One of the ideologies that started to emerge in the German states during the early nineteenth century was the concept of nationalism. The idea of being loyal to one country and having a cultural pride that makes ones country better than the others. Two brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, well educated, and respected scholars, helped develop this ideology by gathering folk tales from the different regions in order to help unify Germany and to implement its values amongst its readers. Their stories became well known across the German states because of how relatable they were to the majority of the middle and working classes, and how similar the stories were for every tribe. Not to mention that the children's tales helped teach basic values and gender-specific behaviour by scaring them with stories that does not have happy endings for the bad characters. There are also arguments that Jacob and Wilhelm's stories influenced women's behaviour as well with stories of beautiful girls who behave and are rewarded with a happy ending. By Gathering all of these tales from across the land, the Brothers Grimm Influenced the behaviour and the nationalistic ideals at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Before going into what they influenced, it will be easier to see what motivated the Brothers Grimm to write all of these tales. Jacob and Wilhelm were the oldest of six children born unto Dorothea, the daughter of a councilman in Kassel, and Philipp Wilhelm Grimm, and ambitious lawyer and later a district judge in Steinau. (Zipes, my book) Growing up they were part of the wealthier middle-class who lived in a large home with a few servants.(zipes, my book) This made them familiar with the social requirements within that class that would late...
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...nes are generally portrayed as domestic figures or figures who need domestication…" While "… men are expected to become socially useful and fight for their goals." This contrast in traits encourages women to stay in the background while their male counterparts become proactive members of society. Another author, Bottigheimer demonstrates how the Grimms would slightly twist the words that "…weakened once strong female characters, demonized female power, imposed a male perspective on stories voicing women's discontents, and rendered heroines powerless…" The explanation that was found for the gender biased contexts was because of "…Wilhelm’s increasing reliance on misogynistic folk tales from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries." so when they were published, they had a different tone that demonstrated more of the peasant values rather than those of the bourgeois.
Germany. Nationalism is a complex concept that can be viewed as both a unifying and a disunifying force, depending on one's perspective and background knowledge. On one hand, it can bring people together who share a common bond based on a single "nationality" or ancestry. Those who view nationalism as a unifying force often reject loyalty to a monarch, instead choosing to remain loyal to their fellow citizens. On the other hand, some people see nationalism as a disunifying force because it can disrupt efforts to restore the old order before the French Revolution.
Nationalisms powerful and intense impact on individuals is demonstrated in Rudolf von Ihering’s Two Letters (1866). By offering individuals a group to be a part of became something which appeared to be boundless in its potential for prosperity and it gave individuals a sense of empowerment. Initially, Von Ihering had rigorously opposed Realpolitik’s policies which were employed by Otto von Bismarck, declaring that, “everyone [in Ger...
Nationalism was viewed in so many different ways by so many different leaders and society. Many conflicts and wars were a long term impact on Nationalism, but some conflicts were a small impact on Nationalism. The Frankfurt Constitution was written and published and also is a document of Germany History today. The article “On the Duties of Man”, by Giuseppe Mazzini and how the map of Europe was redrawn, which was a huge impact on Nationalism. Romanticism was another huge impact of Nationalism, with many changes that was made from artist and how their paintings became more realistic and how everyone had different views on artist’s painting.
Every girl has at one time wanted to be a princess. We held this belief because of the stories we were told as young girls. The stories we heard in which poor peasant girls could become princesses through perseverance, patience, beauty or wit. These stories were introduced to us under the guise of fairytales, which, for many of us are synonymous with the name Grimm, although several of our favorite fairytales are by other authors. Even if you don’t know the name Grimm, you know at least one story by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel, and the list continues. The Grimm Brothers collected and wrote stories scattered throughout the rural countryside, recording them based on a general structure and often containing certain aspects. The stories were affected by the religion, morals and culture of that era, but Grimm’s tales are translatable from the time when they were written to the modern times because of their base in universal themes. Still today their stories are not only being rewritten and reimaged several times over, but used structurally in literature. A notable author is one whose literature is able to withstand time and still be applicable no matter the technology, culture, or religion. The Grimm Brothers are notable authors because they are the founders of modern literature, both in structure and in morals.
When the French took over Germany under Napoleon’s leadership, Jacob and Wilhelm increased their studies. They gathered fairy tales because they hoped no one would forget German culture (Hettinga pg.66). The fairy tales the Brothers Grimm wrote are tales that other people told them (Hettinga). Some of the tales that the Brothers Grimm wrote are very grim! There is one story about these kids who were killing pigs, but they were not careful and they ended up killing each other. This is one of the reasons parents did not think the Brothers Grimm fairy tales were suitable for their kids (Hettinga pg.78). The Brothers Grimm fairytales have been changed over time, in different countries. In Cinderella the glass slippers have been changed into different material like leather instead of glass (Hettinga pg.X). The Brothers Grimm asked all their friends to collect stories or phrases from anyone who might of happened to have one (Hettinga pg.). Another scholar was collecting tales at the same time as the Brothers Grimm. He asked them if he could borrow their manuscript. Fortunately they copied it down by hand because he never gave it back (Hettinga pg. 73+74).
