“Someday my prince will come…” This line, part of Snow White’s famous Disney song, grates the ears of many people who formerly grew up with her and other fairy tale princesses. Fairy tales, whether the original grim fairy tale versions or the pacified Disney retellings, have had a funny habit of portraying women as passive creatures who do little but learn their place through cleaning. Unless the woman is the villain in the tale in which case her strength and power in a sense twist and deform her, sometimes literally, so that she is envious of the beautiful innocent little heroine. In my story I sought to betray these feminine beauty ideals and instead show that a heroine can be powerful and brave without being the fairest of them all. Alice, our little heroine, is a tom boy not afraid to get down and dirty to achieve her aspirations. My goal with her is something that in a way has been done before. Alice has been re-imagined as a tough woman but I felt in a way that was betraying the original Lewis Carroll Alice. Many Hollywood reinterpretations of fairy tale characters have a habit of making them tough only when they adults. I wanted to keep Alice a child because I felt as a children’s story, children should be able to identify more with the main character. Steven Jones states in his article about the innocent persecuted heroine genre “They frequently share individual episodes, such as being victimized by their mother, step-mother or step sisters as in “Snow White” and “Cinderella,” being put to sleep as in “Snow White” and “Sleeping Beauty,” or being expelled from their parents home, as in “The Maiden without hands” and ‘The Princess confined in a Mound.’” I wanted my Alice to not be this persecuted heroine who allowed things ... ... middle of paper ... ...sure to do is that neither female, Alice or the Queen, show much grace except when fighting. Alice takes on feminine qualities only when spins and dodges during a fight. The Queen’s anger makes her a bit ungraceful but during the fight she moves rather fluidly. The title I choose for this story, which does have a sequel in the works, is exactly what I wanted it to be. Not your fairy tale. In the sequel to the story Alice meets the other WRW members, other girls betraying their fairy tale roots in their own worlds. This story and its sequel are exactly as their titles imply, they are not your fairy tale, the days of the feminine beauty ideal are washed away revealing tough powerful young girls ready to fight for what they believe in. They are girls who can be both fighters and helpers. They are beautiful in a different way; their beauty is in the form of confidence.
Lewis Carroll demonstrates paradoxes within Alice and Wonderland as Alice is tossed within an entirely different world. Yet one of the greatest paradoxes is the transformation of Alice over the course of the novel as well as the transformation of the duchess. Alice begins as an ignorant child; she has difficulties in morphing to the logic and needs of Wonder...
In fact, Cinderella itself is a prime example on how women should not be suppressed of their own potential. The Cinderella story most known is the “Disney version.” This version is criticized greatly by feminists due to Cinderella’s lack of taking action. Peggy Orenstein wrote an article in the New York Times in 2006 commenting on princesses in today’s society. She speaks of how every little girl these days are expected to be enthralled with princesses. She notes how they cannot grow up wanting to be heroes or anything of that sort. This is similar to “The Yellow Wallpaper” because due to princess stories such as Cinderella, little girls are pushed so often to desire being princesses just like in the short story, wives must succumb to their husband’s authority and ‘superior’
Similar to the above conversation, one must take these tales with a grain of salt, and keep in mind the time period in which they were written. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will only be on what the tale is striving to teach those who read it. Similar to Lurie’s opinion on “The Light Princess,” readers of “Sleeping Beauty” may come away from the story thinking the best was to grow up or be helped is to fall in love; let the man (prince) solve the problem (Lurie 360). This thought is further echoed by Martin Hallett and Barbara Karasek, the authors of “Folk and Fairy Tales,” as they describe the story “as a metaphor for growing up: the heroine falls asleep as a naïve girl and awakens as a mature young woman on the threshold of marriage”
In “Escape from Wonderland” by Deborah Ross, the writer explains how the fictional characters are admired. Although they seem to be sending a bigger message to young girls. The writer talks about drawing a line between fantasy and reality. In the end Ross’s objective is to show how some Disney characters break the femininity and imagination tradition. Which can have an effect in children and how they value their own ability to have unique visions. By comparing Alice in Wonderland (1951), The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) to heroines like Arabella from The female Quixote. “Charlotte Lennox’s (The Female Quixote illustrates both these conservative and progressive plot patterns, for it both draws upon and criticizes earlier romances, which themselves often both celebrate and punished female imagination and expressiveness. Therefore, like Disney’s movies today, which also use material from romance and fairy-tale tradition”, (pg. 473, Escape from Wonderland). Young women may not only begin to fantasize about a grandeur life more exciting than reality but to be disappointed with society in the workplace and relationships. For example, Meredith from Brave she is a princess that wishes to have a different life than what her mother has planned for her. She refuses to get married and have the duties of a princess. She wants to have adventures and be
The woman society wants and idolizes cannot exist because it is impossible to remain true to oneself and one's personal goals completely, while still maintaining a relationship and the responsibilities of royalty. Society is not merely receiving this paradox, but perpetuating and encouraging it by turning a blind eye to something they do not want to see. This unrealistic, unattainable fantasy has become the goal of this modern feminist generation, and Poniewozik highlighted how this new tale has distracted from the true telling and story. Cinderella was simply a woman who just wanted to go to ball, and now she has become someone who is independent and driven, but still falls in love and learns to accept the fact that she is a princess. A woman who doesn't change who she is, but then changes titles and falls in love doesn’t exist, she is a
At first glance, what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale may seem obvious—some kind of magic, hidden symbols, repetition, and of course it’s evident it’s fiction—but fables are more than that. As Arthur Schelesinger puts it, it’s about “[expanding] imagination” and gaining understanding of mysterious places (618). While doing this, it also helps children to escape this world, yet teach a lesson that the reader may not be conscious of. A wonderful story that achieves all of this is Cinderella, but not the traditional tale many American’s have heard. Oochigeaskw, or The Rough-Faced Girl, and Ashputtle would be fitting for a seven-year-old because they get the gears of the mind turning, allowing for an escape on the surface, with an underlying enlightenment for children of the ways of the world.
