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Gender Roles in Fairy Tales
Gender Roles in Fairy Tales
Fairy tales gender roles children
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History of Fairy Tales
When people think of fairy tales, the image that comes to mind is a children 's story with magical beings and lands. Often these stories seem very plausible and actually something that happened in the not so distant past. In 1812, the Grimm Brothers published a collection of stories which contained 86 stories which became the foundation of what we call as fairy tales today. Aside from the fantasy elements, there are many other recurring traits found in fairy tales. Often the protagonist were the downtrodden, the innocent, and mostly young characters. What made them standout was their status: sometimes an orphaned child, generally very bright, and adorably naive. They also have the clear distinction between good and evil and ends with the
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In the Grimm’s version of the story, little red riding hood has a cute image. A girl who is off to bring her grandmother some home baked pastries. With this being her first trip alone, it brings the naive girl and the sly wolf together making the reader hopeful that someone will save the foolish young girl from this dangerous wolf. However in “The Werewolf” we are told from the beginning “do not leave the path because of the bears, the wild boar the starving wolves. Here, take your father’s hunting knife; you know how to use it.” (Carter 210). From these words the reader learns that not only is this not the first time little red riding hoods has gone to grandmother 's house, she is also very capable of defending herself from dangerous animals. The destruction of the innocence and the weakness of the young girl changes the fear directly from the young girl to the safety of the hungry wolf. With such drastic changes, not only is Carter able to switch the roles of the characters, she is also able to incorporate gothic features into the
Fairy tales connect to our owns lives, dreams, anxieties, and help us to consider what we would do in their shoes. Many cultures have their own spin on common fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty, with their own cultural flavor. We read those versions and know that we share something important and the hope for good to overcome evil.
Fairy tales have been engraved into human culture since the beginning of time. They are passed orally or sometimes written down in books and poems. Childrens fairy tales can be used to inspire ideas and dream while as serving as fear factor to keep the youth in line. Adults look at fairy tales more as a far away fantasy that they will never be able to reach, because of the constraints of the real world. Fairy tales will be around forever because they provide a staple in society for the lessons they teach and the entertainment they bring. “The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth , and the Water of Life” is a tale of the youngest of three sons completing a quest for his elder blind father.
The telling of fairy tales has changed tremendously as they have been around for a great amount of time. As a child, fairy tails are read by someone who is older, that understands the deeper meaning of the tale. The Brothers Grimm tales were not meant to be for children because of the content that they contained. In Zohar Shavit criticism, he made the point that as time went on, fairy tales were transformed into ones that were more appropriate for children that did not contain all of the violence, sex, and dark meanings. They wanted children to look at the world in a different way than how it was intended for adults (Shavit 327). Literary critic, Robert Sale, once
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.
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.
In order to appeal to today’s audience, Disney had to change aspects of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales to fit the audience’s modern day ideals. Any form of entertainment is written for a specific audience. The time period between when the Grimm Brothers were writing to now has seen many changes which alter the way stories are told. In the 1800s, when the Grimm Brothers wrote their fairy tales, people passed down stories through word of mouth. It was a simple time,”They continue to live in such a way that nobody ponders whether they are good or bad, poetic or crude… And they take pleasure in them without having any reason” (Grimm Brothers page xxvi). People absorbed what they heard which did not require reading deeply into each story. Each
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.
During the 1800’s two brothers, known as Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, began writing short stories that reflected their lives in central Europe. At this time the French under Napoleon’s rule had overrun Germany, which caused a lot of political issues. Germany’s new governmental ruler cut off the country of its local culture (National Geographic). The Grimm brothers tried to preserve the traditional oral stories of the time. They didn’t plan for their writings to become popular, or for them to be for the younger population. The Grimm brothers were motivated to change the stories up a bit as their tales captivated more people. They incorporated a softer side with a primary moral of the story for the readers (GrimmFairytales.com). It is from these original Grimm versions that modern fairytales, such as Cinderella originated from.
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
One distinct difference between Charles Perrault’s, “Little Red Riding Hood” and Angela Carter’s, “Wolf-Alice” is the narrative focus. Perrault’s version follows the male character, outlining the wolf’s actions and motivations. The newer adaptation by Carter follows the female character, intimately describing her thought process and motivations. The older fairy tale versions were written by male editors/collectors, in a time where females were seen as the weaker sex, innocent, and more naïve. Carter was a female writer that challenged the way women were depicted. She took the stereotypical female character from the older fairy tales and turned them into liberated strong women, thereby making the female characters an active participant in the story.
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.
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.
...n every fairy tales, the tragedy identifies their own unique character, and symbolizes the plot to overcome it. After overcoming the hard times, during the plot is solved, and then describes the happy ever after. In The Shining the happy ever after was when Wendy and Danny were able get into the snow car and flee together, while Jack was freezing and dying. Sometimes the happy ever after do not happen with a kiss. In Hazel and Gretel the characters were able to trick the witch and scape. So, the fairy tales the evil never dies, but is destroyed.
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...
There are many fairy tales that have been discussed in this class. The most interesting stories to me are Snow White by Brother Grimm and Ever After: A Cinderella Story directed by Andy Tennant based on Cinderella by Charles Perrault. There are many different versions of Snow White and Cinderella from numerous cultures. In every version, both stories are known as children bed time stories. In addition, the purpose of both stories is to give a life lesson to the children about overcoming evil to attain happiness. At first, every fairy tale has to deal with evil that threatens the protagonist, but in the end, good must always win. In the same way, both of the fairy tales have a similar scenario of a character that is beautiful and has an equally sweet disposition, but is thwarted by an antagonist