Abstract The paper relates the story of the fairytale, "Beauty and the Beast", and highlights the fact that it is unique in that it contains societal elements not commonly found in fairytales. The paper relates how the original tale of "Beauty and the Beast" by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve has been adapted through time and has been made into several film versions with the basic story and an adapted plot.
From the Paper "The first print version of the story surfaced in 1740 by author Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. However, the tale and variations of it was popular throughout Europe prior to its first print publication. The tale generally involves a story about a rich merchant who lives with his four daughters, one being named Beauty. Due to certain circumstances, the father looses his wealth and his daughters are forced to live in the rural country. One day the father becomes lost in the forest and takes shelter in the Beast's palace. The next day, as he is leaving, he plucks a rose for Beauty. The Beast sees this act and accuses the father of stealing from him, denouncing him as a simple thief and ordering him to die. The Beast gives him amnesty so long as one of his daughters comes to suffer in his place. Thus, Beauty goes to the Beast's castle and is made the mistress of the magical place. Eventually the two marry and the Beast is transformed into a handsome prince and Beauty's family comes to live with them."
Abstract As a genre of children's literature, fairytales 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 fairytales 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."
Abstract This paper discusses the importance of magic beings and fairies in fairytales. It explains how, today, fairies are a popular form of fantasy that come to life in a variety of ways. One of the most traditional homes for fairies and other magical beings is the fairytale, created for children but loved by all ages. It discusses how some of the most beloved fairytales contain fairies and magical beings that are central to the plot, the moral, and the essence of the stories. Without fairies and other magical beings, these tales would lose their magic and their universal appeal.
From the Paper "Fairies are magical beings that inhabit many of the world's most famous fairy tales. Children old and young are familiar with many of these tales from Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty and beyond. Fairies and magical beings are part of what make these fairy tales so delightful and so memorable. Not all fairies are good, but most of them are happy beings that can make a character's life better, more contented, and more fulfilling. Fairy expert Cassandra Eason notes the word originally meant, "a state of enchantment or glamour, the power of illusion, reflecting the power of beings that might bring blessings or curses, and an ambivalence towards such beings" (Eason 17). Fairies do not inhabit as many fairy tales as one might think, but the tales they do inhabit are special and vibrant, such as "Peter Pan," "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," "The Wizard of Oz," "The Hobbit," and "Snow White." "
Abstract After examining the basic elements of Holbek's system, the writer applies them to several fairytales about giants to see how well it works "on the ground". Holbek's system is based on seven rules, rather like algorithms that he used to correlate the various symbolic expressions within fairytales to the corresponding (real world) emotional expressions, focusing on three thematic opposition: child versus adult, male versus female and low versus high.
From the paper:
?Holbek's system of structural oppositions ?define the three categories of crises which occur in fairytales,? all of which are in turn "real or possible events in the storytelling community?, which may include such relatively minor trauma as adolescent rebellion and such terrible ones as incest (Holbek 416 & 418). Holbek believed that this psychological delving of fairytales was in no way inappropriate, arguing that "every element [in a fairytale] may be read as pertaining to real life" (Holbek 439. For Holbek, every ogre, fairy, sprite and giant was merely the representation of a real person (Holbek 418).?
Tags: oral, verbal, art, symbolic, Structuralism, culture-centric, linguistics, cultural, forms
Abstract This paper is written as a reflection on "Jung's FairyTale Interpretation and Little Red Cap". Mario Jacoby's paper on C.G. Jung and the interpretation of fairytales stresses that both Freud and Jung, early on, explored fairytales as part of their study, with Jung noting how human fantasy as found in fairytales was a reflection of human creative potential.
Abstract This paper examines the significance of the emphasis of beauty in fairytales and its impact on contemporary American society. By interweaving personal perceptions and research about different fairytales and their portrayal of beauty, it provides multiple perspectives on how women's lives are adversely affected by these tales. It shows how with their prototypical presentations about women and their overemphasis on the importance of beauty, fairytales reinforce the stereotypical perceptions of women and undermine the latter's accomplishments. It also looks at how fairytales play a large role in shaping and defining the identities of women and the perceptions of society and how they have succeeded in establishing the gender relationships and dominating the social discourse of American society-Myth America.
