Are fairy tales simply entertaining stories for children, or tales geared to educate children to be solid citizens and consumers? While fairy tales are entertaining stories and can be used to educate children of the normal social manners of reality; however, it can be used to entertain and educate people of all ages. It can be used as a method of escaping the real world or to teach valuable life lessons than just the normal social mannerisms of society. I believe that fairytales can educate children on how they should behave in society and are a form of entertainment for children; however, I believe they do more than just entertain and educate children. As a person who enjoys Fairytales, I believe people of all ages can be entertained by …show more content…
Fairy tales teaching more valuable lessons than just teaching children than just how to behave. While The Last Unicorn contains elements of a traditional fairy tale (good vs. evil, royalty, quests, magic, etc.), I believe that it is more than just a traditional fairy tale. The Last Unicorn critiques fairytales by being a slight parody by using the traditional elements, character awareness, and including valuable life lessons by tinkering with the “Happy ever after” element. The comedic side of the Last Unicorn comes mostly from Schmendrick the Magician and his awareness of the fairy tale formula. “You’re in the story with the rest of us now, you must go with it, whether you will or no. If you want to find your people, if you want to be a unicorn again, then you must follow the fairy tale to King Haggard’s castle, and wherever else it chooses to take you. The story cannot end without a princess.” This is one of the Schmendrick’s quotes where he breaks the fourth wall a tiny bit and talks about them being in a fairy tale. The awareness that he has about being in a fairy tale is not only hilarious, but it’s this awareness that adds depth to the story and parodies traditional fairy tales. It points out the traditional formula of fairy tales and kind of makes fun of it a bit since the characters are aware of the story they are …show more content…
The Last Unicorn doesn’t end with the main character riding off with the Prince where they will live happily ever after. The ending of the story gives the impression that each character’s life will continue onto more adventures to continue their growth, rather than having their entire life based on the course of this specific quest. This is a valuable lesson to children and all people need to learn that other fairy tales do not really teach. You shouldn’t wait for a happily ever after because one quest or journey will lead to being happy forever. The Last Unicorn teaches the readers of life being more than a simple happy ending. It teaches the readers that to become what they want, they have to be active on your journey will get out of the everyday cycle. In addition, it teaches the readers that there is not a sole quest that will define the ending to your story. There is not one quest that will ultimately lead to a “happily ever after,” that other fairy tales seem to push forward. It teaches readers that life continues and you will keep growing with the many obstacles that come your
Throughout history it is known that fairy tales were written to teach children lessons about life in a way they could understand and that is fun and unique. Authors of fairy tales put simple lessons into the stories so the children could understand them easily while reading. Whether this be a lesson to be nice to all people, like in Cinderella, or to not judge someone by their appearance, like in Donkey Skin, both by Charles Perrault. Each fairytale has a moral that can be found throughout reading the stories that teach children right from wrong while letting them use their imaginations to discover that moral. The good and the bad lets them express their thoughts openly, rather it be their negative thoughts through the villian or their
Another interpretation of the tapestries as a wedding gift can view the story as the unicorn being a lover who endures various hardships to win his lady's love; he had to suffer to win her heart. In the last tapestry the unicorn is now wearing the "chain of love" around his neck and surrounded by a fence, perhaps to show he is now tamed and domesticated by his lady's affection.
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.
A fairytale is a fictional fantasy fable that passes through generations of children as source of interest to them. Though used for the intent of entertainment, fairytales often indirectly advocate a moral or message to readers (whom are usually children), in hopes that they will grow up to apply these ethics and lead a righteous life. This criteria, however, often originates from the occurrence of a magical transformation; it is this paranormality that introduces the characters of the story to a side of life far from what they have grown to know and learn to adapt to the dramatic amend in their life. This is evident in the characters in world-renowned tales such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.
Even though the two versions are extremely similar, they contain slightly different morals. When the Grimm Brothers wrote their story, the world was a different place and children did not need to be babied. That is why they chose to write such a cruel ending to their version. In the modern-day Cinderella, there is a profusion of magic and there is no violence, which is a change from the original story. By changing this and the ending, children receive a different message from the story. However, both stories give kids hope that they will live happily ever after.
As a general rule, children love fairy tales. We grow up being read Grimm's or watching Disney remakes of classics. Parents love telling children fairy tales not only because they have an opportunity to spend time with their sons and daughters, but also because fairy tales, like fables, always contain a lesson or moral within them. Although both Kate Chopin's "The Storm," and D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner" have some of the qualities of a child's fairy tale, only one of the stories has a moral tone, while the other has a very amoral one.
It all begins with “Once upon a time” and ends with “and they lived happily ever after”. “Cinderella” is a very widely known story that many children around the world look up to and admire through their entire life. The history of this story, how scholars interpret this tale, and how the authors have retold the story are all key points to keeping this story fresh and popular. Most of the time when people hear the story of “Cinderella”, they think about the Disney version and maybe it is time that changes. All in all, the story brings light to everyone’s life even if they only know the original “Cinderella”.
Cinderella is a childhood fairytale created through Disney that highlights fairy godmother magic, animated nature with talking animals, and happily ever after ending. While the latent meaning we grow
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
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
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.
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.
I am writing this paper because I was assigned to write it as a class project. Along the way I realized the importance of sharing the real meanings of all these stories. Stories are important because in the society we live in things are constantly changing. Fairytales change but the base of the story always remain the same no matter how many times it has been retold. It’s important to reveal the true meanings of these stories, even with its dark characteristics, because the world is dark .Children need to know that there are people that have told stories relatable to what they are going through. Fairytales help the development of children; it helps their maturity as they confront someone else’s tough situations, instilling hope of a more positive ou...
Each person in the world has heard of Cinderella, no matter what kind of version it may be. Cinderella is the one fairy tale story that has been popular and will always be the one tale that has to be told to children. Words and story lines might be twist and turn, but in the end the knowledge of the story will be learned in similar ways. As we all know when one story is told another is created, when one is at its best then another is at its worse. One version will always be better than another, but no matter what version it might be the story will be told.
Normally, when one was a child, our parents would tell us fairy tales as bed time stories, or to simply entertain us. This is a worldwide tradition in which every parent tells their child the stories they were told when they were little, or new stories. There are infinite stories to be told as well as infinite stories that have already been written or told. The stories told by our parents have influenced us and still influence us in our beliefs and values today. Throughout our childhood, we have been told many stories that teach us to be brave and courageous, respect others, love ourselves and others, to obey orders, and even to help and