Fairy tales and movies can be very similar or very different in many ways. But wait! What exactly is a fairy tale? Well, to me a fairy tale exists when a short story can fulfill ones imaginations. After reading many short stories I then ask myself are these stories beneficial to young children? Do we really want our kids to imitate certain traits these characters portray? I argue that the fairy tale “Cinderella,” creates several stereotypes. By “sterotypes” Im implying that fairy tales are starting to create expectations on how much power a women or men can possess. Stereotypes even go deeper than the power an individual is able to obtain.
After reading the Brothers Grimm version of “Cinderella,” and watching the film version by Rodgers and Hammerstein, I saw many significant differences and similarities between the two. The similarities and differences I will touch on are diversity, gender issues, characteristics, interpretation, and exaggeration. The list can go on and on, but the bigger picture I want everyone to see is “sterotypes,” that are created from this particular short story/film.
Both versions tell of a young lady, Cinderella whose fathter marries a wicked woman who hated her. The woman and kids would boss Cinderella around an mistreat her. Yet both versions vary greatly when it comes to diversity. Unlike the Grimm Brothers version the film by Rodgers and Hammerstein displayed women of all cultures. They gave the Cinderella story a modern twist and more of a magical feel. You hardly ever see an African-American as an lead character of an fairy tale. Many sterotypes can be created when it comes to race in fairy tales. This film give other races hope for change. From this film I grasp the whole idea of everyone being...
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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
Gender Issues tend to be central in both of these texts in their own ways. Though one story leans more towards one gender while the other specifies both gender stereotypes. In Cinderella, the Legend, written by Kolbenschlag, the author explains how Cinderella character ties into a representation when putting on the slipper. The author explains the representation described in Paragraph 8, “The slipper, the central icon in the story, is a symbol of sexual
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.
The Grimm’s stories have strict criteria for good and evil. Good women are not the hero, they do not plan, nor do they get themselves out of bad situations; they are obtuse and wait until a Prince saves them. These qualities doom the female protagonists (and readers) to pursue the only destiny women have, and that is to be a wife and mother (Rowe, 1978). Cinderella is the heroine and the ideal good girl. She is unambiguously beautiful, kind, and compassionate. She does not complain or get angry. This is foreseen early in the Grimm’s Cinderella story:
According to Refinery 22, “Cinderella” began being a story all about “persecution and the dangers of systematic oppression”.
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.
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,
... supports this claim by showing how the female character’s speeches are reduced dramatically while the male character’s speeches increase dramatically. Bottigheimer later supports this by comparing Cinderella’s speeches from the 1812 version and the 1857 version. Bottigheimer states, “The 1857 version presents a far different picture. Here Cinderella has nearly lost her filial voice responding only to her father’s inquiry about what he should bring her from his trip” (62). She goes on to say, “In depriving Cinderella of her voice, Grimm has further isolated her within the tale, relegating nearly all her talk with people to indirect discourse, but leaving her the unvarying incantations addressed to birds and tree” (63).
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.
As Tartar notes, fairy tales “adap[t] to a culture and [are] shaped by its social practices” (xiv). As American culture began to change, the fairy tales produced by Disney studios began to change and adapt to changing American sensibilities. The main focus of this shift is the role that women play in the fairy tales. While many of Disney’s early fairy tale movies have female characters, they are fairly passive. They achieve their happily-ever-after as a reward for good behavior in the face of adversity. The prevalence of this in the early tales occurs for two reasons. First, the women’s behavior serves as a guide to the American people who, too, are facing the adversity of the Great Depression and then war. Second, the women’s behavior mirrors the expected behavior of women in society at that time. As women fight for and achieve what they want out of life, the female protagonists in the Disney fairy tales mirror that action. As a result, the female protagonists’ behavior serves a different purpose in these later fairy tale films. The behavioral shifts serve to “endow us with the power to reconstruct our lives” (Tartar xii). They are “fictional stories that provide a truth applicable in the real world as a moral” by embracing the growing importance of equality for women found in modern American (Zipes, “The Cultural Evolution of Storytelling 10).
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.
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 bedtime 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
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.
Disney and old fairytales threaten gender politics and ideal women roles by giving certain stereotypes for domestic and personality traits. Fairytales that have turned into Disney productions have sculpted domestic roles for women that consist of cooking, cleaning and caring for the children. Disney has also created these princesses with personalities that are shy, passive, and vulnerable. The cause of these stereotypes are making individuals obliterate their own identities and becoming clones from the mold that was prepared for