“On Fairy Stories” is a literary form essay written, by J.R.R. Tolkien, in 1947, to inform his readers that fairy stories are not only for children, but fairy stories are also for adults to enjoy and able to read. Tolkien believes that fairy-stories should be a genre for all ages with distinctive endings pertaining to their age group. Tolkien argues his personal view about fairy stories by paving the way with answering three inquires of his own, and also giving the an understanding of his own idealism. Tolkien’s first inquiry was what is a fairy story? According to Tolkien, a fairy is a realm about “Faerie” an indescribable and imperceptible perilous land. In modern time, the word fairy has the same meaning as “Faerie”; however, Tolkien uses “Faerie” to imply the distinctive difference between the two words. He states that the word fairy has been diminutive to only children, used as a “nursery”. For this reason, Tolkien’s usage of “Faerie” helps convey the importunateness and seriousness of fairy-stories. Tolkien also touches upon the difference between …show more content…
In short, Tolkien comments on how fairy-stories are “independent inventions” meaning they are not dependent on any other stories. He also claims that they include inheritance and diffusion, the common ancestral history and the borrowing of various times from one or more “centres” Tolkien’s final inquiry was what are the use of fairy-stories? According to Tolkien, fairy-stories are supposed to provide recovery, escape, and consolation. In “On Fairy Stories”, Tolkien diction as “cleaning out the windows” represents recovery. Recovery for the reader not to lose sight of the ones they take for granted, to remind them how much meaning the ones close to them have. For escape and consolation, fairy-stories are supposed to pose as a scapegoat from reality and responsibility, for example a “prison-way” to a “eucastrophe”, the uprising to a happy
Imagine yourself in a pre-industrial world full of mystery and magic. Imagine a world full of monsters, demons, and danger, as well as a world full of friends, fairies, good wizards, and adventure. In doing so you have just taken your first step onto a vast world created by author and scholar John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Tolkien became fascinated by language at an early age during his schooling, in particularly, the languages of Northern Europe, both ancient and modern. This affinity for language did not only lead to his profession, but also his private hobby, the invention of languages. His broad knowledge eventually led to the development of his opinions about Myth and the importance of stories. All these various perspectives: language, the heroic tradition, and Myth, as well as deeply-held beliefs in Catholic Christianity work together in all of his works. The main elements of Tolkien’s works are Good versus Evil, characters of Christian and anti-Christian origin, and the power of imagination.
In his evaluation of Little Red Riding Hood, Bill Delaney states, “In analyzing a story . . . it is often the most incongruous element that can be the most revealing.” To Delaney, the most revealing element in Little Red Riding Hood is the protagonist’s scarlet cloak. Delaney wonders how a peasant girl could own such a luxurious item. First, he speculates that a “Lady Bountiful” gave her the cloak, which had belonged to her daughter. Later, however, Delaney suggests that the cloak is merely symbolic, perhaps representing a fantasy world in which she lives.
Walt Disney needed to change his version and many of his other fairy tales and in doing so started a change in the way we see fairy tales. 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 you see the magic in a fairy tale, you can face the future” (Danielle Steel). We subconsciously live vicariously through fairytales, we want to escape the real world in hope for a different reality, and we really do believe the grass is greener on the other side. Fairytales are something that we go from not being able to get enough of, being “too old” for, and finally being old enough to appreciate the most beautiful aspects of them that we wish to one day be our reality. Unlike our real lives that we live minute to minute, day to day, year to year, with ups and downs and with a million possibilities of outcomes, fairytales always remain the same, with the minutes of reading, and the intoxicating words that make you cry, laugh, and dream. The importance of fairytales will live on forever just like the authors that wrote them.
For the first part of this essay, I will discuss how each fairy tale does
In literature, genres are often ambiguous because they are independent in creating their own conventions, as well as dependent on borrowing from others. According to author J.R.R Tolkien, fairy stories act in the same regard, functioning to create conventions like escape and recovery through eucatastrophe, as well as borrowing ideas of sub-creation from other literary styles like mythology (“On Fairy Stories” 8). In his works of fiction, including the Silmarillion and The Lord Of The Rings, the idea of genre ambiguity stays consistent, with Tolkien using conventions of horror in his creation of a second world. Thus, an analysis of the horrific imagery in The Lord Of The Rings will show that horror acts as a device in the creation of his second world, shown through monsters like Shelob and the Uruk-hai, who provide a source of interactive villainy and create a comparison between the fearful and fantastic to enchant the reader.
Fairy Stories are thought of as influential works that are known to create fantasized magical worlds that the reader can dive into. They have changed with the times and have been adjusted over the years so they can be more sensible for children. Fairy Stories are diverse in their plots and their orientations; yet, they are all structured in the same manner. They generally tell a tale and at the end of the story the reader is left to ponder the moral of the story. In his essay “On Fairy Stories”, J.R. R Tolkien is wary about the influence of fairy stories and explained that there are many ways to interpret and incorporate the tales into our lives while Bruno Bettelheim author of “Use of Enchantment” believes fairy stories are an essential component
In unit 4 we were asked to answer a few questions about different fairy tale stories
The simplicity of fairy tales and non-specific details renders them ideal for manipulation allowing writers to add their own comments often reflecting social convention and ideology. Theref...
At the beginning of “On Fairy-Stories,” J.R.R Tolkien starts the literary work by defining what a fairy tale is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. However, it does not mention any words with the combination fairy-story, and it also is useless on the topic of fairies. In the Supplement, a fairy tale is said to be (a) a tale about fairies, or generally a fairy legend; with developed senses, (b) an unreal or incredible story, and (c) a falsehood. Tolkien’s definition of a fairy-story:
In order to understand the title I have given this literary analysis we must first revisit what J.R.R. Tolkien considers a Faerie story. He viewed most fantasy stories or even worse “fairy” stories written as stories that attempted to trick the audience into this other world, a world filled with illusions, created by a magician who manipulates the primary world that we live in. In his essay “On Fairy Stories,” he attempts to distinguish and defend the genre of fairy stories from what most understand as fantasy writing or quite literally a story about fairies. He structures his essay in a manner that distinguishes itself from other genres such as “traveller’s tales,” science fiction (i.e. Star Wars – more on that later), beast tales and dream stories.
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...
..., Maria. “An Introduction to Fairy Tales.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 230-235. Print.
Fairytale is one of the intricate genres in literary history. It is impossible to say exactly when the first fairytale was created. They have been in practice since the beginning of time. The famous scholar Jack Zipes agreed that evolution of fairytales could not be determined. In his book The Irresistible Fairytales, he says: “It is impossible to trace the historical origins and evolution of fairytales to a particular time and place; we do know that humans began telling tales as soon as they developed the capacity of speech. They may have even used sign language before speech originated to communicate vital information for adapting to their environment”
Zipes, Jack. Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.