A Two Tale Comparison
Thinking back to our childhood, we all remember hearing many kinds of fairy tales. Some of them inspired us others confused us, and most of them taught us valuable lessons. Through out centuries tales and stories have been used as a valuable tool to pass on our culture to new generations. There is a strong belief that these fairy tales mirror and influence society. All cultures interpret tales in their own unique way. They add and subtract various aspects of the tale to fit the needs of their particular society. The same tale in the United States is different from the tale told in Asia. A good example of tale evolution can be seen in one of the most famous tales ever told which is “Cinderella”. As a professor of women’s history Karol Kelley points out in her essay Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella “There are some 700 versions of Cinderella”.This fairy tale as many others has been changing for many years, and in recent years Cinderella has come under some criticism for its depiction of women’s roles in society.
In present day society, where political correctness and equality are at the top of the priority list, by reading essays such as the one by Karol Kelley we find that this might not have been the case in earlier days. Fairy tales such as Cinderella have been found guilty of possessing subliminal socialization traits. Classifying genders as inferior and molding young girls into the female that society expects them to be. In Charles Perrault’s version, which is considered the most common, Cinderella is seen as passive, limited, dependent and inferior. As critics argue, these traits can hinder a child’s self esteem. Karol Kelley states that the “expectations and the promises
of the Cinderella story are psychologically harmful to women.” (p648). The fact that Cinderella is a limited character may give the girl an impression that she should be happy with what she has and not have any or aspirations in her life. That is, until her Prince comes to rescue her. Since these comments were made, the Cinderella story has been modified and changed. In order to see how gender roles have changed in fairy tales from the old to the new, let’s compare the classic version of Cinderella by Charles Perrault to a recent version which is a movie that was released in 1998 called “Ever After”which was directed by Andy Tennant.
A young girl is forced to live with her step-mother and step-sisters after her father and mother die. She becomes the maid of the family, tending to their every need. Eventually there is a ball; she acquires a fairy Godmother, goes to the ball, falls in love with the prince, blah blah blah. All you really need to know is that she has a happy ending. A happy ending. No matter how much suffering she went through in her early years, at the end, it all came together and she had no more worries. And this is the problem. Cinderella is not realistic. It never was and never will be. Watching this movie when I was young made me believe there was a prince waiting for me somewhere. I grew up thinking that life was simple and uncomplicated, that I did not need to worry about the future because there was a man that would provide everything I wanted and needed. But as I got older, I realized this was not the case. I saw many of my friend’s parents divorce, people die, and the world fight with each other. My fantasy died off, and I realized I had to work hard for myself, and not others. The poem Cinderella by Anne Sexton made fun of the ending of Cinderella. She states, “Cinderella and the prince / lived … happily ever after … / their darling smiles pasted on for eternity. / Regular Bobbsey Twins. / That story.” (Sexton 11). Notice who she referenced and how she has a sarcastic tone. Cinderella and the prince smiled for others, trying to convince
India is located in the south of the Asian continent bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The country’s territory is measured at nearly 3.3 million square kilometres extending from the snow-capped Himalayan Mountains in the north to tropical forests in the South. India’s neighbouring countries are, to the northwest Afghanistan and Pakistan; to the north China, Bhutan and Nepal; and to the east Burma and Bangladesh. The latitude and longitude of India is 21.0000 degrees North and 78.0000 degrees East. India’s size is 3,287,590 kilometers squared and its distance from Australia is a vast 7,809 kilometers.
As the world has transformed and progressed throughout history, so have its stories and legends, namely the infamous tale of Cinderella. With countless versions and adaptations, numerous authors from around the world have written this beauty’s tale with their own twists and additions to it. And while many may have a unique or interesting way of telling her story, Anne Sexton and The Brother’s Grimm’s Cinderellas show the effects cultures from different time periods can have on a timeless tale, effects such as changing the story’s moral. While Sexton chooses to keep some elements of her version, such as the story, the same as the Brothers Grimm version, she changes the format and context, and adds her own commentary to transform the story’s
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.
Over centuries of children have been enjoying the classic fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers and Charles Perrault. The fanciful plots and the vivid details allow children to be entranced by characters and adventures that can only be found in these stories. One of the most beloved fairy tales, which both the Perrault and the Grimms have their own separate versions of, is Cinderella. Cinderella is able to show how both versions are able to feed off the same plots while personifying the century and social economic situation in which they have lived.
Throughout many fairytales, Cinderella more evidently, there is the stigma of male roles and female roles. The man is the prince, the knight in shining armor, the strong protector and able provider, and the woman is the princess. Dainty and innocent, weak and capable only of looking pretty, fostering children and maintaining appearances of house and home. These roles of placement have been around long before fairy tales, and they’ll be around long after fairy tales, but the inclusion of these roles through characters in fairy tales does nothing but enforce the idea that this is the way things are meant to be, and women who do not assume these roles are wrong and unworthy. In her article, Orenstein refers to Cinderella as “the patriarchal oppression of all women”, and she is exactly right (Orenstein “What’s wrong with Cinderella?”). The impression left of these gender stereotypes travels off the pages of the fairy tale and into the real world when studies show that there is a “23% decline in girls’ participation in sports and other rigorous activity … has been linked to their sense that athletics is unfeminine” (Orenstein “What’s wrong with Cinderella?”). The blatant disregard for equality in these stories can be summed up with a term Orenstein coined, “relentless resegregation of childhood”, which ultimately defines what it means to be a boy or a girl in the terms of set behaviors and life duties (Orenstein “What’s wrong with Cinderella?”). Whether it be Cinderella or any other princess, the fairy tale business makes it a point to create a place for women with their stories, and unfortunately that “place” is demeaning and still practiced
Short stories are a form of literature works that authors use to communicate various themes and issues to the reader. As such, it is common for different short stories authored by different people to have a central meaning or theme that differs from each other. In addition, the way the author portrays his/her central theme or meaning would differ from the way other authors would craft their short stories to best portray their central meaning. While some would use characterization as a means of portraying the theme of their story, other authors employ the use of symbols to better communicate their theme. However, some slight similarities can always be drawn between short stories. ‘Hills like White
A prolific exemplification of the ideal female virtues portrayed in fairy tales is Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper”. Perrault presents the ideal female fairy tale character through his portrayal of Cinderella. Cinderella is a tame and forgiving individual who subjects herself to the will of her father, stepmother and s...
