Ella Enchanted And Fairest Summary

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Recommended: The role of women in literature

The books I chose to review were Ella Enchanted and Fairest by Gail Carson Levine along with The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and The Knight Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Barbara Shook Hazen. Collectively these books have strong female characters in positive female roles. There is a pro-girl theme across the board with these four stories.
I chose this set of book for my review because I have a 5 year old daughter and I thought I could share some of the lessons I learn in the process of this paper. It had not occurred to me that these particular books fell into the feminist fairy tales genre. In hindsight it makes perfect sense.
Unfortunately classic fairytales tend to paint a picture of an inferior female character in need of a handsome …show more content…

The obedience curse in Ella Enchanted and the desire for beauty in Fairest are reflective of the expectation imposed by the gender norms of society and the obsession with appearance. The young female heroine in The Paper Bag Princess defies the social norms of women by courageously saving her prince. Much like Lady Wendylyn in The Knight Who Was Afraid of the Dark faces her fears to help Sir Fed the brave female roles stand out as more than the damsel in destress or the needy princess waiting for her prince to sweep her off her feet. The plots of all four of these books present the reader with a strong female character and a non-conventional spin on the gender norms we expect to read in a …show more content…

He goes on to say, “this book still has a lot to say to all kinds of preschool, junior and middle-school girls -- and there are legions of high school and college women who'd benefit as well.” Obviously written for a younger reading audience, the author is a retired pre-school teacher, this story appeals to readers of all ages. A witty story about a sassy princess and her independence The Paper Princess is absolutely a must read in children’s literature.
A review of Fairest in the Sunday Tasmanian (Australia) with the title the beauty myth buster, reviewer Dani Colvin calls this story “a breath of fresh air” “ IN an era that seems obsessed by physical beauty to a point where young women are prepared to do dreadful things to themselves in order to achieve it”. Much like the potions and spells ion the story, women today are turning to surgical enhancements more and more in a quest to be beautiful. It is easy to agree with the opinions of the reviewer when we see these issues daily in our

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