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Thematic analysis essay
Thematic analysis paper
What is the importance of character development in literature
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Every fairytale has the same, happy, predictable ending, right? Most love a happy ending to a story that they have read. A Secret Sorrow by Karen Van Der Zee, and “A Sorrowful Woman” by Gail Godwin, are two amazing pieces showing a woman and her lover. One might not expect the way that both of the stories go. Both the man’s love towards the woman, endings, and theme are very similar, but they have differences. I like the “Sorrowful Woman” more because it is more realistic and it does not have the same fairytale ending that you would expect, and would not allow you to foreshadow the ending. In both stories, the man loves the woman with all of their heart. They both have their eyes on a woman of their dreams, whether he already has her or not. In A Secret Sorrow, the guy said, “‘I love you,’ he said huskily. ‘I love you’” (Van der Zee 32). Kai loved this woman with all of …show more content…
this heart, and his actions showed it. She kept on rejecting him, but, “He lifted her chin, gently. ‘Look at me, Faye.’ She did, but his face was only a blur. ‘Faye, we’re in this together--you and I. Don’t you see that? It’s not just your problem, it’s ours” (Van der Zee 34). Kai constantly wanted to try to get this woman and claim her as his. In “A Sorrowful Woman”, the wife was sick and the husband could not really do much. The husband said, “She was to drink a little glass of cognac followed by a big glass of dark liquid and there was just time to say Thank You” (Godwin 41). He does love her just like Kai in the first story, but the only difference is in the second one he could not keep the woman of his dreams. The husband, “dawdled in a stream of the last sun for that day and watched his father roll tenderly back her eyelids, lay his ear softly to her breast, test the delicate bones of her wrist. The father put down his face into her fresh-washed hair” (Godwin 42). His wife lay dead on the bed and there was nothing much that he could do. Every story has to have an ending.
One ending was the expected fairytale type of ending while the other was a sad and depressing one. In the first selection the ending stated, “And in the warm afterglow of lovemaking, their bodies close together, she knew that to him she was everything, to him she was the only woman, beautiful, complete, whole” (Van der Zee 38). This is a very happy ending because the guy, after so many attempts, captured the girl of his dreams. This is just like the fairytale that almost every person would want to read. However, the second selection was not as expected when it went, “‘Look mommy is sleeping,’ said the boy…. The father put down his face into her fresh-washed hair. ‘Can we eat the turkey for supper?’ the boy asked” (Godwin 42). This is a depressing ending because the wife died and her husband loved her so much, while the boy had no clue what was going on. The boy was the happiest he has ever been and does not realize that it would be the saddest day of his life. The young boy loved his mother, but did not receive the love that he
gave. Love; does it conquer all? The two stories have a meaningful theme that fit. The theme in both of the stories says whether love conquers all or not. In the first story Kai says, “‘And do you love me? Again she nodded, her eyes in his” (Van der Zee 36). This quote shows Faye saying that she loves Kai back after his many endeavors at being with her. This is a happy time for both him and her. It shows that love does conquer.
...seems to have endured the most in his life. Not only did he spend his youth caring for his sick mother and then wife, but he now must live in the painful memory of how his life could have been if the accident never happened. The end of the book leaves the readers saddened and frustrated. Though the novella began with a plotline seemingly leading to an ending as cheery as that of Snow White, in the end, this beautiful maiden turned sour. In this storybook tragedy, “the lovers do not live happily ever after. The witch wins” (Ammons 1).
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
During the era in which these stories were written, marriages were an economic arrangement which had very little to do with love. In both stories, the couples seem to have an ideal marriage, which eventually turns to aloofness. This could be that ending a marriage during this time was unheard of.
Folktales can be used to share morals or a lesson using symbols, and this is true of the classic “Cinderella” story. Madonna Kolbenschlag, a feminist, writes “A Feminist’s View of ‘Cinderella,’” explaining the Cinderella story in a more sexist view. Bruno Bettel-heim, a distinguished psychologist, centers his article, “‘Cinderella’: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts” very specifically on the sibling rivalry exhibited in the classic “Cinderella” story. He also writes about the oedipal period of a child’s life. Both authors agree that “Cinderella” is most likely the best-known and best-liked fairy tale. Although, according to Stith Thompson, folktales have been passed form country to country and through different time periods,
In society there is a longing for a story to have a nice and neat happy ending. Broadway and the theater originally would give this to their audience, especially in America. Give the audience what the want! They want happy endings that mirror their own values and interpretations of how the world should be and at the end of it should be, “and they all lived happily ever after.” The fairy tale ending is something society hopes, dreams, and strives for since we could listen to our parents read us fairy tales with these sweet stories of finding true love and having to fight the odds to be the Prince or Princess you deserve to be. With Into the Woods, Lapine and Sondheim sought out to explore what could go wrong with “happily ever after.” Effectively leaving the audience with the adage, “be careful what you ask for…”
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.
