Melissa Davis ENG 327W Essay 1 May 23, 2014 Fairy Tales Our text book describes fairy tales as cautionary tales designed to frighten us, as children, into proper and obedient behavior (pg 169). They are to warn people of potential dangers. Through the years, we have all heard variations of the stories of “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Hansel and Gretel,” along with many more. In these narratives, we are supposed to notice the underlying dangers of talking to strangers, wondering around without adults, and the dangers of not listening to authority. There are also deeper meanings to these stories, such as protecting your virginity and to be wary of situations where death is possible. These may seem a little too dark for children, but it all depends on how deep you want to read into the narratives. These narratives have been passed down by mouth and book from generation to generation, losing parts and adding parts along the way. There are many variations of each story, but the general principle remains the same. Fairy tales are captivating to children, but can be used to teach lessons on safety and obedience. With the ever changing advancements of technology, fairy tales have been put into motion pictures for many years now, making the book versions of these narratives almost obsolete. Even with new technology, the moral of the stories remain the same. Our textbook goes into detail about a few different variations of “Little Red Riding Hood.” In the Charles Perrault version, the wolf sees the beautiful Little Red Riding Hood walking through the woods and inquires on her destination. Riding Hood did not know it was dangerous to talk to strangers and told the wolf exactly where she was going, to her ill gra... ... middle of paper ... ... Beauty that the main characters are raped, Little Red by the wolf, and Sleeping Beauty by the man who ends up being her husband. That’s not what I understood from the versions I have analyzed, but some people interpret it that way. That is another great thing about narratives, everyone can have a slightly different interpretation of the same story. Fairy tales have been around for hundreds of years, dating all the way back to at least the 1600’s and are still common narratives today. The way they are told has changed, but the purpose of them as not shifted. They used to be passed down by word of mouth or by writing, and now they are passed down through children’s book, to adult novels, to motion pictures and plays. Certainly they are used for entertainment, but fairy tales also teach us valuable life lessons in danger, safety, respect, friendships, and love.
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
Fairy tales connect to our owns lives, dreams, anxieties, and help us to consider what we would do in their shoes. Many cultures have their own spin on common fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty, with their own cultural flavor. We read those versions and know that we share something important and the hope for good to overcome evil.
Fairy tales have been engraved into human culture since the beginning of time. They are passed orally or sometimes written down in books and poems. Childrens fairy tales can be used to inspire ideas and dream while as serving as fear factor to keep the youth in line. Adults look at fairy tales more as a far away fantasy that they will never be able to reach, because of the constraints of the real world. Fairy tales will be around forever because they provide a staple in society for the lessons they teach and the entertainment they bring. “The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth , and the Water of Life” is a tale of the youngest of three sons completing a quest for his elder blind father.
Growing up watching fairy tales stories did not really have a meaning to me at first. As a child, I remember seeing them only as cartoons. From the Uses of Enchantment, by Bruno Bettelheim, he stated: “A child needs a moral education, not through abstract implication only, conveys to him the advantages of moral behavior, not through abstract ethical concepts but through that which seems tangibly right and therefore meaningful to him. The child finds this kind of meaning through fairy tales”. I find these sentences to have a strong meaning. In my opinion, it’s basically telling readers that stories are important in our lives and not only does it help us find our identities, but it also help us gain a sense of who we are. To begin
We all grew up hoping that we were the princesses who met the dreamy prince and lived ‘happily ever after’ like in a fairytale.People debate over whether or not Disney fairytales are beneficial for children. Like Melissa Taylor the author of the piece ‘10 reasons why kids need to read non disney fairy tales’, I am against disneyfied fairy tales. In this essay I will argue on why kids should not only watch disney fairytales but also the real versions.
Fairy tales are good. Santa Claus and Snow White are good. On the other hand, many stories we consider to be of cultural value are not good. If we treat them like fairy tales – fine! If we try to find a hidden message or a deeper sense – a waste of time!
Fairytales are usually associating with the split between real life and happy endings. An evil and a good character clash at one point in the story, leaving the good character with a choice that either helps or hurts them. Reading Cinderella emphasizes the real life events and her happily ever after as a sign of hope in her unfortunate lifestyle. Cinderella makes the decision to disobey her stepmother and go to the ball, and that decision to be rebellious against her guardian figure eventually led her to a good outcome, which is the finding of her prince charming. In this situation Cinderella is the good character who normally always does as she is told even through her stepmothers harsh mistreatment, leaving her stepmother and stepsisters as the evil figures. Reading fairytales often leads you to incorporate real life situations in the stories read and apply the lessons learned into your own life. Stories allow us to expand our imaginations and gives us hope in creating our own fairy tale endings through the characters strengths through the difficult situations they are shown in. Fairy tales are important because they give you a sense of desire for freedom, which most children can relate to in society. Many individuals can compare their lives to fairy tales which allows them to better understand the direction the story is leading in, and can understand the desire for hope and freedom given off by the good character. Reading children stories even as an adult can provide you with a temporary escape from reality, which is another reason why I believe fairy tale stories can have such an impact on both adults and children of all ages. This being true, I believe fairy tales can apply to people of all ages and can never be “grown out...
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.
Over the years, fairytales have been distorted in order to make them more family friendly. Once these changes occur, the moral and purpose of the stories begin to disappear. The tales featured in the many Disney movies - beloved by so many - have much more malignant and meaningful origins that often served to scare children into obeying their parents or learning valuable life lessons.
A report from childREACH discusses this topic, “Fairy tales offer new dimension to a child’s imagination. His imaginings can influence his own daydreams. Tales speak to children in the language of symbols. ” (childREACH) As we all know, when kids are young, the development of their thinking and imaginations is pretty important. Fairy tales give them the chance to image and think the real world in a unique way which gives them basic concepts such as the good and evil. Even their daydreams are also influenced by the fairy tales kids have read. “Fairy tales deal with the basic human condition. At the start of many tales, a mother or father dies. In the Grimm version of “Cinderella” her mother’s death is not a mere mention, but an integral part of the story in which Cinderella grieves and finds closure in a meaningful way.”(childREACH) Fairy tales give children basic human condition, the good and evil. They can give kids simple judgements and give them preliminary understandings of the world, which helps them learn other knowledge of the world easily and avoid to misbehave out of curiosity. “‘Fairy tales enrich a child’s life and give it an enchanted quality just because he does not quite know how the stories have worked their wonder on him.”(Bruno Bettelheim). Children of all ages can enjoy fairy tales, hence Disney’s foray into fairy
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...
The fairytale Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault is a story that recounts the adventure of the protagonist Little Red Riding Hood as she fulfills her mother’s wishes to bring a package to her ill grandmother. Perrault’s short story conveys influential life themes on the idea of male predation on adolescent women who fall victim to male deception. Perrault successfully portrays these themes through his use of rhetorical devices such as personifying the actions of the antagonist Wolf predator as he preys on the protagonist Little Red. Perrault illuminates the central theme of upholding sexual purity and being aware of eminent threats in society in his work. Roald Dahl’s poem, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, is an adaptation to
Normally, when one was a child, our parents would tell us fairy tales as bed time stories, or to simply entertain us. This is a worldwide tradition in which every parent tells their child the stories they were told when they were little, or new stories. There are infinite stories to be told as well as infinite stories that have already been written or told. The stories told by our parents have influenced us and still influence us in our beliefs and values today. Throughout our childhood, we have been told many stories that teach us to be brave and courageous, respect others, love ourselves and others, to obey orders, and even to help and