Fairy tales are ancient stories passed down from parents to children in order to entertain the whimsical mind and to teach valuable morals. They originate over centuries as oral, traditional tales meant to portray a character of right actions and thoughts from whom the youth can learn from. Through the use of imaginary lands, fanciful people, and magical powers, fairy tales recognize a child's daily fears and appeal to his curiosity and confidence. These tales present the child with a means by which he can understand the world and himself through the connections made to the tale. Contemporary fairy tales differ greatly from traditional fairy tales through the two completely different elements each portrays. In modern fairy tales, the “knight …show more content…
Influenced by her unconventional life in the minor nobility, de Villeneuve uses the discovery of the cynicism and awareness of the issues faced by aristocratic women of the upper and lower nobility to write this most famous tale. These discoveries appear in the story through the beauty and charm of a man's daughters, one of whom is Beauty, not being enough for marriage without the father's, now lost, money. The women in “Beauty and the Beast” reflect the women of the French culture. Most of the women in the imaginary world of the tale and the real world of French culture maintain jobs, but also struggles with the balance of work, life, marriage, and child care. Throughout the following years, the gruesome details of de Villeneuve's version have fallen away to create an enjoyable tale for young girls; however, the original fairytale that emphasizes female submission and the double standards between men and women still remains an underlying structure to rewritten works of the fairy tale. Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont abridged, rewrote, and published her own version, the “most commonly retold version, in 1756” (Sawyer). The story still appeals to the feminine youth because at that time, girls' fathers would marry them off, most likely to an older man in a loveless marriage, and those girls …show more content…
The Beast follows this archetypal element of a compassion masked by an horrendous exterior. Illustrated as a large, scary, mean figure, he simply does not have the opportunity to portray a kindness. The so called monster in this story ,“the evil figure with the ultimately good heart,” really is not a monster but a handsome prince with a kind heart (Mayer). The other half of tale revolves around a damsel in distress. In “The Beauty and the Beast,” Beauty acts as the distressed damsel as she, trapped by the Beast, vulnerably awaits for her rescuer. The Beast is evil and holds her against her will because her father gives Beauty up in exchange for monetary wealth. Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont wrote this as an demonstration of false love in hopes of the young women of society understanding the true nature of love. However, unlike most societal women, Beauty, after dealing with the scary Beast and the horror of the situation for some time, refuses to accept a loveless end and continues to refuse the Beast’s presence. As Beauty continually puts the Beast down and ignores his presence, he ends up becoming so upset and weak he begins to die...to fade like a rose. Just as the Beast is about to die, Beauty realizes the good in Beast’s heart and pleads, “‘No, dear Beast, you must not die’” (Mayer). This part in the story marks death
In James Poniewozik's "The Princess Paradox" (323-325) the author explains how the idea of a feminist, independent woman becoming a fairy tale princess is a paradox and that society is engaging in a paradox through the belief of it. He utilizes the recent bout of Cinderella retellings to show the paradox of how girls cannot be both completely independent and a fairytale princess, and yet society perpetuates the paradox through believing that this is not only possible, but realistically attainable as well. Poniewozik exposes the contradictions that surround these new Cinderellas to defy these "realistic" stories that society has come to embrace. By showing how truly constrictive and illogical these fantasies are, Poniewozik also shows how hypocritical society has become for idolizing them and why this new princess is a true paradox.
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
Children can identify themselves with fairy-tale characters; they imagine themselves as heroes, who are capable of killing dragons, or simpletons, who demonstrate the superiority over clever people. Fantasies based on the fairy tales are extremely important part of the children’s lives, and this is not only because they describe threatening situations that resemble main fears of a young child such as the fear of getting lost, fear of wrong decisions, fear of monsters or evil animals. Happy endings, which are always present in fairy tales, give children the confidence that despite all their fears they will be able to win in the end. This knowledge helps them to prepare for the difficulties of life, regardless whether they are real or imagined (Doughty, 2006).
One day, Beauty’s father comes home and tells her about how he had tried to pick one of the Beast’s at the Beast’s palace. Since the Beast had caught him, the father’s punishment was to either offer him himself, or one of his daughters in return for the rose the father had stolen. Beauty decides that she should go, and a month later, she moved to the palace with the Beast. At first, Beauty doesn’t like the Beast at all, and she tried to avoid him, but by the end of the book she comes to love the Beast, and she breaks the Beast’s spell.
Through the three revisions of Beauty and The Beast, the fairy tales retold share many similarities as well as many differences according to their time period. In all three versions femininity and masculinity are presented in many ways. Femininity is shown through all three main female characters, Belle from the famous Disney film “The Beauty and The Beast”, the narrator in “Tiger’s Bride”, and Psyche in “Cupid and Psyche”. In all three versions, the female characters breaks society’s expectations of a typical woman. In CP Psyche stands up to Cupid’s mother Venus and accomplishes these activities usually performed by males. She shows society that women can overcome male activities and have strength to complete the same tasks. She breaks tradition of the male character fighting for her because in this version she takes on the hero role and fights for Cupid. This was not something ordinarily done by woman characters during this time. In TB the narrator breaks the tradition of the innocent stereotypical woman figure. The narrator exposes and does things most woman would never have the nerve to do. She shows society that women can fault their beauty in other ways. Even if society does not make it acceptable to have sex before marriage, she shows that women can expose their body and beauty in many ways. In DB version Belle is a great example that women should not be looked at as dolls and let males have control over them. She shows society that woman can be independent and educated. She does not get married to the most handsome male in town however she goes after someone who deeply cares about her. She displays a great example of how woman have their own mind and can think for themselves. Woman are allowed to make decisions and have ...