Throughout most of literature and history, the notion of ‘the woman’ has been little more than a caricature of the actual female identity. Most works of literature rely on only a handful of tropes for their female characters and often use women to prop up the male characters: female characters are sacrificed for plot development. It may be that the author actually sacrifices a female character by killing her off, like Mary Shelly did in Frankenstein in order to get Victor Frankenstein to confront the monster he had created, or by reducing a character to just a childish girl who only fulfills a trope, as Oscar Wilde did with Cecily and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. Using female characters in order to further the male characters’
Why is it that in a time when women were considered an inferior gender, they would become the main characters in fairy tales? One reason could be that fairy tales are one of the few genres created by women. The fairy tale originates in the seventeenth century when aristocratic women would gather in salons and play a game of who could make up the best story. This gave women a chance "to demonstrate their intelligence and education," and "to picture themselves, social manners, and relations in a manner that represented their interests" (Zipes 20). Many of these oral stories were later published by men, and through the years have been rewritten by men.
Nationalism is the idea that a people who have much in common, such as language, culture and geographic proximity ought to organize in such a way that it creates a stable and enduring state. Nationalism is tied to patriotism, and it is the driving force behind the identity of a culture. Nationalism had many effects in Europe from 1815, The Congress of Vienna and beyond. In the following essay I will describe many of the consequences of nationalism on European identity, as well as some of the conflicts that it created.
Even though Germanic tradition stems back to the 14th and 15th centuries, the German nation is relatively young. During its brief history, Germans were faced with the question of what constituted their own identity. Nationalism became a tool for the major players during the creation of the German State, and would later become deeply entrenched in the cultural mind. Nationalism served many masters, and could be used for the greater good, or sheer destruction. Nationalism storied past in Germany makes the modern state cautious when confronting national sentiments. Germans dark past has created a movement of Europeanization today. But in oder to better understand the modern German state, it is important look to how nationalism lead to its creation, and the ultimate affect it would have on the German people.
Mary Shelley depicts the Romantic ideal of inferiority of women in Frankenstein. These ethics can be compared and contrasted with values of today’s society. Shelley had all male narrators to accentuate the belief of male superiority. The female orphans of the story portray the assumption that women are helpless and the lack of letters from Margaret emphasizes the essential worthlessness of a woman’s opinions. Finally, the female presence in the workforce contradicts Romantic ideals, however housewives and male proposals parallel the ideals Shelley uses in Frankenstein. The Romantic ideals that women are secondary to men are expressed throughout Frankenstein as well as in Romantic times and today.
Folktales are a way to represent situations analyzing different prospects about gender, through the stories that contribute with the reality of the culture in which they develop while these provide ideas about the behavior and roles of a specific sex building a culture of womanhood, manhood and childhood. This is what the stories of Little Red Riding Hood of Charles Perrault (1697) and Little Red-Cap of the Grimm Brothers (1812) show. This essay will describe some ideas about gender in different ways. First, the use of symbolic characters allows getting general ideas about the environment in the society rather than individuals. Second, it is possible to identify ideas about gender from the plot from the applied vocabulary providing a better understanding of the actions. Finally, the narrative perspective of the tales analyzes deeply the status of the characters referring to the thoughts among the society.
During the 1800’s, two brothers, known as Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, began writing short stories that reflected their lives in central Europe. At this time the French under Napoleon’s rule had overrun Germany, which caused a lot of political issues. Germany’s new governmental ruler cut off the country from its local culture (National Geographic). The Grimm brothers tried to preserve the traditional oral stories of the time. They didn’t plan for their writings to become popular, or for them to be for the younger population.
Long flowing hair in the wind, a strong chiselled jaw with big muscles and a hearty smile, or perhaps no smile at all. Saving princesses, fighting dragons, befriending beasts and being cavalier. This generic stance of the male hero is discussed in Max Luthi’s essay The Fairy-Tale Hero; however, although the norm, this opinion of a male protagonist is not as immovable as it may seem. Max Luthi’s opinion of Grimm’s, Hansel and Gretel is that Gretel is the leading character and that the males are irrelevant to the outcome of the story. Instead of accounting for the different scopes of personalities of the males, Max Luthi dismisses them as non-instrumental characters. For example Hansel uses wit to defeat the evil witch and is detrimental in the survival of the two. Also The Father breaks the traditionalist view of a Male character, as he is pressured by his wife to rid of the children. Male characters in traditional fairy tales do not have to abide by a strict convention and may have different of roles including being witty or cowardly instead of being primarily brave and strong.
Throughout literature, authors employ a variety of strategies to highlight the central message being conveyed to the audience. Analyzing pieces of literature through the gender critics lens accentuates what the author believes to be masculine or feminine and that society and culture determines the gender responsibility of an individual. In the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, the gender strategies appear through the typical fragile women of the mother and the grandmother, the heartless and clever male wolf, and the naïve and vulnerable girl as little red riding hood.
Through literature and art, romantics expressed the idea of Germany as “an organic folk community wrapped in a cloak of tradition”. They strived to create a homogenous identity for all Germans.... ... middle of paper ... ...180-213.