Death in fairy tales occurs frequently (Corr, Nabe and Corr 335). In an interview, Maria Tatar, a scholar on fairy tales with books such as Off With Their Heads!: Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood, discusses why she, when reading to her children, avoided tales such as the ‘Little Match Girl’ by Hans Christen Andersen: ….But it is not really a story for young children, particularly since it ends with the image of the girl’s cold corpse, found on the sidewalks of the city on New Year’s Day. Death is everywhere in fairy tales, but it often takes a grotesque, retaliatory turn. In “Hansel and Gretel,” the witch is shoved into the very oven she had planned to use to roast the children. Because the witch is so bloodthirsty and cruel, there …show more content…
That is not to say, however, there was not controversy over the amount of violence and death in children’s literature, especially in relation to fairy tales (Gibson and Zaidman 232; Kearney 234). But there is a clear turning point in attitudes in the twentieth century where there is a marked shift from reproduction and sexual matters being the subject which writers avoided, to death becoming the ‘hush-hush’ subject (Moss 530). This could be for various reasons such as children and adults beginning to live longer or perhaps societies attempt to deny death as an evitable fate (Moss 530). This denial over death could be seen as dishonest and ‘more damaging to the emotional and intellectual development of the child.’ (Moss 530). Bettelheim and Tatar’s comments reflect this shift from the acceptance and discussion of death in literature to denial over death. Instead of death being an inescapable fate that happens to everyone, they seem to reinforce the representation of death as punishment for the wicked. This essay will examine the representation of death through different fairy tales. First, the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm shall be discussed, looking specifically at the transformative purpose of death but also death as punishment. Then, I want to discuss Andersen’s ‘The Little Match Girl’. I want to argue that ‘The Little Match Girl’ is not a ‘moralistic tale about the cruelty of the world’ (Bettelheim 105), but can be considered as a social critique of the living and working conditions of children during the period. Her death can be seen as a freeing experience for the child, but also punishment to the adult world. I then want to end on a discussion on Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale ‘The Happy Prince’ and examining
...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).
Katelyn Matroni Professor Torrence English 102 February 12th, 2014. Meaning of Life 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.
Presently, many books and fairytales are converted movies and often, producers alters the original tales to grasp the attention of a large audience. However, some of these interpretations hide the primary interpretation. The original interpretations of the Disney classics Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are greatly reinvented from the original fairytales Sun, Moon, and Talia and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs because of the brutal nature of the treatment women in these original forms. Although there are differences in certain aspects from the original tales to the movies, there are many issues that are influential to the young girls who are still watching the Disney version. I realize this when my youngest niece, Anella asks me, “Why can’t I be beautiful and fall asleep and suddenly wake up to finally find my prince?” This is true in all cases of the four different translations of the fairytales. Every single girl in these stories are in a “beautiful” state of half-death who wake to find a prince who if eager to carry them off. This can lead to negative psychological effects on young girls as they are growing up, creating a large amount of pressure and low self-esteem due to the beauty that these stories portray and maintaining restrictions that these women experience in the stories. While it is true that Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves are considered Disney classics that entertain children and provide meaningful role models, it is evident that the true, vulgar nature of these tales are hidden; these stories are about women who are thrown away.
Tatar, Maria. Off with Their Heads!: Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1992. Print.
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.
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.
During the 19th century, Grimm’s fairytales were strongly disapproved of due to harsh, gruesome details and plots. One American educator from 1885 stated, “The folktales mirror all too loyally the entire medieval worldview and culture with all its stark prejudice, its crudeness and barbarities.” As childre...
Most modern fairytales are expected to have happy endings and be appropriate for children, nonetheless, in past centuries most were gruesome. Consequently, fairytales have been modified throughout time. The stories “Beauty and the Beast” by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont and “The Summer and Winter Garden” by Jacob and Wilherm Grimm share similarities and differences. The two stories are distinct because of the peculiar year they have been written in. LePrince de Beaumont’s story is written in London of 1783 and Grimm’s in Germany of 1812. At the time, wealthy people in London, were educated and had nannies who would read to their children; whereas, in Germany, the Grimm brothers created their own interpretation into a short story. Because many high class parents in 18th century London would not be able to spend time with their children, nannies would read “Beauty and the Beast” to them since they were intended for children and considered appropriate. In “The Summer and Winter Garden,” the Grimm’s’ story was mostly based to entertain misbehaved children and teach them the valuable lesson that everyone should be treated with kindness. The Grimm brothers’ goal in rewriting this short story is to better children’s behavior which worked quite well. Since these stories have been re-written for children, it would be safe to say the reason why parents expose the two stories to their children is because they both portray the same moral: good things happen to good people. The two interpretations of “Beauty and the Beast,” although written in separate countries, share important similarities and differences even though the authors have different interpretations and came from different cultures.
We all grew up hoping that we were the princesses who met the dreamy prince and lived ‘happily ever after’ like in a fairytale.People debate over whether or not Disney fairytales are beneficial for children. Like Melissa Taylor the author of the piece ‘10 reasons why kids need to read non disney fairy tales’, I am against disneyfied fairy tales. In this essay I will argue on why kids should not only watch disney fairytales but also the real versions.
..., Maria. “An Introduction to Fairy Tales.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 230-235. Print.
“The Little Match Girl” is a sad story that, although short has great detail beyond that of other short stories. In this story a little girl tries to sell matches on the streets in order for her family to have money during the harsh winter. She fails to sell even a single match and fears going home because her father would beat her. She decides to strike a match on the side of a building she is leaning aginst to try and bring some warmth into her body. As quickly as she lights it the match burns out, so she decides to strike all the matches at once. In doing so she hallucinates and sees her late grandmother who invites her to heaven. The next morning, the girl is found dead holding a bundle of struck matches and everyone believing she had tried to warm herself. This short story has depth and sadness just as any other story would have.
Fortunately, they both have friends who help them in trouble. In the end, they both are saved by a prince who loves them very much and marries them. Both stories give the lesson to the young girls that the wage of being humble, enduring and good will get rewarded in the end while being wicked will get punished in the end. The children learn that whatever they do to someone will always come back to them in the end. For example, if they treat others fairly, the good will be returned to them, but if they treat the others unfairly, they will receive a curse or
Let’s get one thing straight here; I was not an ugly old witch. My name was Bertha. Also it really hurt my feeling and increased my insecurities when it said I was an ugly old witch. I thought I was a beautiful, middle aged woman. And I was not a, “witch”; I was simply a woman who enjoyed making and trying out new things. And who started the idea of cannibalism? I didn’t want to eat those children. So for the first time ever, I will tell you the true story of Hansel and Gretel.
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
Zipes, Jack. Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.