Once upon a time; the age old beginning to any fairy tale told to a child. Once upon a time a prince comes to save his princess as she sits there helplessly awaiting his arrival. Once upon a time a girl changes everything she is to suit the man of her dreams, and only after she changes everything does he notice her and fall in love with her. What are we teaching our children? In particular what are we teaching our daughters? There are a lot of stories with female discrimination in them, as addressed by Brittany N. Maggiore, a feminist, in her critique, “The majority of fairy tales support a patriarchal government. This is illustrated in the qualities and characteristics that female characters in fairy tales demonstrate. Good women …show more content…
Again, fairy tales are proven to be useless, even detrimental to a childs learning to think for itself. There are many values that it is important for women to have in fairy tales; beauty, virtue, naivety, and ability to do basic household chores. In any Disney fairy tale the girl gets saved from doing some awful thing by her prince charming, and she charms him with her beauty, and simplicity. In Cinderella, not only was she beautiful but she also was very skilled at household chores and trusted a random stranger who promised her anything she could ever dream for. “A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep. In dreams you will lose your heartaches. Whatever you wish for, you keep. Have faith in your dreams, and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true.” (Disney’s Cinderella) This tells little girls that even if they dream the most impossible thing, as long as they are beautiful and naïve their dreams will come true. Not to mention other Disney tales such as Snow White (takes an apple from a stranger), Belle (to save her father, lives with a beast), and Aurora (trusts a
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.
A fairytale is a fictional fantasy fable that passes through generations of children as source of interest to them. Though used for the intent of entertainment, fairytales often indirectly advocate a moral or message to readers (whom are usually children), in hopes that they will grow up to apply these ethics and lead a righteous life. This criteria, however, often originates from the occurrence of a magical transformation; it is this paranormality that introduces the characters of the story to a side of life far from what they have grown to know and learn to adapt to the dramatic amend in their life. This is evident in the characters in world-renowned tales such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.
So why does it matter?. What effect do original or Disney fairy tales have in kids?. It matters because these are one of the first things, the first stories that kids read. Would you want that the first lesson that your three year old daughter is taught that girls are like maid, that they are weak and need a guy to save them. The impression that Disney leaves with these kids is that guys are strong, girls just wear pretty dresses and hope that a rich handsome man falls in love with them. Watching Disney movies leave girls in response to loose confidence. This is not what a child should be
...hough she was brutally mistreated, Cinderella was able to find a solution for her problems and children can to. All they have to do is make the effort, try hard enough and success is possible. Adults should pay attention to this and see if Cinderella can help their children keep a positive attitude toward whatever situation they may be in - exaggerated as it may be. Cinderella doesn't only help show one how to overcome adversity it points out good morals, and sends the message that good always prevails. Both of these messages are crucial in a society that is slowly crumbling. All we can do is watch and hope the messages learned from Cinderella make a difference in the lives of Children all around the world.
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.
That may sound silly but, there is something to be said for optimism. In the Disney animated movie Cinderella sings, “No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.” This is a beautiful sentiment that carries much truth. Cinderella's heart was certainly grieving as her young life held much tragedy. First her dear mother died.
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.
Thinking about “Cinderella” brings me to my mind invaluable memories from my childhood, and that is why this fairy tale has been in the life of almost every person for causing entertainment, teach a lesson and people are able to relate to the story and feel part of it. I have read the “Cinderella” version by Charles Perrault and the one by Grimm Brothers and I found the Perrault’s to have a greatest value. Perrault describes “Cinderella” as the sweetest person in the world and her actions confirm it in every moment, because it does not matter how bad is the situation she is not able to betray her feeling for revenge. She teaches about forgiveness and to be tolerant with others, and help them even when they are not action properly as she did
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.
Fairy Tales have been around for generations and generations. Our parents have told us these stories and we will eventually pass them down to ours. In this time of age the most common fairytales are Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and The Beast and many more. Children idolize their favorite character and pretend to be them by mimicking everything they do in the stories. The character’s behavior is what is viewed as appropriate in society. These fairy tales show a girl and a boy fall in love and live “happily ever after”. The tales in many people’s eyes resemble a dream life that they would want to have of their own. However, have you ever really looked at what makes up a fairy tale? Many things are unrealistic but the most unflattering aspect of these tales is how women are depicted in them. Fairy tales give an unrealistic view to how women should look and behave in real life.
of the Cinderella story are psychologically harmful to women.” (p648). The fact that Cinderella is a limited character may give the girl an impression that she should be happy with what she has and not have any or aspirations in her life. That is, until her Prince comes to rescue her. Since these comments were made, the Cinderella story has been modified and changed. In order to see how gender roles have changed in fairy tales from the old to the new, let’s compare the classic version of Cinderella by Charles Perrault to a recent version which is a movie that was released in 1998 called “Ever After”which was directed by Andy Tennant.
Fairytales, the short stories that most children heard as they went to bed, are actually folktales from previous decades. The fairytales today are primarily adaptations of older versions recreated by Disney— the pioneers of this generation. With that said, the modern versions consistently display good triumphing over evil, a prince charming that constantly came to the rescue, and a happily ever after ending. However, the original folktale version didn’t always come with fortunate events, but often were more violent and gruesome. With the fairytale Cinderella, Disney maintains a similar theme as its Grimm version; however, the conflicts, events, and characters that support this idea are rather different.
The fairytale is not just about her journey to grandma’s house, or everyone knowing Little Red Riding Hood because she is a sweet little girl, the fairytale is giving us messages that we should help our elders and we should kind.
There are many fairy tales that have been discussed in this class. The most interesting stories to me are Snow White by Brother Grimm and Ever After: A Cinderella Story directed by Andy Tennant based on Cinderella by Charles Perrault. There are many different versions of Snow White and Cinderella from numerous cultures. In every version, both stories are known as children bed time stories. In addition, the purpose of both stories is to give a life lesson to the children about overcoming evil to attain happiness. At first, every fairy tale has to deal with evil that threatens the protagonist, but in the end, good must always win. In the same way, both of the fairy tales have a similar scenario of a character that is beautiful and has an equally sweet disposition, but is thwarted by an antagonist