Everyone knows and loves the enchanting childhood fairytales of magic, princes, and princesses, but very seldom are privy to the detrimental impacts of “happily ever after” on the developing youth. Fairy tales are widely studied and criticized by parents and scholars alike for their underlying tone and message to children. Peggy Orenstein, feminist author, mother, and fairy tale critic, has made it her personal mission to bring these hidden messages to the surface. In the article, “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” Orenstein dissects the seemingly innocent tale of love and magic, and the princess many know and love, and points out its flaws and dangers. Fairy tales, Cinderella in particular, are not suitable for children because upon deeper evaluation,
In the 1950s Disney character such as “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty” depicted women as still innocent and meek, thereby alluding to the permanence of pre-feminist stereotyping of women in popular culture (Cheu 150). In the two fi...
In a society unbridled with double standards and set views about women, one may wonder the origins of such beliefs. It might come as a surprise that these ideals and standards are embedded and have been for centuries in the beloved fairy tales we enjoyed reading as kids. In her analytical essay, “To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tales”, Karen Rowe argues that fairy tales present “cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice as a female’s cardinal virtues.” Rowe presents an excellent point, which can be supported by versions of the cult classics, “Cinderella” and “Snow White”. Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper” and the Brothers Grimm’s “ Snow White” exemplify the beliefs that females are supposed to be docile, dependent on the male persona and willing to sacrifice themselves. In many cases, when strong female characters are presented they are always contradicting in these characteristics, thus labeled as villainous. Such is the case of the Cinderella’s stepsisters in Perrault’s “Cinderella” and the stepmother in the Brothers Grimm’s “Snow White.” These female characters face judgment and disapproval when they commit the same acts as male characters. With such messages rooted in our beloved fairy tales it is no wonder that society is rampant with these ideals about women and disapprove of women when they try to break free of this mold.
Fairy Tales have been around for generations and generations. Our parents have told us these stories and we will eventually pass them down to ours. In this time of age the most common fairytales are Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and The Beast and many more. Children idolize their favorite character and pretend to be them by mimicking everything they do in the stories. The character’s behavior is what is viewed as appropriate in society. These fairy tales show a girl and a boy fall in love and live “happily ever after”. The tales in many people’s eyes resemble a dream life that they would want to have of their own. However, have you ever really looked at what makes up a fairy tale? Many things are unrealistic but the most unflattering aspect of these tales is how women are depicted in them. Fairy tales give an unrealistic view to how women should look and behave in real life.
The gender roles change from the original to the remake. The original Alice role is defined as a young girl who is able to explore her curiosity, but she is constrained by her feminine characteristics. Alice being a young girl is portrayed as helpless in many situations throughout her journey. The characters of Wonderland offer her assistance, but she remains most times crying by herself. Alice’s character clearly shows the innocence and virtue American society attached to girls roles in the
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about a little girl who comes into contact with unpredictable, illogical, basically mad world of Wonderland by following the White Rabbit into a huge rabbit – hole. Everything she experiences there challenges her perception and questions common sense. This extraordinary world is inhabited with peculiar, mystical and anthropomorphic creatures that constantly assault Alice which makes her to question her fundamental beliefs and suffer an identity crisis. Nevertheless, as she woke up from “such a curious dream” she could not help but think “as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been ”.
Alice still abides by the typical Victorian ideals she was taught and becomes a surrogate adult in Wonderland. At home, however, she is still considered just a child and behaves as such. This confusion in the role Alice will play within the social hierarchy i...
Cinderella’s mother passed away and her father remarried a woman who had two daughters from a previous marriage. A few weeks passed and a prince is holding a three day festival and all the beautiful young girls in the town were invited. Cinderella wanted to go but her evil stepmother gave her two impossible tasks to complete before she could attend the festival. Cinderella completes the two tasks with the help of her bird friends and her mother’s grave. Cinderella goes to the festival and she dances with the prince all three days. Finally, the prince has fallen in love with her and eventually they get married. Fairytales and Disney productions threaten gender politics and women’s role by portraying women in certain areas like domestic behaviors
...inal realization that she is growing up and that is normal, therefore, she accepts it. In brief, Alice in Wonderland is a book about growing up, and Alice definitely has grown up since the beginning of her journey and she has entered the adolescence phase when she rebels against everyone. Although she is not able to control herself when she gets angry, in other words she is behaving like a normal adolescent, she has gained a new “power” from this confusing experience: being a person with a voice to say something that matters.