Children's Story Puss in Boots
A close examination of the tale type 545-b (according to Aarne and Thompson) (1) reveals a well known, almost universal tale of man and animal helper. There are many consistencies between western tradition and Central Asian renditions. Several themes are parallel yet cultural influences vary some of the plot details. The political and social structures of the time in which these stories were told shape these details and lays the background for the story. The most significant difference between western versions and those of Central Asia seems to be which animal plays the role of hero, cat or fox.
The story of “Puss In Boots” is a children’s favorite. It is one of Charles Perrault’s most well known fairy tales. The tale originated from oral tradition in the East. It has undergone many changes over a long time period and a wide geographic area. Today many literary adaptations of this famous story fill classrooms, libraries and children’s bookshelves world-wide. “Versions with a cat as a protagonist are predominantly found in Western Europe...” (2) However, the historical renditions of the tale as well as many modern adaptations have a fox as the protagonist. It was the arrival of the tale to Southwestern Europe that saw the character change to a feline.
According to Marianthi Kaplanoglou, in Central Asian tales, specifically Mongolian, Tibetan, and Alti-Turkish, the animal-helper is a fox. The fox is known in myths and tales from China, Korea, and Japan as a mythical creature. They are often associated with Mangus, a typical demon of Central Asian tales. He or his relatives are able to transform into foxes at any given time. According to tradition, a poor hunter spares the life of a fox, who repays the favor by helping the man. The animal , either fox or cat, introduces the young man as a person of wealth who was robbed by highway men. He captures animals and presents them to the ruler. The fox then arranges for the wedding of the man to the rulers’ daughter. The tale continues with the fox killing the owner of a large fortune. This owner is usually Mangus . In this tale, the fox proves beneficial to the man and therefore becomes an adversary of Mangus. The killing of this supernatural being then becomes a just act rather than one of maliciousness. The young man has acquired fortune, married the daughter of a person of great wealth and power.
In “The Company of Wolves” Carter employs conventions of gender construction and didacticism, which help establish a fairy tale space (Koske 323). Carter presents a world in which fairy tale notions of gender are upheld. In her paper, “In Olden Times, When Wishing was Having: Classic and Contemporary Fairy Tales”, Joyce Carol Oates explains that the girls and women in fairy tales “are the uncontested property of men”. Carter alludes to this male dominated reality in her tale (99). When the girl, Carter’s Red Riding Hood, insists on venturing into the woods, the narrator says that “[h]er father might forbid her, if he were home, but he is away in the forest, gathering wood, and her mother cannot deny her” (1224). There is perhaps no gendered element to a parent preventing his child from wandering into the wilderness, b...
A comparison of Old World and New World storytelling styles is outlined by Lindahl as a gateway to understanding how Jack found homes in certain communities of North America. The typical märchen is woven around a conflict between home and the open road. The tales start in an ordinary place where Jack and his mother worry about the source of their next meal. Only after Jack takes to the open road to provide for his family does the story change to involve magic. Usually, the further Jack ventures from home, the more magic he encounters. In European portrayals, Jack’s return to home results in an ordinary life without magic, now enhanced by his found wealth. Linda Degh recognized that the great European storytellers were not homebodies,
Ziolkowski, Jan. M. "A Fairy Tale from before Fairy Tales: Egbert of Liege's 'De puella a lupellis seruata' and the Medieval Background of 'Little Red Riding Hood'." Speculum 67:3 (July 1992): 549-575. JSTOR. Penn. Coll. Kib., Williamsport. 23 July 2004. <http://www.jstor.org>.
In this book, you will also find some stories of newer date, noteworthy or trivial, somber or rather amusing. They have been included to let the reader relax once in a while from the horrible discoveries related to these myths, legends and folktales.
Warner, Marina. From the Beast to the Blond on Fairy Tales and Their Tellers. New York: Chatto & Windus, 1994. Print.
Parents play an important role in a child’s life so it is only natural that these roles are portrayed in fairytales meant for children. This is evident in the tale Donkeyskin by Charles Perrault and Cinderella by the Grim Brothers. The differing roles of the fathers in these tales, along with the similar roles of mothers, establish two different beliefs to impart on a child. Donkeyskin reminds a child that his/her parents love is undying and wants what is best for them; while Cinderella stresses the importance of becoming independent. Both of these beliefs recognize and address a child’s simple desires and fears.
