An unsuspecting wife discovers a room in her husband's house covered with blood and the bodies of dead women hanging from the rafters. She exposes him for the monster he is, which results in him being butchered by her family and friends. The events depicted in Bluebeard tales seem straight out of a horror movie – not a fairy tale book. Although the core plot of Bluebeard and Mr. Fox are the same, the levels of evil in the antagonists differ greatly.
In the chilling tale Bluebeard by Charles Perrault, a young bride is left alone as her husband leaves for diplomatic purposes. Before venturing away from home, Bluebeard instructs her not to enter the little room at the end of the corridor on the lower level of the house. He warns her "If you
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so much as open it a crack, there will be no limit to my anger" (Tatar, 145). As soon as he her husband departs, she races down the stairs. When she reaches the door, she begins to give though to Bluebeard's warning. However, her curiosity is stronger than her fears and she proceeds to unlock the door with the little golden key. Upon opening the door, she discovers what nightmares are made of. Corpses of women hang from the rafters and the floor is coated in a thick layer of blood. In her state of shock she drops the key into the blood, sealing her fate. Despite her desperate attempts to clean the key, it remains blood stained – serving as a constant reminded of her act of disobedience. When Bluebeard arrives home and discovers his wife's betrayal he states, "Now that you have opened it, you can go right in and take your place beside the ladies whom you saw there" (Tatar, 146). By using her wit, she is able to delay her inevitable death by requesting more time to say her final prayers. Unbeknownst to Bluebeard, she was actually singling for help. Just as Bluebeard raises his blade to her throat, her brothers burst into their home with their daggers drawn. Bluebeard attempts to flee, but "the two brothers were so hot in pursuit that they trapped him before he could get to the stairs. They plunged their swords through his body and left him for dead" (Tatar, 147). Bluebeard had left no heir, so therefore his wife was the rightful owner of his estate and wealth. She marries herself to a "very worthy man, who banished the memory of those miserable days she had spent with Bluebeard" (Tatar, 148). Although this tale did not follow the traditional plot of a fairy tale it did, however, end with a stereotypical joyance marriage. Although Bluebeard's actions are inexcusable, they were not driven by a psychopathic desire to murder. Rather, it was instigated by a distrust of others. If Bluebeard's actions were driven by desire alone, he would not have waited for his wife to disobey him. Instead, he would have most likely taken actions similar to Mister Fox's. Marrying women with the plan to ultimately kill them is not only highly illogical, but also a huge inconvenience. Not only would the consistent disappearance of women draw negative attention to him, but it would also place him under suspicion – which would be a less than ideal situation for a man like Bluebeard. Bluebeard did not enter these marriages with intentions of killing these women, but he did aim to test their loyalty and trust. In the tale Mr. Fox, Lady Mary falls in love with a gallant man named Mr. Fox. Although had talked about living in his lavish castle after their marriage, he never invited Lady Mary and her brothers to see it. The day before their wedding while her fiancé she decides to take matters into her own hands and visit the castle herself. When she arrives at the palace, there are messages reading "be bold, be bold, les that your heart's blood should run cold" (Tatar, 154). These messages led her to a gallery at the top of a staircase. Keeping the messages in mind, she bravely opened the door only to find the corpses and skeletons of young ladies. As she ran frighten down the stairs, she saw Mr. Fox – who was said to be on a business trip – "dragging a beautiful young lady along from the gateway to the door" (Tater, 154). Lady Mary hides herself behind a barrel as Mr.
Fox enters, dragging the now fainted woman behind him. His eye catches the diamond ring on the finger of the lady and attempts to pull it off but, it was on too tightly and would not come off. "Mr. Fox cursed and swore, and drew his sword, raised it, and brought it down upon the hand of the poor lady" (Tatar, 155). This violent action caused the hand to fly into the air, and land right in Lady Mary's lap. Mr. Fox looked around for it before giving up, not even thinking to look behind the cask. Once he had taken the women up to the bloody chamber upstairs, Lady Mary runs home as fast as she …show more content…
can. The next day, before they were to sign the marriage contract, they have a splendid breakfast together with Lady Mary's brothers and friends. She informs Mr. Fox that she had a horrible dream that night, "tell us your dream, and your sweet voice will make the time pass till the happy hour comes" (Tatar, 155) he says. She proceeds to describe the horrific events that transpired that day before. "It is so, and it was so. Here’s the hand and ring I have to show" She cries as pulls the lady's hand from her dress, pointing it straight at Mr. Fox. It is then that the guests come to the realization that her dream was not fiction and "At once her brothers and her friends drew their swords and cut Mr. Fox into a thousand pieces" (Tatar, 156.) Unlike Bluebeard, Mr.
