Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Fairy tales and traditional gender roles
Feminism in fairy tales
Fairy tales and traditional gender roles
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Fairy tales and traditional gender roles
There was once a beautiful, young maiden who possessed prodigious magical skill. Though the Maiden’s kinsfolk died before she was able to talk or walk, she lived a fulsome life with many servants and gold in surplus, and she was highly commended by the townspeople in the kingdom below her manor.
As the Maiden grew from a bonny baby to a resplendent young woman she was worshiped by every man whose eyes beheld her, for she possessed flawless beauty, beyond that of most who walk the earth.
Though the Maiden appeared perfect and unflawed she was not as blessed in demeanour, for though she was a woman of bewitching beauty, inside she was also shallow, selfish and cruel.
Upon the Maidens coming of age, she was bombarded with favours from her numerous admirers; all of whom she shunned. For as beautiful as she was, the Maiden felt she could afford to be fastidious and pernickety in her choosing of a mate.
As men lined up before her she would shriek “Too fat, too thin, too poor, too posh! Remove these vile oafs from my sight! Is there no man within this kingdom worthy of my impeccable beauty and intellect?!” And as the years passed those closest to the Maiden began to wonder if such a man even existed at all.
Until one springtime morn, no sooner than the Maiden had all but given up hope that she would ever find a companion, a man entered the kingdom, who would change her life forever.
The Maiden was out for her daily walk, when a handsome knight pulled her from the path of a rogue carriage, saving her life. The Maiden fell for the Knight at first sight, convinced that she had finally found a man worthy of her love. But the Knight had heard about the Maiden’s cruelty, and he had no interest in courting her.
“Fair maiden. Your beauty ...
... middle of paper ...
...l traces of being left his now limp and lifeless body. The Maiden attempted to revive the Knight, but it was no use. She wept tears of despair and woe for she had been failed by her looks, magic and wealth.
The Maiden announced the Knights death to the people of the kingdom. Though she eschewed all condolences and attempts to soothe her. For she blamed herself for the Knights demise. As time passed, the Maiden’s grief did not diminish, it grew stronger until it consumed every ounce of her being. Until she could take no more.
The Maiden locked herself away and declared “Never again will a man fall prey to my beauty nor my ruthless ways!” Entombed in an impenetrable tower, the maiden lived out the remainder of her days alone.
When Death came for her, the Maiden went gladly. Happy that she would no longer feel the pain which her shallowness and vanity had procured.
... lost she might as well just take what she was being given. This was definitely not the way sixteenth century families were run, and because of this she fought her father, her siblings and the council of Hall for her inheritance, and in the end she had come out satisfied.
Her lionhearted clothes reflected her valiant and strong attitude. However – Elisa Allen hid her true feelings. She was deceitful in interpersonal communication. Her tongue spilled bittersweet black smut like that of industrialized coal engines. However – it was compassionate, her concern and subtle behavior. A girl screaming to escape maiden life, but only knew it was disrupt order. “Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissors was over-eager, over-powerful. “The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy.” Verily, she had the heart of a lion and the appearance of a virgin.
knight on a horse to come rescue and provide for her as well as the acceptance of women
... beloved wife has made the decision for him. After going through this incredible journey of his, not only did he study women but he had to explain what women most desired to the queen. Otherwise he would have been beheaded, but was spared because of his looks. Was this justice? Indeed it would have been justice back in the 1300’s because if you were beautiful you could be spared and do a noble deed for the king/queen as they asked. If you did not complete it who knows what could have happened. But for the knight, he completed what he was told to do and in fact after he raped the woman and he was being prosecuted, the journey of his made him find the true knight inside of him. The old woman choice that was offer to the knight demonstrated that he learned his lesson through his sufficient punishment and redemption for his crime.
... She first criticizes Hero’s choice of a ruff; then she indirectly denigrates Hero’s wedding gown by contrasting its simplicity with the duchess of Milan’s lavish garment (3.4.14-23); finally, she mocks the prim and proper Hero by making a coarse sexual allusion (3.4.27). When Hero rebukes her, Margaret refuses to be shamed and defends herself: “[ashamed] of what, lady? Of speaking honorably? Is not marriage honorable in a beggar? Is not your lord honorable without marriage? (3.4.28-31). By implying that honor is achieved not through any marriage but through a “good,” socially suitable marriage, Margaret implicitly criticizes the inequality in her society and expresses her desire for a marriage that will not leave her “below stairs” (5.2.10). But she is acutely aware that she has no such marriage prospects as she resentfully watches Hero’s wedding preparations.
