Fairtale Essay

One of the nearly well known, well have intercoursed and important genre of literature is the pouffe description. A sprite tale is delineate by the Oxford dictionary as A squirtrens account of supernatural and imaginary macrocosms and lands. Over m the concept of faggot tales has changed. faggot tales atomic number 18 universe re-written and re-illustrated constantly, which makes coffin nail tales appealing to e actually generation. king tales broaden the imagination of sisterren. They grant us gain an insight into a piece of magic and adventure- a realness we will n incessantly experience and fantasize ab out. Fairy tales ar nonhing if non true-to-life(prenominal) and it is their cynicism that keeps them subsistly. (Opie, 1980, p. 19) A citationistic of the fairy tale, as told straighta fashion, is that it is unbeliev subject. Although a fairy tale is seldom a tale about fairy-folk and does not necessarily even feature a fairy, it does revert an encha ntment or early(a) supernatural element that is clearly imaginary. (Opie, 1980 p. 18). The reservoir of fairy tales is comm sole(prenominal) unknown and more often than not never disc any regulateed by the reader. French writers Catherine Bernard, Marie-Jeanne Lheitier, Marie-Catherine dAulnoy ar believed to be chiefly responsible for the establishment of the fairy tale as a literacy genre in Europe. (Zipes, 2006,p. 13) of the 1960s. However, it was Italian writers Giovan Francesco Straparola and Giambattista common basile who played a major procedure in the face lifting of literacy in Europe. This is single of the best kept secrets that is well worth unlocking because it reveals me verify how closely tied the literacy fairy tale as genre is to give out of the civilizing process throughout Europe. (Zipes, 2006, p. 13) However, it was the influence of Boccaccios Decamerone that led to the production of several(a) collections of novelle that had an concern on the litera cy fairy tale as a nobble narrative.Straparola was the first to publish his collection Le piacevoli notti (1550 and 1553) from the example Boccaccio had set. Straparola was different from preliminary writers. He was the first European writer to adapt homophiley tales from verbal tradition, creating approximately ivteen literacy fairy tales in his collection of sevensomety four novella. (Zipes, 2006, p. 14) Straparolas work ca utilise some controversy and at one time one of his collections was banned by the pope in 1791. This was due to themes which Straparola had include in his work.He introduced plain earthy language and critical view of index struggles in Italian alliance. Basile sha release sympathetic views on big business opus and civility. (Zipes, 2006). Even form this early stage, fairy tales put up always been attached to power, social class and gender stereotyping. Both Straparola and Basile recognised that Italian principalities were macrocosm damaged throug h family conflicts, the change in commerce and trade and war. They used fairy tales as a written office of broaching their concern over the unexpected change of norms on human behaviour. Although time passes and things change, fairytales agree not dated.The classic fairy tales that Basile and Straparola once told atomic number 18 still being told to electric razorren today on the whole over the world. Thanks to the origination of the fairytale by Straparola and Basil we still rely on its narrative strategy to see how stark it is to think that we live in more civilized and better world than the realms of the past. (Zipes, 2006) For centuries offspring pip-squeakren have been enthralled by fairy tales. Tales of witches, wizards, princes and princesses, fairy godmothers and scoundrels besides have been influencing how children view the world around them.This appears particularly true in the case of young girls, with whom these stories seem to resonate. However living in a con temporary 22nd ascorbic acid society the question needs to be posed atomic number 18 these stories, written centuries ago, still providing a relevant and realistic portrayal of female role models to the youth of today? Or are these folktales of prince charming and jubilantly ever afters corrupting ideals from infancy and fit these young girls up for disappointment? Women today have come on away from their 18th century counterparts.Women have fought for years to be able to vote, work, raise children as a lone parent and run a household. Women have gained their right to respect and independence in a world that is no longer dominated my males. These rights are marked as historical events that women are extremely proud of. However still today, when educating children we use fairy tales as means of communicating, although sometimes in guidely, the role women should play in life. For example, in fairy tales, the concept of beauty is outlined very clearly. dish antenna is explici t as a physical necessity.The adopting lady in the common fairy tale is usually described and illustrated as a muliebrity possessing features considered physically attractive to males, a thin figure, glowing skin, red lips, cruciform facial features and well attired. In the classical tale of Sleeping mantrap Aurora has red lips as red as the red red rose fair skin, blue eyes long blonde tomentum cerebri and an impossibly thin figure. This seems to be the universal concept of what beauty is among all the fairy tales that Walt Disney have produced. This image of beauty is in stark crease to the reality in which we live into today.This depiction of the need for beauty is not the only negative separate conveyed in fairy tales. Instead of being able to defend and stick up for themselves, women are forever relying on males to rescue them. Whether it be the bewitching prince charming or the breed figure, a male, nevertheless is always there to save the day and resolve whatever p redicament has arisen in order for all involved except the villain to live happily ever after. The act of stereotyping serves as a hornswoggle-cut to the way that the majority of the population views our culture.Therefore, though we might not all agree with the way in which gender roles are correspond in these fairy tales, it still serves us well in a sense impression that we might gain a basic chthonicstanding of what it means to be a male and what it means to be a female. Whether personally legitimate or rejected, the flavour of males being dominant and females being subordinate has been deeply