It has become difficult to count just how many fairy tales begin with a sentence characterizing the female protagonist as astonishingly beautiful and kind. In both versions of Riquet with the Tuft, it seems as though intelligence is the more valued feminine trait as each rendition features a woman gaining intelligence before a man will accept her as his bride. However, the way in which the protagonist applies her newly acquired intelligence in her marriage directly affects her fate. In Bernard’s Riquet with the Tuft, Mama’s intelligence is portrayed as being deliberate and manipulative, elements that both undermine and threaten Riquet’s masculine power. In Perrault’s Riquet with the Tuft, the princess’ intelligence is described as elegant and ladylike, components that both reflect well on Riquet and supplement his own intelligence without overpowering it. Both adaptations originally offer a refreshing ideal; female intelligence is placed higher than feminine beauty on a societal pedestal. Both authors use explicit phrases to demonstrate the significance of female intelligence …show more content…
Immediately after gaining her intelligence, Mama is described as uttering words in “a proper way” (Bernard 718). The word “proper” means to “conform to social etiquette; decent decorous, or respectable.” This particular word choice alludes to the fact that Mama is behaving in a dainty, passive manner. Additional word choices to describe Mama’s intelligence after her initial acquisition include “witty” and “coherent” (718). The word “coherent” is especially revealing because it means “logical in sense; harmoniously accordant.” This definition insinuates that Mama is agreeable in every sense and does not question authority. Her new ladylike behavior coupled with her passivity leads men at the frequent balls to become unfaithful and jealous, suggesting that these traits are favored by all men and not just
In James Poniewozik's "The Princess Paradox" (323-325) the author explains how the idea of a feminist, independent woman becoming a fairy tale princess is a paradox and that society is engaging in a paradox through the belief of it. He utilizes the recent bout of Cinderella retellings to show the paradox of how girls cannot be both completely independent and a fairytale princess, and yet society perpetuates the paradox through believing that this is not only possible, but realistically attainable as well. Poniewozik exposes the contradictions that surround these new Cinderellas to defy these "realistic" stories that society has come to embrace. By showing how truly constrictive and illogical these fantasies are, Poniewozik also shows how hypocritical society has become for idolizing them and why this new princess is a true paradox.
Hopkinson uses the narrator to spread a moral similar to Perrault's three hundreds year ago. Girls, especially when young and inexperienced, need to be careful when encountering nice and charming men due to its risk to ends in a completely undesirable situation. This is when the grandmother intervenes, she tries to complete her granddaughter's education by notifying her on that special affair and which will provides her advices to avoid the same experience. Indeed, fairy tale has an educational mission in addition of its entertainment. Hopkinson provides a moral to the reader through a modern and revisited tale, maybe more adapted to nowadays reader but without weakening its quintessence.
Hopkinson uses the narrator to spread the same moral as Perrault did three hundreds year ago, girls, especially younger inexperienced girls need to be careful when they encounter nice and charming men, because it could end in completely unwanted situation. This is the reason why the grandmother intervenes, she tries to complete her granddaughter's education by telling her her own story in which she can find advices that will save her to bear the same experience as her grandmother. Indeed, fairy tale has an educational mission in addition of pure entertainment. Hopkinson provides a moral to reader through a modern and different tale, more adapted to nowadays reader but without weakening its quintessence.
Warner, Marina. From the Beast to the Blond on Fairy Tales and Their Tellers. New York: Chatto & Windus, 1994. Print.
Mama the most professional and experienced of all the queens is the woman in charge of club, even when in the story the narrator doesn’t describe the physical appearance of Mama, one can conclude that she was an old woman who was not as beautiful as the other queens because of her age, but she was still very attractive. “I thought Mama was fabulous. In this world, being young and cute doesn’t mean a thing. I still have a lot to learn” (…203) She was a woman capable of overcoming situations that other queens couldn’t handle. Shinobu at a moment in which she couldn’t do the work by herself because of the unusual request for the client said, “Mama began to speak in a loving voice, in that dim room oozing with insanity. It was enough to make me shiver, in spite of myself. Times like this, I really admire Mama. She’s a real pro.” (….200) Mama is a professional woman who knows how to satisfy her clients, and give them what they are looking for. Even is a situation with an unusual request she asked the customer, “You get an erection that way?”(….200). After she got the answer from the customer she did the job, like the real queen she was. At the end of Mama’s performance with this client, he said, “Mama, you were truly just like my mother”(…203) She pleased the customer the way they should, and the customer
As a man fascinated with the role of women during the 14th Century, or most commonly known as the Middle Ages, Chaucer makes conclusive evaluations and remarks concerning how women were viewed during this time period. Determined to show that women were not weak and humble because of the male dominance surrounding them, Chaucer sets out to prove that women were a powerful and strong-willed gender. In order to defend this argument, the following characters and their tales will be examined: Griselda from the Clerk's Tale, and the Wife of Bath, narrator to the Wife of Bath's Tale. Using the role of gender within the genres of the Canterbury Tales, exploring each woman's participation in the outcomes of their tales, and comparing and contrasting these two heroines, we will find out how Chaucer broke the mold on medievalist attitudes toward women.
