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Narrative and gender roles
Stereotypical roles of men and women in literature
How are women portrayed in literature
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In the past, fairy tales were used to help teach young children how to conduct themselves in everyday life. The moral of each story would serve as how not to act in life, and the hero or heroine of the story would represent what the children should model themselves after. In Snow White, the moral would be not to let jealously control you as it controlled the evil Queen. Although this is not a poor moral to take away from this story, it was told in the wrong way. Snow White is a sexist story that enforces gender roles, stereotypes, and portrays women as helpless. Snow White is portrayed as helpless to all of the Queens attempts on her life, and each time a man has to save her. When the evil Queen instructs the huntsman to kill Snow White …show more content…
Throughout the story she only demonstrates two values; her appearance and her ability to keep a house. She is not portrayed as intelligent seeing as she falls for the Queens tricks each time. Even though the dwarfs explicitly instructed her not to open the door for anyone she still does. Even though she is harmed each time she opens the door, she continues to do so. This displays a lack of common sense and intelligence that women are typically attributed to. Although all of the characters are very flat in this tale, Snow White is exceptionally undeveloped. The only trait she holds is her beauty, and outside of that the reader knows nothing about her. The other main characters possess a variety of personality traits. The dwarfs are hardworking and kind creatures, the Prince is shallow, and the Queen is insecure, intelligent, and narcissistic. Snow White is only described as beautiful because she is intended to represent what is ideal in a women; beauty. In addition in promoting stereotypes and helplessness, Snow White also enforces gender roles. Once Snow White discovers the dwarfs cottage she takes on the role of housewife. While the dwarfs went to work, Snow White stayed at the cottage cooking and cleaning for them. The Queen lured Snow White out of the cottage with quintessential female item – the corset laces and comb enforced the idea that although women are pressured to look perfect, they're penalized if they appear to try too
Whittier begins his story by writing, “Woman’s attributes are generally considered of a milder and purer character than those of man. ”(348) Right of the bat, the reader has a stereotypical idea in his or her mind about how a woman should act and what characteristics she should hold. Whittier does this to show how different and unique his main character, Hannah Dustan, will be seen throughout his piece of work. Whittier then goes on to say, “Yet, there have been astonishing manifestations of female fortitude and power in the ruder and sterner trials of humanity; manifestations of courage rising almost to sublimity; the revelation of all those dark and terrible passions, which madden and distract the heart of manhood.
The movie that I decided to critique, in search of possible inequalities, was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The movie began in a kingdom where a queen gave birth to a beautiful girl: Snow White. Her mother passed away pushing her father to remarry, this time to an evil witch. This witch considered herself to be prettier than all else (conceited much?) and possessed a mirror that told her just that. Things are just fine in her state of delusions until the mirror announces that Snow White is the prettiest, causing jealousy and leading to the stepmother ordering for her to die. Snow White eventually escaped and found herself in a house occupied by seven dwarfs, who accepted her because of her willingness to cook and
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.
It is used in this story as it helps to create a contrast between the good and pure Snow White and, the evil Wicked Queen. The two main characters represent the seven holy virtues and the seven deadly sins respectively. The characteristics of each aid the audience in determining how to act truly good and truly evil. At the end of the story we realize how good will triumph over evil. After realizing Snow White is still fairer than she, “The wicked woman uttered a curse, and she become so frightened, so frightened, that she did not know what to do. At first she did not want to go to the wedding, but she found no peace (8).” We see that the Queen’s envy and wrath has overcome her yet again and it is ultimately her evil actions that lead to her demise against the purity of Snow White. Using main characters to exemplify the characteristics of virtue and sin allow young audiences to easily recognize the difference between good and bad. This use of symbolism allows the audience to be able to understand the moral of the story, which is that good will always triumph over
Throughout history it is known that fairy tales were written to teach children lessons about life in a way they could understand and that is fun and unique. Authors of fairy tales put simple lessons into the stories so the children could understand them easily while reading. Whether this be a lesson to be nice to all people, like in Cinderella, or to not judge someone by their appearance, like in Donkey Skin, both by Charles Perrault. Each fairytale has a moral that can be found throughout reading the stories that teach children right from wrong while letting them use their imaginations to discover that moral. The good and the bad lets them express their thoughts openly, rather it be their negative thoughts through the villian or their
The Grimm’s stories have strict criteria for good and evil. Good women are not the hero, they do not plan, nor do they get themselves out of bad situations; they are obtuse and wait until a Prince saves them. These qualities doom the female protagonists (and readers) to pursue the only destiny women have, and that is to be a wife and mother (Rowe, 1978). Cinderella is the heroine and the ideal good girl. She is unambiguously beautiful, kind, and compassionate. She does not complain or get angry. This is foreseen early in the Grimm’s Cinderella story:
Aurora, Ariel, Cinderella and Snow White are all white, slender, skinny princesses, lacking diversity in physical appearance. They are overtly thin as their waists are freakishly tiny, as are their wrists, in contrast to their eyes which are huge. Disney did not create an animated women of colour lead until Aladdin’s Jasmine in 1992, so it is clear that the norm was white princesses back then. None the less, the stereotypical way the women are physically presented shows a clear distinction of what is considered to be beautiful - which is an unattainable idea. Cinderella’s step-sisters are drawn to be much larger than her, along with bigger noses and butts. The same is done in Sleeping Beauty as the three fairies are more plump, emphasising that they are not beautiful, but rather dimwitted. Good traits are often associated with skinny people whereas negative ones correlate with those who do not fit the standards. These values from as early as 1937 have not changed as in today’s society - photoshop culture is still prevalent, and the idea of needing to be skinny and airbrushed perfect is still maintained. Though the images from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty reflect the standards of their time, it does not mean that we have overcome these obstacles. These films point out that beauty is only limited to Europeans and that it is very eurocentric - an idea that is still present in today's society, as white-washing is extremely common. It teaches young girls - especially girls of colour, and overweight girls - that there is only one way of being beautiful, and if you do not fit these requirements, you are no longer pretty. It can tremendously harm the self-esteem of these impressionable girls because of the lack of representation in media, especially since these films are marketed for young
In the first opening scene, Snow White is referred to as a “lovely little princess.” In her first appearance, she is cleaning and looks as though she is in despair waiting to be saved. Snow White is portrayed as young, virginal, pretty, obedient and incapable of helping herself. This movie having been released in 1937, conveys what the “proper” gender roles of the time were. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, power is segregated between genders and even to this day, the stereotypical gender roles seen in this movie still hold some weight in our society.