Below the surface of folklore and fairy tales hides the forgotten instinctual soul of the wild woman archetype, and while the morality of these tales may be questionable, I believe they are the trigger in bringing the forgotten instincts to the surface. The stories can bring empowerment as we interpret them to understand why we have lost our instincts and guide us in our transformation back to this forgotten self. This paper will discuss the connection between the wild woman and the tales, along with the meanings behind some of the stories.
Some of the highest producing diamond mines are countries in Africa. Countries that had some of the highest rate of conflict were Angola, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The ...
Humans and animals have always coexisted together for as long as man could remember and exist. They would hunt each other for survival, sometimes man would come out as the victor, and sometimes it was the animal. Mankind would feast on them like they would feast on us. With time, this relationship would change. The animals would become our companions as well as being our food. They would become our hunting tools, such as in tracking prey. They would later be used as our means of transport and also as labor tools, such as when humans would need help working on their farmland. Let’s not forget that they also provide us with entertainment, such as in a zoo or as a circus attraction. Although only some cultures still consider some animals as sacred, most of us look down on them, consider them inferior to us. There was however a time when we worshipped them more and even admired them. We will explore this worship and admiration of animals in this essay as we compare and contrast the depictions of animals in the Upper Paleolithic period in cave arts and in Ancient Egypt in order to identify the presence of a shift, if there was one, in our reverence of animals in between both periods.
It’s hard to imagine that a mineral could be fueling wars and funding corrupt governments. This mineral can be smuggled undetected across countries in a coat pocket, then be sold for vast amounts of money. This mineral is used in power tools, parts of x-ray machines, and microchips but mostly jewelry. Once considered the ultimate symbol of love, the diamond has a darker story. "Blood" diamonds or "conflict" diamonds are those mined, polished, or traded in areas of the world where the rule of law does not exist. They often originate in war-torn countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire were rebels use these gems to fund genocide or other questionable objectives. Even with a system known as the Kimberly process which tracks diamonds to prevent trade of these illicit gems, infractions continue as the process is seriously flawed. The continuation of the blood diamond trade is inhuman, and unethical, and in order to cease this illicit trade further action to redefine a conflict diamond, as well as reform to the diamond certification prosess is nessasary.
nurture argument. Theorists have wondered how much of development is affected by genetics and the environment. Ultimately, nature and nurture intertwine to shape the lives of children. Nature may predispose children to certain behaviors if placed in specific environments, however the timing of the environmental exposure and the child’s natural tendencies also play a role. Theorists have also discussed the extent to which development is universal and how much of it is unique to individuals. There are consistencies that have been noted universally yet; theorists have observed variations in their competency in different tasks and way of life that may be contributed to genetics or the environment. Lastly, theorists debate about whether changes in development can be portrayed as qualitative where it involves dramatic changes or quantitative in which development is a steady progression. These debates have merits independently but require each other for a better understanding of child
At first glance the characters Connie from “Where are you going? Where have you been?” and Little Red Riding Hood from the classic fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” may seem to have nothing in common. However, from the start one can compare how much they actually have in common. Though these two characters are very different they are the same in many ways. Their story, from beginning to end, is similar. It is easy to see how alike and different they are with the description of Connie and Little Red Riding Hood’s lives, the relationship with their wolves, and their tragic endings.
Fairy tales are an integral part of American culture. From Grimm’s Fairy Tales --- what most people consider the “classic” or “traditional” stories --- to Disney movies, the idea of the fairy tale permeates our society. While the written fairy tale is, at its base, literary, the social sciences also can illuminate the origin and meaning of fairy tales. At a glance, Rumpelstiltskin looks just like any other children’s fairytale, but when further examined, new and deeper meanings are discovered. The concept of Rumpelstiltskin has gone through many permutations in western society. Even in recent years, fairy tale retellings have become more popular, suggesting that fairy tales still hold a deep resonance in our culture. The contemporary literary
“I've told her and I've told her: daughter, you have to teach that child the facts of life before it's too late” (Hopkinson 1). These are the first three lines of Nalo Hopkinson's fairy tale “Riding the Red”, a modern adaptation of Charles Perrault's “Little Red Riding Hood”. Perrault provided a moral to his fairy tales, the one from this one is to prevent girls from men's nature. In Hopkinson's adaptation, the goal remains the same: through the grandmother biographic narration, the author advances a revisited but still effective moral: beware of wolfs even though they seem innocent.
I went out in my garden to pick some fresh fruit when I heard two squeaky voices. I immediately recognized two those voices, it belonged to those two animals that Gwendolyn and Augustus called children. I really did despise them. They would always try to eat my home, and never had any manners. I continued to watch them, - not in a pedophilic way. Gwendolyn and Augustus weren’t with t...