Fox is the master of deception. With his brave demeanor and smooth way or talking, he is able to make Lady Mary fall in love with him and disregard all of her other lovers. He was able to transform himself into a different man around Lady Mary. Around her, he was gentle, caring, and sweet. However, when he was alone he was a violent man. Chopping off the woman's hand was an extremely violent reaction to not being able to take the ring off of her finger; as was leaving the walls covered in the blood of the deceased women. It is unclear whether or not Mr. Fox would have made Lady Mary one of his victims, but there is no doubt that he would one day begin to show his true self. Unlike Mr. Fox, Bluebeard does not trick his wives into marrying him with a false personality. In addition to that, he does not murder this women without reason. Once his wife proves that she cannot be trusted, she must be eliminated. Although this is a very extreme course of action, in his mind there is a basis for
them. While both tales revolve around the same plot, there is one major difference: bluebeard's actions are driven by fear, while Mr. Fox's actions were driven by a desire to kill. Not only this, but Mr. Fox deceives those around him, hiding his true self under a mask of charisma and bravery. Although both antagonist in this tale are not men be trifled with, Bluebeard is the lesser of two evils.
In the novel Huckleberry Finn, Huck goes through many adventures on the Mississippi River. He escapes from Pap and sails down a ways with an escaped slave named Jim. Huck goes through a moral conflict of how wrong it is to be helping Jim escape to freedom. Eventually Huck decides he will go against what society thinks and help Jim by stealing him from a farmer with the help of Tom Sawyer, a friend. In A+P the young man, Sammy, is confronted with an issue when he sees his manager expel some girls from the store he worked in simply because of their defiance to its dress code. In his rebellion against the owner, the boy decides to quit his job and make a scene to defend the rights he feels are being violated. In these stories, both the boys are considered superior to the authority that they are defying because of the courage that it took for Huck to free Jim, and for Sammy to quit his job for the girls because it was what they believed in.
Christopher McCandless and Adam Shepard both did some similar targets in their lives, at the end it lead them to unexpected situations. Christopher McCandless was a young man who didn't believe in society and he chose to get away from that and left everything he had, including his family. He developed important relationships with key people that helped him on his journey into the wild. Similarly Adam Shepard was a young man who left with only $25 and a sleeping bag to go prove his point that the american dream does exist and to see if he can achieve it in a couple of months. Overall comparing McCandless and Shepard, Christopher McCandless had a greater impact in people, motivated many, and was selfish in plenty of good ways.
The novel Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick is about two boys and their friendship. However, the movie spinoff titled The Mighty is the same but has a visual example of what the story could look. Though the scenes are similar, some scenes are cut out, changed, or maybe even added.
Mary Warren is in court admitting to the lies she tells earlier in the play, but is very unsure of herself. Furthermore the judge makes it worse by repeatedly asking “ Has he ever threatened you?” (Miller 101) after he hears her unsurety. Upon entering the court Abigail notices the weak state Mary is in. Taking advantage of this Abigail begins to pretend that Mary is performing witchcraft in the courtroom. Abigail begins to see a “bird” being controlled by Mary, yelling “ Oh, please, Mary!” Don’t come down.” (Miller 115). Just as Abigail did to Tituba she notices the effect her performance is having and continues the onslaught “Mary, please don’t hurt me!” (Miller 115) which sways the court more. This convinces the judge, Danforth, that he is witnessing witchcraft and he pleads “Mary Warren! Draw back your spirit out of them!” (Miller 116) to try and stop the madness. While this is going on Mary Warren keeps on attempting to defend herself, “They’re sporting!... Stop it!!” (Miller 116) but to no avail. Becoming overwhelmed by the situation Mary falters just as Tituba did and joins Abigail. This leads to Abigail being able to continue her lying and remain in control without opposition.
Some people think that if they could only change one aspect of their lives, it would be perfect. They do not realize that anything that is changed could come with unintended consequences. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs and “The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken both illustrate this theme. They demonstrate this by granting the main character three wishes, but with each wish that is granted, brings undesirable consequences. The main idea of this essay is to compare and contrast “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Third Wish.” Although the “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Third Wish” are both fantasies and have similar themes, they have different main characters, wishes, and resolutions.