Lady Chudleighs’s “To the Ladies” exhibits a remorseful stance on the concept of joining holy matrimony. Chudleigh’s usage of metaphoric context and condescending tone discloses her negative attitude towards the roles of a wife once she is married. It is evident that Mary Chudleigh represents the speaker of the poem and her writing serves a purpose to warn single women not go get married and a regretful choice to women who are.
What does this fantastic story tell us about the knight's character and beliefs? This tale gives us insight into the Knight's sense of romance, passion, courage, loyalty and justice or fortune. Firstly, it shows us his ideal of one true, romantic love. He is virtuous and passionate, especially in his love-life. There was only one woman to be ...
"What say you? can you love the gentleman? This night you shall behold him at our feast; Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, And find delight writ there with beauty's pen; Examine every married lineament, And see how one another lends content; And what obscur'd in this fair volume lies Find written in the margent of his eyes. This precious book of love, this unbound lover, To beautify him, only lacks a cover: The fish lives in the sea; and 'tis much pride For fair without the fair within to hide: That book in many's eyes doth share the glory, That in gold clasps locks in the golden story; So shall you share all that he doth possess, By having him, maki...
“There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles,” George Eliot. Beauty has caused men to move mountain, and jump through countless hoops. It is a quality that is subjective and affects the beholder differently. In Poe’s Ligea and Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, Ligea, Rowena, and Georgina all had different orders of beauty that similarly affects how their husbands saw them. In these two pieces of literature there was an exaltation of beauty as an abstraction that hid the depth of the women and led to deceit and the sense of superiority in their husbands.
In all, the misogyny presented in these two poems is not restricted to the time period they were written. Just as in medieval literature, it is still common for today's woman to be recognized only for her physical attributes. I believe that in order to have equality of the sexes and to help overcome the objectifying of women, it is necessary for women not to use the misogynistic views placed against them to their advantage.
“In women, love runs deep and true, spanning the life cycle from maiden, to mother, to crone. Thus, it is a woman’s job to slay the dragon, despite what the chroniclers tell you.
Beauty’s sisters marry rich men, who seemingly have acceptably desirable attributes as husbands. One man is detailed as a man of good looks. The other man is noted for having great wit. The two possess qualities most women seek in a husband, but it is indicated in descriptions that the two sisters are both unhappy in their marriages. Although the first husband is handsome, this serves him as a drawback, for he is a narcissist, only concerned with himself. The second husband’s wit is also a severe disadvantage due to the fact he uses his wit to torment other people, including his wife. It is when Beauty reviews her sisters’ marriages and the unhappiness her sisters experience in relation to their husbands that helps Beauty realize The Beast’s true worth and her love for him: “I should be happier with the monster than my sisters are with their husbands; it is neither wit, nor a fine person, in a husband, that makes a woman happy, but virtue, sweetness of temper and complaisance and Beast has all these valuable qualifications.” (9). The juxtaposition made between the husbands and The Beast create the disclosure of the appropriate masculine qualities a man should encompass. De Beaumont presents the contrast of characters to the reader as a method of emphasizing the
In the morning, the news of Queen Valisianna’s death spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom. The guards put her statue in the middle of Sylvestia to remind everyone that arrogance is never right, no matter what you could have. Valisianna’s cousin Marianna heard about her cousin’s death. She was heartbroken because when they were little, they loved each other so
In the Middle Ages, when The Canterbury Tales was written, society became captivated by love and the thought of courtly and debonair love was the governing part of all relationships and commanded how love should be conducted. These principles changed literature completely and created a new genre dedicated to brave, valorous knights embarking on noble quests with the intention of some reward, whether that be their life, lover, or any other want. The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, accurately portrays and depicts this type of genre. Containing a collection of stories within the main novel, only one of those stories, entitled “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, truly outlines the 14th century community beliefs on courtly love.
Women in these fairy tales are young and beautiful. In all reality not every girl in this world is truly considered beautiful by our society’s terms. In today’s society the term beautiful is often used to describe a women who is a size 0, tall, flawless skin, and dressed nicely. Haven’t you ever seen princesses that are in all these fairy tales, our society’s description of beautiful describes every single one of these princesses?