The Importance of Appearance

Appearance is always the fundamental theme of fairy tales, especially in “Donkeyskin”, “Catskin”, and “The Princess in the Suit of Leather”. The appearances of the girls caused many of the actions made by the other characters. For example, the princesses’ unmatchable beauty made their fathers or an old man to desire to marry them. But appearance is not just about the beauty of the people; it is, also, about the social appearances. It seems that other people’s view of the princesses changed as the girls switched between social classes. The girls worked hard through the rough life of a maid and ridicule but at the end achieved the true “happily ever after” life. Even after a horrible life, the girls were still graceful, beautiful and fair. In any adaptations you may read, they will always have an emphasis on appearances. The reason why these tales focus so much on appearance is because it correlates beauty with goodness and ugliness to evil. The attractiveness of the princesses had a direct linkage to social class and how people treated them. The way that the princesses look and present themselves is the element that creates the plot.

In each adaptations, appearance is the main reason for many of the actions made by the characters. The importance of appearance in “Donkeyskin” is immediately noted in the beginning of the story. “Neither the court with its many beauties, nor the country, nor the city, nor the neighboring kingdoms where they were making the rounds could such a woman. Only his own daughter was more beautiful” (Perrault 110). The king in “Donkeyskin” became maddened with desire to marry his daughters because Donkeyskin was the only woman who surpassed the beauty of her mother. This caused Donkeyskin to run away which u...

... middle of paper ...

...true” love. When people though the princesses were ugly when they did not own anything, when they saw the girls had these amazing worldly possessions they became beautiful. Not once in these stories did they talk about inner beauty and how caring and selfless the princesses were. Appearance was what really mattered, what the characters cared about. It is just like what Perrault said, as long as you have wealth you will find you prince charming and live happily ever after.

Works Cited

Bushnaq, Inea. “The Princess in the Suit of Leather” Tatar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999. Print.

Jacobs, Joseph. “Catskin.” Tatar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999. Print.

Perrault, Charles. “Donkeyskin.” Tatar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999. Print.