child in 1828, and in 1832, Dortchen had a baby girl (Hettinga pg.118). Meanwhile, Jacob applied for the head librarian’s job, after the man had died in 1829 (Hettinga pg.109). Dortchen got very sick when she was helping her friend Lotte, who was very ill (Hettinga pg.118). Wilhelm died at 3 pm on December 15, 1859 (Hettinga pg.146). Jacob died on September 20, 1863 at 10 pm (Hettinga pg.149).
During the 19th century, Grimm’s fairytales were strongly disapproved of due to harsh, gruesome details and plots. One American educator from 1885 stated, “The folktales mirror all too loyally the entire medieval worldview and culture with all its stark prejudice, its crudeness and barbarities.” As childre...
Since the beginning of the society, the forest has been portrayed as a place filled with darkness, and inhabited by the devil and other unworldly creatures. The rumors that were formed about what could be lurking in the forest were created to fill the void of knowledge of what was in the woods and to give them something to believe in. In reality, what lurked in the forest was still unknown to most people. The mystery of the forest was what people were so scared of.
...e village represents the strictness of Puritan society, while the forest symbolizes the wildness of the human heart. The wildness of the human heart is revealed once it is removed from the strict Puritan society. Overall, the edge of the forest is the boundary between civilization and repression to truth and human emotions.
The forest represents a refuge from society for Hester Prynne and Minister Dimmesdale. At the same time, it symbolizes nature’s role as a shelter from society. This adds to the themes that society as a whole is morally deprived and nature is essentially good. It becomes a place where they are unshackled from Puritans’ strict law that is corrupted. Once under the forest’s shelter, they are then permitted to meet and speak heart fully to one another. Moreover, Prynne resides in the outskirts of Boston in the forest area. By doing so, Prynne is demitting everyday direct contact with the other town’s people. This adds to the two themes by making the readers view the forest as a mother trying to protect Hester and Dimmesdale from society’s wickedness.
The simplicity of fairy tales and non-specific details renders them ideal for manipulation allowing writers to add their own comments often reflecting social convention and ideology. Theref...
A fairy tale is seemingly a moral fiction, intended mainly for children. A lesson in critical analysis, however, strips this guise and reveals the naked truth beneath; fairy tales are actually vicious, logical and sexual stories wearing a mask of deceptively easy language and an apparent moral. Two 19th Century writers, the Grimm brothers, were masters at writing these exaggerated stories, bewitching young readers with their prose while padding their stories with allusion and reference: an example of which is "Rapunzel." Grimm's "Rapunzel" is packed with religious symbolism, which lends a new insight to the meaning of this classic story.
Fairy Tale Text & Motif. Prod. Distribution Access. Distribution Access, 2001.Discovery Education. Web. 1 December 2001. .
Bettelheim, Bruno. “Fantasy, Recovery, Escape, and Consolation. “The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Vintage Books, 1976.
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: the Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. London: Thames and Hudson, 1976. Print.
Zipes, Jack. Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.