Fairy tales, of course, have been around for a very long time. Some longer than others, but are still extremely popular today. They help to teach children an understanding of right and wrong, good and evil forces, and how to address emotions not through direct teaching, but through implication. Not only do fairy tales express the unconscious longings, wants, hopes, and desires a child has, but they also speak in a language that only children can comprehend thus, making fairy takes very valuable to a child’s development. Their broad appeal to both young and old readers and their moral teachings are among the factors that greatly contribute to their prolonged relevance. Fairy tales are still very accordant in today’s society because they continue …show more content…
The three major archetypes that occur during the tale are the hero, The Devil Figure, and Damsel in Distress. When the King throws an extravagant ball to find the prince a wife, the prince inadvertently saves Cinderella from her abhorrent family. The Prince is very handsome and romantic, a foil to the heroine, is seldom deeply characterized, and he rescues the damsel in distress. In this situation Cinderella is being rescued from peril thus making the prince satisfy all the criteria to represent the hero archetype. The second archetypal element that “Cinderella” evokes is The Devil Figure. This element is represented by the stepmother and step daughters. They make Cinderella’s life dreadful as she is the new maid of the house” There she had to do hard work from morning till night, get up before daybreak, carry water, light fires, cook, and wash”(Grimm page #). Not only is the evil-stepmom cruel to Cinderella, she is also cruel to her own daughters. When the royal guard arrives at the house to find the perfect fit for the golden slipper, she demands the two daughters to cut parts of their feet off to make them fit “‘Cut the toe off; when thou art Queen thou wilt have no more need to go on foot’"(author and page #.) The corrupt stepmom and step daughters are an authentic image for The Devil Figure. The third and final archetypal element that “Cinderella” illustrates is Damsel in distress. In the fairy tale, Cinderella represents everything a woman would have been back in that time period. She was naturally weak and submissive so a man, or a prince, has come to the rescue and freed Cinderella of the slave labor. It was socially acceptable for the men to be the stronger gender so women were not treated with the same amount of respect and dignity men
Cinderella is about a beautiful young girl that is mistreated by her step family. They give her the worst chores, make her sleep in a very dirty room up in an attic, and even give her the name “Cinderella” because they say she is always playing in the cinders of the fire. Cinderella is different though because despite being mistreated, she is still very nice and warmhearted. She represents how you should act in a world full of hate. If you are nice to everyone despite their rudeness and hate you will be rewarded in the end. Since Cinderella was so nice to her step sisters throughout her whole life, when she wanted to go to the ball her fairy godmother granted her wish. Cinderella got to go to the ball and looked absolutely beautiful, beautiful enough to catch the attention of the prince. While at the ball she was still very nice to her stepsisters, giving them food and telling them how nice they looked. When the stepsisters got home from the ball that night, they explain how lovely the mysterious princess was and how they thought she was so beautiful, not knowing that the mysterious princess was Cinderella. Cinderella played it off like she knew nothing of the princess but agreed with them that she must have been very beautiful. The next day came around and the stepsisters returned to the ball the
Children can identify themselves with fairy-tale characters; they imagine themselves as heroes, who are capable of killing dragons, or simpletons, who demonstrate the superiority over clever people. Fantasies based on the fairy tales are extremely important part of the children’s lives, and this is not only because they describe threatening situations that resemble main fears of a young child such as the fear of getting lost, fear of wrong decisions, fear of monsters or evil animals. Happy endings, which are always present in fairy tales, give children the confidence that despite all their fears they will be able to win in the end. This knowledge helps them to prepare for the difficulties of life, regardless whether they are real or imagined (Doughty, 2006).
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.
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.
The archetypes that were found in the various Cinderella versions are extremely similar. They each involve a heroine, a villain or evil figure, and a mentor or helper. In addition, there were traditional theme archetypes, such as a quest for love. These archetypes represent the similarities between each culture’s version of the story.
Cinderella is a fairytale for children that displayed love, loss and miracles; however, when it is further analyzed, it has a deeper meaning. Cinderella is a story about a young girl who became a servant in her own home after her father remarried a malicious woman with two spoiled daughters. She was humiliated and abused yet she remained gentle and kind. She received help from her fairy godmother to go to the prince’s ball after her stepmother rejected her proposal. Cinderella and the Prince fell madly in love but she had to leave at twelve o’clock and forgot to tell him her name but she left her glass slipper behind. He sent his servants to find her and Cinderella was the only maiden in the kingdom to fit into the shoes. She was then free from her Stepmother and married the Prince. This report will examine the key events and the main character through an anthological, psychological and sociological perspective. The story of Cinderella demonstrated gender roles and family and marriage roles, Conformity and obedience and Erick Erickson’s theory and feminist theory.
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.
Fairy tales have been read to children for many years by parents hoping these tales of heroines and heroes would provide a fun and interesting way to teach moral and values. Fairy tales provide children with a fun and entertaining way to deal with strangers. Children learn that when you don’t follow the rule and talk to mysterious strangers you’re put into situation that can cause pain or suffering to others.
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 fairy tale, which to this day is the first tutor of children because it was once the first tutor of mankind, secretly lives on in the story. The first true storyteller is, and will continue to be, the teller of fairy tales. Whenever good counsel was at a premium, the fairy tale had it, and where the need was greatest, its aid was nearest. This need was created by myth. The fairy tale tells us of the earliest arrangements that mankind made to shake off the nightmare which myth had placed upon its chest.”(Walter Benjamin). For generations fairy tales have brought happiness to hundreds of people. Through childhood to adults, people still enjoy the mysteries of fairytales. In society, fairytales are a great way of connecting
Hansjorg, Hohr, (2000). Dynamic Aspects of Fairy Tales: social and emotional competence through fairy tales. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, Vol 44, No 1, Department of Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Once upon a time, in a land far away a student started writing his Major Essay. Cliché’s aside, this is probably the most recognised introduction to writing in existence. Passed down through philosophers, bards, story tellers and authors Fairy Tales transcend culture, politics, language and even time periods. Arguably, every single person on the planet has heard one. Whether it be the Ancient Roman version of Cinderella, Cupid and Psyche passed down through modern Greece, heard all the way to Turkey or the African version of Snow White, Udea and her seven brothers commonly recited all through the African states. With these stories, or a version of these stories being so common in society it is a reasonable question to ask, if the morals and messages contained are still relevant in today’s world? Sally Goddard Blythe a child development expert suggests they are crucial for a child’s development in her book “The Genius of Natural Children” she outlines her belief that
Cinderella’s mother passed away and her father remarried a woman who had two daughters from a previous marriage. A few weeks passed and a prince is holding a three day festival and all the beautiful young girls in the town were invited. Cinderella wanted to go but her evil stepmother gave her two impossible tasks to complete before she could attend the festival. Cinderella completes the two tasks with the help of her bird friends and her mother’s grave. Cinderella goes to the festival and she dances with the prince all three days. Finally, the prince has fallen in love with her and eventually they get married. Fairytales and Disney productions threaten gender politics and women’s role by portraying women in certain areas like domestic behaviors