Folktales are a way to represent situations analyzing different prospects about gender, through the stories that contribute with the reality of the culture in which they develop while these provide ideas about the behavior and roles of a specific sex building a culture of womanhood, manhood and childhood. This is what the stories of Little Red Riding Hood of Charles Perrault (1697) and Little Red-Cap of the Grimm Brothers (1812) show. This essay will describe some ideas about gender in different ways. First, the use of symbolic characters allows getting general ideas about the environment in the society rather than individuals. Second, it is possible to identify ideas about gender from the plot from the applied vocabulary providing a better understanding of the actions. Finally, the narrative perspective of the tales analyzes deeply the status of the characters referring to the thoughts among the society.
It is easily inferred that the narrator sees her mother as extremely beautiful. She even sits and thinks about it in class. She describes her mother s head as if it should be on a sixpence, (Kincaid 807). She stares at her mother s long neck and hair and glorifies virtually every feature. The narrator even makes reference to the fact that many women had loved her father, but he chose her regal mother. This heightens her mother s stature in the narrator s eyes. Through her thorough description of her mother s beauty, the narrator conveys her obsession with every detail of her mother. Although the narrator s adoration for her mother s physical appearance is vast, the longing to be like her and be with her is even greater.
“Cinderella” the tale of a suffering young girl who finds her prince charming, and lives happily ever after in a big beautiful castle. Truly, the dream of many young female readers. This story is well known all around the world and has many different versions. This paper will specifically focus on the versions by Charles Perrault and Giambattista Basile. One cannot argue that while writing their individual version of Cinderella both Charles Perrault and Giambattista Basile were strongly influenced by the many other tales of Cinderella, and this can be seen by the repetitive plot line, character and morals in both their stories. Giambattista Basile story was called “The Cat Cinderella” and Charles Perrault named his “Cinderella” or “Little Glass
...n her mind is more important than his words. It is an example of the patriarchal society that they live in; although he is her father and has the parental power over her he would most likely not speak to a son in such a demeaning tone. He makes her seem to be slow, as if she cannot carry on a conversation or listen to him, which is quite demeaning.
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...
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
Mama is a powerful, strong witted person. She has a lot of control in this play and dominates as a woman character. This is unusual because this is usually a male’s position in life. She is a woman, “who has adjusted to many things in life and overcome many more, her face is full of strength”. In this play she is illustrated as taking over for the head of the family and controls the lives of everyone in her house. Rules are followed to Mama’s extent. She controls what is said and done in her house. After Walter yells, “WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE LISTEN TO ME TODAY!” (70). Mama responds in a strong tone of voice saying, “I don’t ‘low no yellin’ in this house, Walter Lee, a...
Beauty and the Beast – The Symphony of Virtues “Sit straight, speak softly, and take small steps while walking”, a mother says when she reminds her daughter of how she should behave in public. Etiquette protocols are what parents refer to when raising their children in order to shape them into the best versions of themselves. Just as developing children’s personalities and behavior is important to parents worldwide, virtues and manners are important to Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, the French author of the best known version of Beauty and the Beast. In the book The Classical Fairy Tales, Beauty and the Beast is presented in several forms, and alternating endings of the different versions. In addition to the structural changes, the authors’ messages vary as the tale passes
Beauty and the Beast is probably one of the most well known fairy tales that the Grimms’ reproduced. In it’s original form it was a long, drawn out story that was catered to adults. The Grimms’ changed the story to be more understood by children and made it short and to the point. Unlike many of the other fairy tales that they reproduced, Beauty and the Beast contains many subtle symbols in its purest form. It shows a girl and how she transfers to a woman; it also shows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The one major thing that separates this story from all the rest is that Beauty gets to know the Beast before marrying him.