The biological differences that set apart the male and female gender throughout any culture remain eminent. Men are perceived as the stronger and dominant gender; women play the role of the weaker. In each culture the expectation of the manner in which men and women behave are influenced by the ideals and customs of that culture. In most predominant cultures, the man undertakes the role as a leader, and the woman devotes her life to the husband. Throughout history, traditions and literature provide a template to the identities of various cultures. Sleeping Beauty’s classic tale of a beautiful princess takes a central precept that previous patriarchal archetypes dominated during the 17th Century. The archetypal perceptions of women resulted from conscious and unconscious literature influenced by male-dominated perspectives and social standards.
For an Example Mr. Morrison stood up to the guy that he was working for on the railroad and he knew that something bad could happen but, he did anyways. And I think this courageous act relates to what Lynda when she was arguing with the sheriff Jim Clark about the cell being to small and she had the courage to take the broom that the sheriff gives her to clean up barf. And smashes the window and yells “HELP! HELP US, ANYONE, PLEASE! Even though she knew that she could get in trouble she still did it. And when she did do that the sheriff was furious. And I think that the Logan Family and their friends where courageous when they did a peaceful protest because the Logans got threatened by Harlan Granger because the Logan’s were encouraging people to not shop at the Wallace store but, in Vicksburg. And I think this act relates to when the marchers nervously stand there ground even though sheriff Clark told them to turn around. And Sheriff and his group charges at the group and stops there peaceful protest to be able to vote without having to pass a impossible
In the poem “Cinderella”, Anne Sexton illustrates the unrealistic expectations that fairy tales put into the minds of young women. The story of “Cinderella” has many versions in both print and film. Millions of dollars are generated annually with romance novels and romantic comedies commonly dubbed chick flicks. All versions share a similar story, a young lady meets a man and her life is then happy, fruitful, carefree and complete. These images are nothing more than fairy tales but they set expectations on young women that are unattainable. The poem was written in 1971, there was a growing awareness of women’s liberation and feminism at the time but, sadly, in 2016, I feel that the majority of women are still aiming for the fairy tale
Morrison himself has done many courageous things like how he lost his job by fighting two white men who started the fight and practically destroying them and him getting blamed for the fight. Another way he showed courage is when he beat up the Wallaces . This is courage because of the way that he was trying to defend papa, he was beating up the wallaces by using himself rather than use his shotgun, and when he crushed the Wallaces he helped papa into the house and helped make his leg better. This was courageous because during the great depression Blacks were being treated very horribly by whites and were killed very often because of the things that they did to stand up for themselves, also they were segregated which made them even more worse than whites, and because of Jim crow laws blacks had a lot less rights and a hella lot more worse punishments all because they were black One more way he showed courage is when he stood up to the Wallaces when he didn’t have his shotgun and Kaleb Wallace had his gun which he was pointing his gun at him, but Kaleb got intimidated by Mr. Morrison and couldn’t shoot, then Mr. Morrison walked up to his car and looked around for a minute, walked back and we left. These are all signs of courage by Mr.Morrison who is by far one of the most courageous people in Roll of Thunder, Hear My
How did we get here? In 1697, French writer Charles Perrault updated an age-old fairy tale about a young woman named Cinderella to appeal to his contemporaries, French nobility and bourgeoisie. So many of the early versions of the tale boasted a very resourceful young woman who played an active role in her destiny. Perrault, however wrote his Cinderella as a well-mannered, docile, selfless women who would fit seamlessly with the ideal 17th century upper-class society. Historically, fairy tales have reflected the values of society in which they were written or revised mirroring its preoccupations, obsessions, ambitions, and shortcomings. What do these updates say about our culture’s view of women and marriage?
Anthropological study can explain how the characters’ values and learning of rules are dramatically affected by their cultural background. In the story, after Cinderella’s mother died, she ‘remained pious and good’ (Grimm, 1812). She visited her grave every day and wept, showing her sense of responsibility and unwillingness to neglect loved ones. She also demonstrated a sense of respect for her family, complying to become a maid without arguing. Also, knowing their financial position, she only asked for a twig when her father went to the fair. Through these personality traits, it is evident that she has been raised with enforced rules and good values. Cinderella’s step sisters, on the other hand, were mean and unkind. They were ‘beautiful, with fair faces, but evil dark hands’ (Grimm, 1812). They laughed at the way Cinderella was dressed, and deliberately threw peas into the ashes to give her an additional chore. They were also very greedy and asked their stepfather to buy them jewels and dresses when he went to the fair. Through the step sisters’ behaviour, it is evident that they have been raised with the wrong rules and values, showing disrespec...
Since the time fairytales first started, women were always the princess and the main character of every tale. Little girls fantasize about being a princess from the fairy tales their parents read to them. But in reality, how women are portrayed in the fairy tales by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Anderson, is utterly disgusting. In fairy tales, women who are passive, powerless, naïve, and who would do anything for men are beautiful and become the princess at the end, but women who seek power are ugly and evil. The role of women in society are present in fairytales as well, women do the cleaning, take care of the children, and cook, while men go out into the world to earn a living.