An End to Happy Endings

Paper Summary:

In this paper the author looks at fairy tales of our childhood, and argues that these were really meant as adult reading and have been tamed down over the years. He looks at the traditional fairy tale that we know, as being undercurrents for more lurid and vivid tales. He gives examples of how tales of eroticism became tales of bad children being punished for their willingness to explore beyond prescribed boundaries. The author proceeds to give specific examples from well-known fairy tales which, in his opinion, have been distorted. The author concludes that if the fairy stories would not have been distorted, then maybe he would not have grown up believing in dreams coming true and he would live a more realistic life.

From the Paper:

"Each author that submitted a response to Bernhaimer's call affirms my decision to view the fairy tales of my childhood with skepticism and a renewed desire to find the "truth" in their uncensored predecessors. Grimm's Grimmest, compiled by Maria Tatar, is one of a few available texts with the most accurately translated versions of the Grimm brothers' original work and the first place I looked for a clear representation. In my quest for the "original" tales, I have come across a few more editions of the brother's tales, but most of the available texts on the market today are the Disney-esque renditions of the first works. It is frustrating, and significant, to no end."

More papers on An End to Happy Endings:

• Book Review # 148267 : "Relationship between Men and Women in "Happy Endings"
• Book Review # 128430 : "Margaret Atwood's "Happy Endings"
• Essay # 51474 : "The Happy Ending"

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