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
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...
In a society unbridled with double standards and set views about women, one may wonder the origins of such beliefs. It might come as a surprise that these ideals and standards are embedded and have been for centuries in the beloved fairy tales we enjoyed reading as kids. In her analytical essay, “To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tales”, Karen Rowe argues that fairy tales present “cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice as a female’s cardinal virtues.” Rowe presents an excellent point, which can be supported by versions of the cult classics, “Cinderella” and “Snow White”. Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper” and the Brothers Grimm’s “ Snow White” exemplify the beliefs that females are supposed to be docile, dependent on the male persona and willing to sacrifice themselves. In many cases, when strong female characters are presented they are always contradicting in these characteristics, thus labeled as villainous. Such is the case of the Cinderella’s stepsisters in Perrault’s “Cinderella” and the stepmother in the Brothers Grimm’s “Snow White.” These female characters face judgment and disapproval when they commit the same acts as male characters. With such messages rooted in our beloved fairy tales it is no wonder that society is rampant with these ideals about women and disapprove of women when they try to break free of this mold.
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
While fairy tales are entertaining stories and can be used to educate children of the normal social manners of reality; however, it can be used to entertain and educate people of all ages. It can be used as a method of escaping the real world or to teach valuable life lessons than just the normal social mannerisms of society.
At first glance, what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale may seem obvious—some kind of magic, hidden symbols, repetition, and of course it’s evident it’s fiction—but fables are more than that. As Arthur Schelesinger puts it, it’s about “[expanding] imagination” and gaining understanding of mysterious places (618). While doing this, it also helps children to escape this world, yet teach a lesson that the reader may not be conscious of. A wonderful story that achieves all of this is Cinderella, but not the traditional tale many American’s have heard. Oochigeaskw, or The Rough-Faced Girl, and Ashputtle would be fitting for a seven-year-old because they get the gears of the mind turning, allowing for an escape on the surface, with an underlying enlightenment for children of the ways of the world.
Firstly, we will examine the language choice used in the descriptions of the Beast, in order to examine his division from the other male characters in the story. The choice of language used in de Beaumont’s ‘Beauty and The Beast’ to describe the Beast’s character strongly suggests that he is meant to be perceived as a creature or an animal – not human. We can see that it is a deliberate intention by the author when considering how other characters name him as ‘the monster’. The title of ‘the monster’ is used seventeen times throughout the story as a referral to the character. The Beast also identifies himself as a monster when conversing with Beauty at dinner: ". . .my heart is good, but still I am a monster." (7). When the merchant calls him ‘My lord’ the beast corrects him, preferring to be called ‘Beast’ (3). The reoccurrence of the label engages the reader to perceive the beast as far from human and henceforth, unlike man. We can also examine the types of adjectives used to describe his physical form, such as ‘frightful’ (3). He is described as having a ‘horrid form’ (5). His voice is characterized as ‘terrible’
The enchantment of fairy tales have been present throughout history because of the passing and retelling of the stories from past generations. Astounding to many, different versions of popular fairy tales most readers have grown up hearing such as, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, have been reinterpreted in various cultures since they first originated. Many assume that the exclusive purpose of fairy tales is for entertainment, however, there is a moral teaching behind every tale that is written, whether it being directly or indirectly stated for the reader to comprehensively understand. At a young age, fairy tales play a prominent role in the construction of identities and the cognitive development of children because these tales are the
I am writing this paper because I was assigned to write it as a class project. Along the way I realized the importance of sharing the real meanings of all these stories. Stories are important because in the society we live in things are constantly changing. Fairytales change but the base of the story always remain the same no matter how many times it has been retold. It’s important to reveal the true meanings of these stories, even with its dark characteristics, because the world is dark .Children need to know that there are people that have told stories relatable to what they are going through. Fairytales help the development of children; it helps their maturity as they confront someone else’s tough situations, instilling hope of a more positive ou...
Some fairy tales are so iconic that they withstand the passing of time. One of those fairy tales is that of Cinderella. The rags to riches story that gives even the lowliest of paupers, hope that they may one day climb the social ladder. While the core message of the story has transcended time, over the years it has been adapted to address a variety of audiences. One of those renditions is Perrault’s Cinderella where the traditional idea of gender is conveyed and therefore associated with good/evil. This idea is challenged by a fellow 1600’s French author, L’heriter de Villandon’s, who’s version of Cinderella brings about a female protagonist who is also the heroine.