From the Paper "The analysis of the theme of beauty in the fairy tale of "Snow White" by Marc Fonda also provides me with a new perspective of the sinister effects of fairy tales. Fundamentally, the conflict between Snow White and the Queen revolves around the pursuit of beauty. Because she has lost her "title" as the most beautiful woman in the kingdom to Snow White, she decides to kill the latter in order to regain her title (Fonda 14). In the Disney movie version of ?Snow White,? the Queen is further enraged when she sees a young prince accosting Snow White, the most beautiful woman in the kingdom."
Abstract This paper examines how "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens and classical fairytales are very related through the function of oppression, achieving a voice, and the use of stock characters. It looks at how certain ideas and characters, such as Madame Defarge and Lucie in "A Tale of Two Cities", are comparable to ideas and characters like evil stepmothers and princesses in fairytales. Through the similarities, Dickens' novel is a parallel of fairytales.
From the Paper "Fairy tales contain a manner of oppression as well. Most princesses discussed in fairy tales undergo rejection from a higher authority, similar to the ostracizing of peasants by the nobility. The story of Cinderella addresses the issues of oppression and injustice ("Cinderella" 1). Cinderella faces rejection from her stepmother when coerced to act as a servant in the house by constantly cleaning, attending to the stepsisters' needs, and dressing in rags. The stepmother refuses to allow Cinderella to attend the Prince Charming's ball as well. Her stepsisters', however, are treated properly as a daughter should be with love from the mother. "
Abstract This paper discusses the demonstration of social and moral changes through time that can be seen in fairytales. It focuses on the role of the mother as a guiding force and a source of competition and angst, for children, as it is expressed in more literary fairytales. The paper analyzes the reflection of the fairytale into the inner mind of the child which always ends happily to play out resentment toward the dominant rule enforcer of their lives, the mother, without fear.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: (Step) Mothers and Daughters
Chapter 2: Old School, Modern Need
Chapter 3: Grimm Brothers' Mothers and Daughters
Conclusion
From the Paper "There is no doubt that fairy tales are a clear message of social and cultural coding, and as many argue they should evolve with time, to better reflect the culture in which they are used as teaching tool. (Bettelheim 24) yet, it should also be argued that fairy tales, in their literary history still serve a purpose, no matter how watered down they are. The role of the mother as the allowable antagonist to the children is essential to the child's ability to have feelings of anger and resentment in a form that does less harm, to them than open confrontation. Much of childhood is extremely emotional internalized perception, and acknowledging that these feelings are normal and even healthy, with regard to the child becoming independent, is essential to normal psychological development. Literary fairy tales then serve the purpose of giving us a glimpse into the issues of the past but also hold many truths that are still relevant today, as can be attested by a frequent adaptation of their storylines to modern contexts. The struggle between the mother and the child is universal and will likely remain so, as the relationship one has with one's mother as a child and an adult, for most people is the most significant of all, without fairy tales the regeneration of social guidelines would be much more difficult, hence the liberation of the fairy tale in modern literature and popular media."
Abstract This paper explains that, like myths, fairytales have great importance as cultural productions because they emphasize the basic aspects of each culture. The author relates that certain predictable ritualistic motifs, such as the wicked stepmother in "Cinderella" or the marriage between two antagonist characters, one ugly and the other beautiful, in "Beauty and the Beast", are absolutely essential fairytale ingredients. The author also relates that the theme of love and marriage or the 'happily ever after union' is an archetype; wherein, the human being is fulfilled through his or her union with another being and the fulfillment is naturally achieved after a great quest and fantastic trials. The paper includes references to several fairytales.
From the Paper "Without being a general pattern, many of the folktales focus on the love union between a hero and the heroine. The blueprint here varies widely, but in many stories, the love bond is formed sometimes between two characters that belong to different worlds. It can be said in most of the stories one of the two characters that will be together "happily ever after" always pass through sufferance or great trails before the love bond is formed. Also, in almost all the fairytales, the hero is usually the active character who has to win the princess through great efforts and deeds while the latter passively waits for him. However, there are some exceptions to this rule, and in some stories the heroine is given the active role, while the prince is passive."
