The Changing Themes of Grimm Brothers' Stories

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The Changing Themes of Grimm Brothers'Stories

Through the many years the Grimm brothers were alive, an array of children's literature was produced. Actually, the correct term would be reproduced. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were masters at reproducing and even changing early children's stories so that they had more meaning for the children of the time. More times than not, they censored out sexual meanings and added violence to children's stories that had already been told for centuries. By doing so, the brothers got an effect out of the story that would change it from a story with a subtle theme or moral, to a vivid story of lessons to be learned and consequences to be dealt with. There was one thing about their' writing that was always constant, which was the message they wanted to portray. They often gave stories more than one theme and a lot of the time there were similarities between all the messages. No matter whether the story had a positive or negative story line one message was always the same, children should use their brains to overcome any situation.

There are many examples of the Grimm's changing stories to give them more meaning to children. A good example of a violent change would be the Grimm version of the story Cinderella, which they called Aschenputtel. We all know the Disney version of how the slippers just didn't fit the step-sisters feet and that is how the prince knew they were not his sought out girls. In Aschenputtel the sisters cut off parts of their feet and when they bled all over the shoe, the prince knew they were not the girls he was looking for. What better way to show kids the consequences of deception, than by making a story all gruesome and bloody. All in all, it's Aschenputtel's well mannere...

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...own to stop them. In the end his plan worked and he became a king because he makes everyone believe he is something that he is not. So ultimately, he uses his head and it brings him great fortune.

In closure, its plain to see a universal theme in a majority of the Grimm brothers works, even though in some stories it may lie a little deeper. With the element of violence added into the stories it makes the story seem more dramatic and the theme is illustrated a little clearer. At some point in all the stories, the main message comes out that the Grimm's want kids to learn how to use their heads at all times and you must learn from your mistakes or there may be harsh punishments for not stopping to think things out. Of coarse there are probably other themes to different stories, but these two are commonly used in conjunction with what ever the other themes might be.

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