The Importance Of Fairy Tales In American Culture

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

Foster’s main points in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. According to Foster, the fairy tale with the most enduring appeal is “Hansel and Gretel. Here, Foster makes clear the connection between fairy tales and real life. Although “Hansel and Gretel” might seem fantastical and silly, it is in fact rooted in one of the most fundamental fears of humanity—the fear of losing ourselves and becoming lost and vulnerable. Provided with these interpretations, it is clear the explicit idea of Rumpelstiltskin is being the bad guy isn’t always terrible, which is a commonality between both the 19th century and

He is seen as the villain because it looks like he tries to manipulate the miller’s daughter when in actuality he was just lending her his services at a specific price. Who’s to say that Rumplestiltskin is the bad guy because she couldn’t pay her dues? In fact, the real villains of the story were the king and the miller. They both let greed and the want for power get to their heads. The miller exploited his daughter for a second in the spotlight. The king not only abused his authority to imprison the miller’s daughter, but also exploited her “talent” in order to make himself richer. In what way is this better than what Rumplestiltskin did? Yes, he may have appeared shady when he came to the miller’s daughter’s aid but all he did was help, and when she couldn’t pay her dues later in the future, he even offered her a way out. On the surface Rumplestiltskin may seem like the villain, but when looking deeper into the text, one can clearly see he was just doing his job. Need help with analysis/ending.
While it is not the sole reason of writing, discovering a moral within a story helps reflect on modern society, influence its normalities, and question societal values and stereotypes. In Rumpelstiltskin, the explicit and implicit meanings in the story not only reflect on issues in today’s world, but also touch on deeper conflicts within one’s self and between other