When Mary Warren is in the court testifying against Abigail, Parris prompts Mary to faint as she said she was pretending before, “Then no see no spirits now, and prove to us that you can faint by your own will, as you claim” (99). Parris wants to continue to support his story about the girls in the forest and so he targets Mary as she is fearful and weak. She is not able to faint as it was an electric impulse she felt with the girls and the power of suggestion that made her faint at the time. As the girls pretend to have Mary’s spirit on them, Parris joins in, “Cast the Devil out! Look him in the face! Trample him! We’ll save you, Mary, only stand fast against him and-” (109). Parris is insidious as he pretends that the devil is in Mary to convince Judge Danforth of Abigail’s lie. Parris manipulates the courts along with Abigail to discredit Mary’s story. On the other hand, Elizabeth is willing to accept culpability even for the sins she has not committed. Elizabeth attempts to tell John that she cannot decide whether he should confess or not for him, “I have read my heart this three month, John. I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery” (126). Elizabeth has been away from John for three months and in this time away from
A witch soon arrives in the castle that reads palms and tells James he would betray his fiancée on their wedding day. He doesn’t listen and the wedding continues. When he is about to put the ring on her finger, the sylphide appears and snatches the ring away from him. She soon runs off into the forest and James chases after her, leaving his fiancée at the altar.
In the story “The Cat In The Hat” and the cartoon movie “The Cat In The Hat” have a lot of big noticeable differences and a few similarities. From different scenes to different objects that are used.
Characters, settings, and theme are all very important elements of a story. The Great Gatsby, "Winter Dreams," and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" all have similar themes and symbols. Most of these themes lie within the characters. The characters in all three stories live in the past, are primarily wealthy or do not wish to seek wealth, and have had a love in their life. F.Scott Fitzgerald definitely portrayed living the life in the "American Dream" through out these stories as a very hollow and unpleasing way of living.
Although at times it is easy to get carried away with the adventure of a story, noticing the elements a writer has put into his work is very important. In reading “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” you can see both similarities as well as differences of how both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving chose to illuminate their romantic writing styles. The writers both use a mystical woodsy setting with supernatural twists to draw in readers. Underlying you will find the differing romantic themes each writer used, as well as how each writer chose to end their work.
Produced in 2009, The Frog Princess is a Disney animation inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ fairytale, The Frog Prince. Both The Frog Princess and The Frog Prince deal with a multiplicity of issues, all of which contribute to supporting positive messages and morals (Ceaser, 2009). However, though The Frog Princess is based on a classic fairytale, it is far from being the same. The writers at Disney have taken a classic fairytale and created a “Monster” (Prince, 2001). This essay will examine the evolution of the original Grimm Brothers’ fairytale, the messages both main characters represent, and how the adaptation to fit a modern child readership diminishes a classic fairytale. Through discussing these arguments, this paper will prove that Disney’s adaptation into The Princess and The Frog is counter-productive in representing the original story’s messages, morals, and values.
Short stories are a form of literature works that authors use to communicate various themes and issues to the reader. As such, it is common for different short stories authored by different people to have a central meaning or theme that differs from each other. In addition, the way the author portrays his/her central theme or meaning would differ from the way other authors would craft their short stories to best portray their central meaning. While some would use characterization as a means of portraying the theme of their story, other authors employ the use of symbols to better communicate their theme. However, some slight similarities can always be drawn between short stories. ‘Hills like White
Roses are red, violets are blue, Snow White has changed, everything’s new. This is a different beginning than the original story of Little Snow White by the Grimm Brothers and retold by the director Rupert Sanders, in the movie Snow White and the Huntsman. The original story portrays Snow White as a beautiful, but naive, young woman, leading up to her eating a poisoned apple from the evil queen. The evil queen has been jealous of Snow White after she has grown up and become more beautiful. Although in both the story and the movie, Snow White eats a poisoned apple, Snow White in Snow White and the Huntsman is portrayed as more brave and courageous, even after she wakes up from the poisoned apple. In the end, both the story and the movie show that Snow White’s triumphs out rules all, no matter what is thrown at her, but the difference is in how. While there are many common motifs across the story and the movie; Gender roles have changed over time, as shown in the
The narrative thrust of the Nun's Priest's Tale is minimal, but the actions that it does contain gives an equal share of praise and mild criticism to both the husband and wife. Chanticleer is absurd to believe that his illness is caused by some psychic portent and rightly follows his wife's sane advice to find herbs to cure himself. However, when he does so, his prediction comes true he is chased by a fox.
From the very beginning of the story, the fox is described as a demon at the Bailey Farm. The fox “carried off the hens under the very noses of March and Banford” (582) who take care of the farm. It seems like the fox is successful in avoiding March and Banford and “the fox really exasperated them both” (582). However, one evening, March sees the fox and he sees her. “She was spell-bound--she knew he knew her. So he looked into her eyes, and her soul failed her” (583). March get this strange feeling and she is confused. She does not shoot him. Instead, she “put her gun to her shoulder” and follows him. March walks after him and “in her heart she was determined to find him” (583).