Tags: cinderella, sleeping beauty, love archetype conflicts
Abstract The paper relates that Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" lacks the traditional elements of fairytales, where there is a prince, a "rags to riches" story line and a beautiful, yet silent princess. The paper highlights how in Carroll's fairytale, a prince is not the ultimate prize, but the attaining of knowledge of a world that has books without pictures as well as of a greater existence. The paper discusses how although Alice does not show the same ideas of good and evil present in human characters, it can still be classified as a fairytale since the contrast is between the good and evil worlds. The paper believes that Alice represents a more realistic hero and a protagonist that young girls can actually aspire to be like without demeaning themselves.
From the Paper "For many societies, children are taught the way to function successfully through the art of story telling and fairy tales. It is a conscious decision to fill tales with morality and a clear distinction between good and evil and children will begin to see for the first time what it means to be a human. Tales that have survived for so many years still act as a way of socializing children and providing with them means of conformity. In popular fairy tales such as, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, the female characters in particular come as close to death as possible while still having no agency, but because killing the protagonist will leave the child with a sense of hopelessness, a sleep-like death is the only way to keep her silent."
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts two classic stories. The writer of this paper looks at "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "The Secret Garden" to compare and contrast fairytale elements. The author provides the reader with an overview of what a fairytale element is and then examines how these elements are used in the two named stories.
From the Paper "Fairy tales have been written for many years. Often times the writing of them coincides with the societal strengths and weaknesses of the time. The complete and surreal fantasy in Alice and Wonderland was something that was popular in the 1800's while the Secret Garden was more common its time. Fairy tale elements in each book give it the classic happy ending but the approaches are entirely different. In The Secret Garden there is much tragedy before the happiness can begin. This is not uncommon and is a style that we have grown accustomed to in other fairy tales. Alice in Wonderland makes up for the lack of tragedy by emphasizing the bizarre and the unbelievable elements such as animals with marked intelligence."
Abstract This paper discusses the common fairytale theme of the underdog prevailing. The paper states that, in many fairytales, this theme is underlined by the introduction of a protagonist who is regarded as weak or strange by society, but whose personal gifts not only enable him to overcome this negative self and societal impression, but also, ultimately, help him or her to deploy what at first seemed to be a negative characteristic in a positive fashion. The paper reviews the books, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", by J.K. Rowling, "The Year of the Boar", by Bette Lord, and "The People Could Fly", by Virginia Hamilton.
From the Paper "However, Harry Potter's magical powers seep into the narrative framework early on over the course of the text, as Harry liberates an oppressed and confined snake from the zoo, without even intending to. This incident shows how compassion with the underdog is within Harry's heart from a young age. However, Harry must learn to control the difficulties he experiences as a wizard-in-training with practice as well as emotional intelligence, else he do harm as well as good to Muggles and other beasts. At the end of the tale, Harry has liberated his school temporarily and gained a secure place in the world as well as a more secure identity."
Abstract The paper discusses how in fairytales, female characters are often associated with a long search for a mate, which ends in a happily-ever-after relationship. Yet, the paper maintains that what is often not considered is the strength of many female fairytale characters and the struggles that they endure in order to achieve their goals. The paper highlights how the characters of Cinderella, Belle and Rapunzel all demonstrate women that have suffered through prolonged distress prior to realizing happiness.
Abstract This paper examines how although "The Merchant Of Venice" can be considered comic, Harley Granville-Barker claims that the play is a fairytale because it has a lack of realism. The paper attempts to develop Granville-Barker's claim and extend it by using Vladimir Propp's theory in his "Morphology of the Folktale". It shows how Shakespeare portrays a very complex social condition of the community he lives in by using the fairytale genre and how the refusal of the society to accept the other is conveyed through the character of Shylock, whose behavior varies according to the situation he is in. Sometimes he is portrayed as evil and sometimes as good.
From the Paper "In this book Propp discusses the structure of the fairy tale and defines some of features common to all known fairy tales. Propp reveals thirty one functions which pertain to a fairy tale text. Moreover, Propp claims that it is not obligatory for all the thirty one functions to be in each fairy tale, but the order of these functions remains the same in each of them:" As for grouping, it is necessary to say first of all that by no means do all fairy tales give evidence of all functions. But this in no way changes the law of sequence. The absence of certain functions does not change the order of the rest. "(22). The Merchant of Venice has some of the functions that are defined in the Morphology of The Folktale, and it is the order of those functions in the plot that leads to the conclusion that the play is a fairy tale. "
