Beauty and the Beast: The Untold Meaning

Print. Gubar, Susan. "Snow White and Her Wicked Stepmother." The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism. By Sandra M. Gilbert.

Ask someone today to define a fairy tale and they will tell you along the lines of a beautiful woman put threw hardships that in the end of the story gets the man and becomes a queen of her own castle. If children or adults think of the great classical fairy tales today, be it Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella, they will think Walt Disney. Their first and perhaps lasting impression of these tales and others will have emanated from Disney film, book, or artefacts (Zipes 72) Before Disney the definition was: Simple narrative typically of folk origin dealing with supernatural beings. Fairy tales may be written or told for the amusement of children or may have a more sophisticated narrative containing supernatural or obviously improbable events, scenes, and personages and often having a whimsical, satirical, or moralistic character. The term embraces popular folktales such as “Cinderella” and “Puss in Boots,” as well as art fairy tales of late... ... middle of paper ... ...on silver plates.

Anne Sexton incorporates her thoughts on stereotypes and feminism into her poem and also puts fourth a style of writing that could be considered gruesome and dark. Disney, on the other hand, turns the dark fairytale into one that is full of magic and true love. When I think of “Cinderella,” my mind automatically thinks of the Disney interpretation. I grew up being read this and honestly never knew that there was an original one out there. After reading both versions of “Cinderella,” I can see the deeper meaning behind each.

Of Love and Other Demons. N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1995. 1-147. Sandner, David. "Romanticism and Transcendence in Nineteenth-Century Children's Fantasy Literature."

Appearance is always the fundamental theme of fairy tales, especially in “Donkeyskin”, “Catskin”, and “The Princess in the Suit of Leather”. The appearances of the girls caused many of the actions made by the other characters. For example, the princesses’ unmatchable beauty made their fathers or an old man to desire to marry them. But appearance is not just about the beauty of the people; it is, also, about the social appearances. It seems that other people’s view of the princesses changed as the girls switched between social classes.

America: The New Society (2010): 1-77. Print. 8. Tartar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales.

Gale, 1994. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. Tatar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales.

Restate topic, importance of topic, thesis, and supporting points. Works Cited Grimm, Jakob, and Wilhelm Grimm. “Cinderella.” In The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. Edited by Lily Owens. New York: Avenel Books, 1981.

Web. 12 Feb. 2010 Ziegenhals, Gretchen E The Christian Century; July 19, 1989; 106, 22; ProQuest Direct Complete pg.693 Zipes, Jack. “Breaking the Magic Spells: Politics and Fairy Tales. “New German Critiques (Autumn 1975): 116-135. Rpt.

Young girls are often stuck in a world of make believe, they are fed fairytales, dream up unimaginable views of reality and believe everyone will find their prince charming. This unrealistic perspective is formed through their experiences with different fairytales. As G.K. Chesterton tells the fairytale are a realistic world for children, “Fairy tales are more than true — not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten”. Fairytales lead these girls to believe that in order to find true love there is some sort of intense journey one must go on. This idea of a journey for love has created a specific ideology for what love is and how to achieve it.