The Cat and his Master
Puss in Boots is a strange little folk tale in which a talking cat performs deeds of heroism in order to further his master's lot in life. It is saddled with a moral which implies that through hard work and ingenuity one can rise above his station. This hardly seems to be the case, however, when we look at the contributions made by the miller's youngest son and master of the puss himself. Furthermore, the symbolism peppered throughout the tale would seem to indicate that there is more going on.
The tale begins with the death of a miller, who leaves his sole possessions to his three sons. The youngest of the sons winds up with nothing but what he believes to be a lowly cat, which he is convinced will be good only for a meal and a muff. The young man begins the story in a passive hopelessness, bemoaning the fact that he received the least of his father's goods in his inheritance, and he retains this passivity throughout. He never makes any contribution to his own well-being, beyond his initial decision not to eat the cat, and to let the cat demonstrate his cunning and deceitful skills. He lets the cat do all of the thinking and all of the work. He even becomes the "Marquis of Carabas" at the whim of the puss, and follows all of the cat's instructions, including swimming nude when the cat directs him. He doesn't even ask for an explanation. The moral states that "hard work and ingenuity will take a young man further than his father's money," but the young man certainly shows no signs of hard work nor ingenuity. In fact, he seems to be an icon for naivety and blind faith. This does not, however, mean that the moral is wrong. There are several aspects of this story which take folk tale conventions and turn ...
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...ter. He traps animals and delivers them to a person of power, displaying his ability to negotiate. He puts a plan into action that will place his master in a position of power and manipulates the peasants to back up that plan. He craftily dupes the ogre into using his incredible powers against himself. In all of these instances we see evidence of the underdog using his wits and cunning to overcome the odds and be in control of the world around him, an idea that must have had appeal to people with little or no control of the events in their lives. Indeed, it is an idea that still has appeal today.
Works Cited
Darnton, Robert The Great Cat Massacre http://www.geocities.com/pashathecat/History/Cat_Massacre.html
Perrault, Charles. "Puss in Boots." Folk & Fairy Tales Comp. Martin Hallett and Barbara Karasek. 2nd ed. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview, 1996. 94-97.
money,he shows that money is so powerful and important among people that it takes on several
Beowulf tells the story of one of the most heroic men of Anglo-Saxon times. The hero, Beowulf, is able to use his super-human physical strength and courage to put his people before himself. He encounters terrifying monsters and the most brutal beasts, but he never fears the threat of death. Beowulf is the ultimate epic hero who risks his life countless times for great honor and for the good of others. Oedipus Rex is a tragic play, which discusses the tragic discovery of Oedipus--that he has killed his father, and married his mother. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Oedipus gains the rule of Thebes by answering the riddle of Sphinx.
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...
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>.
He is most famous for impaling his enemies on sticks around his castle. He taught himself how to miss vital organs in the body, causing the victim to die a slow painful death. This is why people consider him an ancient vampire. What people don’t know about him is that the rich loved him, but the poor hated him. To anyone that didn’t have to seal to make it by he was great.
It is at this point in the story where the main character is often given something, such as an object, or advice from another character to assist him or her in the completion of their transformation (Morris). In most instances, the support given acts as a catalyst and spurs the hero or heroine into action. In "Puss in Boots", the cat plays the role of an assistant to the orphaned boy, but with one slight inversion to the traditional story line. In this case, the cat not only offers words of consolation and advice to the boy, he also initiates the action leading up to the final resolution and transformation of the hero. Normally, a more common version of this theme would have the Miller's son carry out the plan of action, not his advisor.
...erstood that the real monster was his ambition which led to his overall tragedy. He died miserable because of his pride; one could say he is selfish because when creating the creature he did not think of the benefit of others.
When they go to death they find a pot of gold and become rich. The two brothers then tell the youngest to go fetch some wine. While the brother is gone the two plan to kill the younger one when he gets back (to get his portion of the gold). The youngest brother also at the same time poisons the wine, so when he returns he is killed by the two older brothers and when they drink the wine; they to succumb to their death also. From this story I learned of that the moral is that greed is the root of all evil (Chaucer implying that the pardoner’s role in selling indulgences is an act of sin itself). In the Squire’s Tale it tells about a squire who brings gifts to the Princess and King of Russia including a ring, a mirror, a metal horse, and a sword. The Princess wears the ring and learns that with it, she can communicate with animals. So she speaks to a falcon and learns about how the falcon is hurt that she lost the love of a male falcon to a kite. The Princess hearing this takes the falcon into her own care, healing the bird. Although I am not really clear on what the moral of the story is, I did learn about what the gifts symbolized- the ring portraying love, the mirror portraying the importance of honesty in love, the metal horse signifying wonder and wisdom, and the sword symbolizing power (in the ability to control one’s
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
...im, Bruno, The Use of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (London: Penguin, 1975).
ambition and a chance to win the struggle of leadership of his pears and enemies. In the story a
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Vintage, 2010. Print.
The pardoner tells the readers that money and greed is root of all evil throughout this tale. In his tale, there are three drunken men, one day, decide to find Death and annihilate it. They ask one old man where the death is and he points at the tree where a lot of gold are. When they find gold they only think of getting gold as many as possible and end up planning to kill each other. Three men are unaware of their own evil and as a result, three all die. By story-telling this tale which comprehends no interaction with his behavior, the pardoner negate his own moral and advises other people how should they live their life in order to avoid sins.
This article, is arguing about the cultural history on how the poor and the lower class would tell stories. These stories still affect our society today. This article states that fairy tales at first were meant for adults because children could not read. An example is Brothers Grimm, where “Weber argues that fairy tales can tell us a great deal about the real conditions in the world of those who told and those who heard the tales” (344). It also explains how the Grimm’s brother changed society with their stories of cruelty.
I have a love for cats. Ever since I was a teenager I always wished for a cat of my own. When I moved in a three story apartment in California, the Manager of the complex said that cats were allowed in the units. I mentioned to my Aunt at the time that I was searching in the newspapers under advertisements for cats wanted. One cool breezy evening, my Aunt called me and said that a friend of her's named Judy had a cat named Katie who did not get along with her other two cats. So I agreed to meet with Judy to see if I'd love to adopt Katie.