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Comparing and contrasting fairy tales
How literature shapes culture
Influence of literature on society
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Recommended: Comparing and contrasting fairy tales
Everybody loves a fairytale story, one that has a happily ever after in the end. In the 21st century, the fairy tales of Cinderella, Snow White, and the sleeping beauty have been extensively over told. However, the 1632 literary Italian fairy tale “The Sun, Moon, and Talia” by Giambattista Basile was a different kind of fairy- tale. It was basically the sleeping beauty story, but different to the one told to kids in the present day. The sleeping beauty story and the 1634 fairy have a lot in common as well as differences. Take for instance the deep slumber, both Talia and the sleeping beauty both go into a deep sleep, however, in “The Sun, Moon, and Talia,” Talia gives birth while she was still asleep as a result of rape by the king in her slumber …show more content…
As from the beginning of the story, Talia is loved by her father. He is determined to know the future of her daughter and so he calls the wisest men and astrologers to cast Talia’s horoscope. The men predicted that Talia was destined to a huge misfortune, she would be endangered at a later time in her life from a splinter of flax (Basile 658-88). As a show of love, her father orders that no flax was ever to be brought into his house as a way of protecting his daughter from the predicted misfortune. However, little did he know that his daughter would suffer the predicted fate. “Talia one day ran into an old woman spinning her flax and asked her for a spin on her flax. She immediately pricks herself and apparently dies from the injury.” (Travers and Keeping) Her dad was very saddened. He sets out one of his sanctuaries where he keeps his daughter’s body and mourns her for a long while (Basile 658-88). He wishes to forget this horrible event and therefore abandons his daughter Talia in one of his country estates. He expresses love even to the death of her daughter. The pain of losing his only daughter is very overwhelming, and this can evidently be seen from the emotions displayed by the imagery used by Giambattista Basile in his
...n” is a great example of an old myth or tale reconstructed and adapted for a modern audience in a new medium. It is a progression on one hand in its use of modern language, setting, and style but it is also the product of the old myths in that it is essentially the same on the thematic level. In addition, the level of self-awareness on the part of the narrator and, by extension, the author marks it out as an illustration of the very notion of evolutionary changes of myths and fairy tales. Adaptation is the solution to the fairy tale, and fairy tales have been endlessly changing themselves throughout history and, by some strange transforming or enchanting power endlessly staying the same.”
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.
The commonly used saying, “they lived happily ever after,” originates from early fairy tales. Fairy tales are stories that feature fanciful characters that convey a moral to teach children lessons and values that they will keep for the rest of their lives. The original story of “Cinderella” by the Grimm Brothers and the later Disney version Cinderella (1950) are both descriptions of a legendary fairy tale of a kind and gentle girl who overcomes the rancor of her stepmother and stepsisters and ultimately finds a happy ending. Although both stories have the same plot, the overall messages that they deliver are different.
One of the fears that the Irish people had reflected in Fairy Legends is when a woman was pregnant. During this time people had their babies in the home there was no hospital to go to and no medicine to help the mother deliver the baby safely. When a woman was pregnant this was a very scary time because the women would not always survive the birth nor would the baby. One story that reflects this was “An Abducted Women” this fairy legend describes the story of a woman in labor who has her mid wife with her trying to help the women survive the pregnancy. While this is going on, the husband is
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.
The tale of Sleeping Beauty is influenced by oral folklore and various written versions. Today fairytales are told as a domain for the entertainment and teachings of children. In traditional storytelling, peasants transmitted folklore orally around campfires to audiences of mixed ages. However, during the 17th century, peasant tales, such as Sleeping Beauty, were altered by writers like Charles Perrault’s, to appeal to the courts of aristocracy. Thus the characters of Sleeping Beauty adorned a courtly air to appeal to the crown, such as Louis XIV of France. Throughout history, various cultural influences transformed the tale of Sleeping Beauty through the manipulation of various social forces to achieve better entertainment purposes and reflect Christian beliefs and customs. In addition, the moral of the tale conveys a message that women remain passive in hope to marry her true lov...
“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
As the world has transformed and progressed throughout history, so have its stories and legends, namely the infamous tale of Cinderella. With countless versions and adaptations, numerous authors from around the world have written this beauty’s tale with their own twists and additions to it. And while many may have a unique or interesting way of telling her story, Anne Sexton and The Brother’s Grimm’s Cinderellas show the effects cultures from different time periods can have on a timeless tale, effects such as changing the story’s moral. While Sexton chooses to keep some elements of her version, such as the story, the same as the Brothers Grimm version, she changes the format and context, and adds her own commentary to transform the story’s
Fairy Tale Text & Motif. Prod. Distribution Access. Distribution Access, 2001.Discovery Education. Web. 1 December 2001. .
Throughout the history of folklore and fairytales, many interpretations of tales have been created and introduced. When exchanged, many details have been lost in translation, only to be redistributed as a similar tale following a certain moral. But throughout the life of the tale “Cinderella,” one objective has never been misconstrued; the social structure and the status Cinderella falls and rises to. Many fairytales display a rise and fall of a protagonist, often in the case of social classes. The many versions of “Cinderella,” including Ever After, exhibit a definite, strong, monarchical settlement with a defined arrangement of classes that create and develop the beloved character of Cinderella, or Danielle De Barbarac, herself.
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.
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.
“The fairy tale, which to this day is the first tutor of children because it was once the first tutor of mankind, secretly lives on in the story. The first true storyteller is, and will continue to be, the teller of fairy tales. Whenever good counsel was at a premium, the fairy tale had it, and where the need was greatest, its aid was nearest. This need was created by myth. The fairy tale tells us of the earliest arrangements that mankind made to shake off the nightmare which myth had placed upon its chest.”(Walter Benjamin). For generations fairy tales have brought happiness to hundreds of people. Through childhood to adults, people still enjoy the mysteries of fairytales. In society, fairytales are a great way of connecting
In today 's society, it is normal for young children to believe in fairytales. These fairytales are normally seen throughout books and movies but also through parents reading them as bedtime stories. These tales in our society have unrecognized hidden guidelines for ethics and behaviors that we provide for children. One such children 's story is Disney’s Cinderella, this film seems to be a simple tale of a young woman whose wishes work out as to be expected. This tale reflects the expectations of women 's actions and beliefs of a proper women.
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.