Anne Sexton’s poem “Cinderella” is filled with literary elements that emphasize her overall purpose and meaning behind this satirical poem. Through the combination of enjambment stanzas, hyperboles, satire, and the overall mocking tone of the poem, Sexton brings to light the impractical nature of the story “Cinderella”. Not only does the author mock every aspect of this fairy tale, Sexton addresses the reader and adds dark, cynical elements throughout. Sexton’s manipulation of the well-known fairy tale “Cinderella” reminds readers that happily ever after’s are meant for storybooks and not real life.
There are few ways in which the two versions are alike. The most obvious is that they tell the same story, albeit with a slight variation at some points, but in essence, the story told is the same. They are both about a knight who committed a crime against a woman and was sent on a quest by the queen to learn “what women most desire.” Throughout his journey, the knight asked many women what they most desired and received varied answers. Dejected, the knight travels back to the kingdom to receive his punishment, but he comes across an old woman. She tells him what women most desire, the knight is acquitted, and he is forced to marry the old woman. In the end, the knight allows the old woman to choose whether she would like to be beautiful or faithful, so she becomes a beautiful and faithful young woman because the knight learned his lesson about women. Moreover, by glancing at the two poems, it is obvious that the length is similar.
In these two stories both of the main character have there happy ending at the end of the story. In the short story ‘Ashputtle’ after all she has been through her evil family and her mother dying at such a young age. Ashputtle finally got the happy ending that she was hoping for: “On the day Ashputtle’s wedding.” (Straub 858) This quote shows out of her her evil step sisters the prince finally found out Ashputtle is the girl he has been looking for all along. Ashputtle finally had the wedding she has alway
Many people may find it odd that two stories that follow the same concept can be so different. “Aschenputtel” shows the horror of a story that we are so used to hearing, told in a different matter being told in a way that makes you completely forget about the modern version. You can also say that both stories are being told differently because of the time period and the location. So in a way the writers used the time period, and personal battles to tell these stories. Maid of Manhattan was told in New York in 2002, and they used a rich politician as modern version of a prince. It can be said that the time period impacted the choice to do so. One story shows happiness and joy of a mother who despite her troubles uplifts herself throughout the whole movie the other shows the dark story of a girl abused by her stepsister and her stepmother that would give anyone nightmares just reading right off the bat you notice the difference of two stories that are supposed to be the same going in two completely different directions. This goes to show that every happy and uplifting story has a dark side to it no matter the way we are used to hearing it every story can be interpreted differently in many different ways. Not just for Cinderella but for all fairy tales. People can see the concept of the stories in different ways which makes them interpret them differently it just goes to show every fairy tale has it’s downfall but it’s the ones that are told differently that shows that not every fairy tales has it’s happy endings. Even the most uplifting story can show darkness. It really goes to show how different two stories can be even if they have the same concept to them. “Aschenputtel” and “Maid of Manhattan” are great example of two extremely different interpretation but also contain the same concept. It may sound strange or odd but that’s the power of
Moving towards the second tale “The Wife of Bath” love and death play a very large toll on the outcome of the story. We begin with a knight who rapes a woman and is given the death penalty. His “love” for her granted him a golden ticket to a death, but miraculously is spared to find the answer to question his life depended on. When introduced to the old woman, he is forced to pledge himself to her in order for help. She helps him and he lives but is now burdened with a woman he does not love. He has no love for her yet is forced to marry and remain miserable.
It starts with a fairy tale story, where all magical things happen and ends happily. The goodness is rewarded but the evil ones are punish. The closing of the story always ends with “and they live happily ever after,” and the main character becomes unhappy but eventually gains happiness at the end. The traditional Cinderella story figure is from “rags to riches.” It begins with a poor maid girl named Cinderella whose stepmother and stepsisters treated her unkindly, but because of the help of her fairy godmother, Cinderella found her Prince Charming. In Anne Sexton’s Cinderella story, the author made changes to the traditional fairy tale by adding her own tale. Throughout the poem, Sexton uses sarcasm to finish the tale initiating the readers’ expectation of happy ending and a traditional fairy tale to vanish. In doing so, she shows the difference between the fairy tale and reality world. Sexton’s poem mocks the traditional happy ending. She is trying to show the reader that happily-ever-after does not even exist in reality. Overall, Sexton’s poem would be considered a dark classic fairy tale including violence and bloody details. By examining literary devices such as the author’s attitude toward the words she says, sensory details denoting specific physical experiences, and tropes to involve some kind of comparison, either explicit or implied, the reader will gain an understanding on what the author is trying to prove a point in her story.
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
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 classic tale of Cinderella is well known for the fight of overcoming great obstacles despite great odds. However, there are always a few ill-hearted people who go out of their way to cease any competition that they might face, as seen with Cinderella’s step-sisters. Samuel Jackson says is his distinguished quote, “The hunger of imagination…lures us to…the phantoms of hope,” to help develop a more defined view of a fairytale. The story of Cinderella fully embodies the ideals of a true fairytale by encompassing magic, hope, and struggle between good and evil throughout the duration of the plot.