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.
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
...cardinal virtues.” This cannon is exemplified in multiple fairy tales, especially Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper” and the Brothers Grimm’s “ Snow White”. Throughout these two fairy tales the main characters are perfect embodiments of these ideal female virtues. Cinderella is passive and forgiving even though she is mistreated. Snow White is passive and her life is completely dependent on the males present in the tale. In both instances the opposing women in the narratives are characterized as villains because they are strong and dominant. In the case of “Snow White” only the queen is looked down upon when she tries to kill Snow White, while the huntsman is proclaimed a hero even though he was intent on killing her. These cannons and ideals, demonstrate why our society is full of double standards and set ideals that women are suppose to live up to.
Over the years, Snow White’s story has been told in numerous different versions then its original version in 1812 by the Grimm Brothers. The main basis of the story has remained the same. Only a few minor tweaks to the story have changed. The three versions of the story that are going to be analyzed are the original story “Little Snow White” by the Brothers Grimm, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Disney, and “Mirror, Mirror” by Disney also. They each were created in very different times and the original story has changed over the years to appeal to the audience of that time. No matter how many versions there are Snow White is considered, one of the most cherished fairy tales of all time. They each use different methods to get their story across by using different colors, word usage, and scenes.
Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm are famous for their renditions of some of the most beloved children's fairy tales. Among the hundreds is the well known (Schneewittchen) Snow-drop. This fairy tale is in many aspects common, imperfect, and vulgar, as are most of the fairy tale translations of the Grimm Brothers. These characteristics are what depict the Grimm fairy tales. The tales were primarily written to entertain and relate to the common peasantsof the 1800's. The stories are not what you would call a perfect fairy tale in that the end is not always as you would predict, but there is always a happy ending. In Snow White, there were many versions that the Grimm Brothers wrote but we only see the more modern version. Some differences between the edition of 1812 and later versions: beginning with the edition of 1819, the Grimms add the statement that Snow-White's mother died during childbirth, and that her father remarried. Note that in the first edition, presumably the version closest to its oral sources, Snow-White's jealous antagonist is her own mother, not a stepmother. Also in the edition of 1819, the poisoned apple is dislodged when a servant accidentally stumbles while carrying the coffin to the prince's castle. In the last version of Snow White, one of the prince's servants grew resentful of carrying around Snow White's coffin and lifted her out and hit her on the back. This caused the apple to become dislodged and Show White arose. All these adaptations are what makes the tale a fairy tale. It started out as an oral fairy tale being passed down from generation to generation to become a written fairy tale that has gone through many transitions.
Snow White is a representation of fake beauty because she is just another young princess with red lips, black hair, white skin, skinny body, and a beautiful face. This is a great example that exhibits how a women should typically be, but that is not reality. Even the mirror describes her as the girl with “lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow” (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937). Disney always uses the same type of characters. The same scenario repeats itself constantly: a young lady who is or becomes a princess waiting for her dream man to rescue her and marry her. According to “Poer To The Princess” (Bridget Whelan, 1998) “Disney’s first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), set a high standard for full-length animation and established a pattern for later Disney heroines to follow.” All of the princesses in the Disney animation films look innocent and show femininity because of their gentleness. Disney girls are incomplete without a man. They constantly need to be rescued by the man of their dreams and enter their prince’s life instead of creating their own. The idea of females being incapable to live without having a man in their lives might affect young girls because it emphasizes the idea that women are weak and that they should get married to find true happiness. Most importantly every single princess in Disney ends up marrying the love of her dreams. This is not reality because it is not always applicable to everyone. Everyone has their own way of living and not all of them will have a fairytale ending because not all women end up getting married. Snow White always longs for her man to find her and this is emphasized when she sings “I’m wishing for the one I love to find me”(Snow White and the Seven Dwarfes,
I am the queen, but for some reason everyone thinks I am evil. Do you know who the evil one is actually? It’s Snow White. Let me tell you the real story of Snow White.