Feminine Roles in Fairy Tales

Paper Summary:

As a genre of children's literature, fairy tales are filled with magic, coincidence and good luck for the good characters and bad luck for the bad characters. These delightfully entertaining tales are also filled with gender stereotypes. This paper examines female stereotypes within three fairy tales in particular: "Cinderella"; "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Sleeping Beauty". The paper examines their representations of female passivity, their emphasis on outer beauty as the quality that saves the heroine and their portrayals of competition among women for male attention (e.g., to marry the handsome prince), based on external beauty.

From the Paper:

"Next Cinderella wishes, like her stepsisters, to attend the festival at which a handsome prince will be looking for a bride. But her request is refused by her stepmother because, "You have no clothes and shoes" (Grimm). The stepmother acts as if she is trying to protect Cinderella from ridicule, but it is clear instead that she wants as little competition as possible for her own daughters. Cinderella is ordered to help her stepsisters get ready, the first instance of feminine rivalry among Cinderella, the stepmother, and the stepmother's blood daughters."

More papers on Feminine Roles in Fairy Tales:

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• Analytical Essay # 55130 : "Magic Beings in Fairy Tales"
• Comparison Essay # 62520 : "Gender Stereotyping"

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