embedded into our cultures view of the gender roles. The villain is withal an interesting stereotype which is evident in all fairy tales.Villains are portrayed as ugly, malicious, jealous characters. They are almost always characterised by being an offensive step-mother, wicked queen, a witch or an unfairness mother in law. The job of the villain in a fairytale is to make life di fficult for the conduct ally. The queen in Basiles version of play false White is described as a bloody and unnatural, unsexed anomaly who tricks Talia (Warner ,1995,p. 220). However, evil they are, they always play a potent female role in all the fairy tales I have chosen to discuss.To consider whether the portrayals of women in classic fairy tales are true role models for young girls, I will be examining and referring to the following books Cinderella , lulu and the brute, The fiddling Mermaid, Sleeping mantrap, Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Mulan and Shrek. Certainly by examining classic fairy tales it is obvious that the central female character is continuously pre displaceed as being splendiferous. In the classic tale of dishful and the Beast, the story begins with Once upon a time there lived a replete merchant with tierce pretty daughters.The youngest was the prettiest of the there and she was called beauty. From the very beginning of the story, wildness i s put on how beautiful Belle is in the fairytale. The fact that the lead character is appreciated for her beauty alone speaks multitudes about the message the story gives out to its reader and indeed to young girls. There is the threatened union of an almost supernaturally beautiful girl with a hideous heller. (Iona,Peter, 1980,p. 180) The fairytale puts idiom on how beautiful Belle is and how ugly the beast is.Similarly Sleeping yellowish pink had a beautiful face and she thought beautiful thoughts, Snow White grew into a beautiful charwoman, when Cinderella arrived at the ball everyone wondered Who is that beautiful girl? and The smallish Mermaid was the youngest, and most beautiful, daughter of Mer King. The initial portrayal of these women is innocent and positive. Any young girl would aspire to possess such favourable qualities and attractiveness. Being beautiful and resolveing in love with prince charming, so living happily-ever-after, seems to be the most important outcome of these fairy tales.But the question we have to ask ourselves is -are these harmless tales instilling false ideas of what life is like for children? One may not think that reading such biased material to a child could possibly have a lasting effect on their perceptions of how one should conform in society, however according to Bettelheim A child trusts what the fairy tale tells, because its world view accords with his own (Bettelheim, 1991, p. 45) The fairytale is so convert to the child, as the tale matches the childs thinking, approach and understanding of the world.Bettelheim states these fairytales direct the childs own thinking about his own development, permitting the child to draw his own conclusion, yet since some classic fairy tales are known to display gender stereotyping, we must ask ourselves, what hint this has on childrens perspectives of specific gender roles in society if the child is drawing his/her own conclusion after reading the fairy tale. Fairy tales portray a black and white view of society. Males are a great deal portrayed as the head of the family, who are physically and emotionally inviolate, and whose knowledge domain exists outside of the home.Females are frequently portrayed as dependent, physically and emotionally weak, and belong inside the home. This depiction of the male and female roles sends a very false and blinding message to its audience. On the other hand it discharge be argued that stereotypes are a part of life/society. The act of stereotyping serves as a short-cut to the way that the majority of the population views our culture. Therefore, though we might not completely agree with the way in which gender roles are represented in these fairy tales, it still gives a basic understanding of what it means to be a male and what it means to be a female.A similar theme seems to run through all the fairy tales I have chosen. All of the female protagonists are punished in some way as a result of their physical for tune. In Snow White, the evil queen motivations the fairest of them all so a search is sent for Snow White to be killed. Snow White ends up cleaning, tidying and cooking for seven dwarfs in the forest as payment for letting her stay. Similarly in Cinderella, the beautiful Cinderella is made servant to her step mother and step sisters. Cinderella is separated in the house and ignored by her step sisters and step mother.Sleeping stunner is cursed from the moment she was born as a result of her beauty. A wicked witch was furious that she wasnt invited to the babys spreadhead so she put a spell on her to remain unaware for a hundred years. Belle in Beauty and the Beast finds herself in a similar situation she is one of three sisters and the only one who cleans and cooks as a result of her misfortune. The women all have a variety of traits in common. All of the female characters I have mentioned display admirable qualities.All of the women are kind and gentle but these female charac ters are viewed as being passive and submissive. These women depend on the male characters in the tales to be all saved or to be happy. This sends out an extremely negative stereotype to young readers, presenting that womens job in life is cook, clean and abide for Prince Charming to come in order to be happy. According to Bettelheim it is childs life experiences that teach the child the right manner, he goes on to say when children are young, it is literature that carries such information best. (Tartar, 1999, p. 69) If this is the case then children reading heavily stereotyped tales from an early age will impact their manner and possibly the way they view the gender roles. Bettelheim also states that a childs mind is animistic and children especially young girls are vulnerable to believing that being beautiful and meeting prince charming are key goals and will result in a happily ever after. West (2004) argues that books are such a major influence in the formation of childrens values and attitudes that adults need to monitor nearly every word that children read. (Hunt, 1999, p. 5) If this is the case, should we be reading child fairy tales? It was the feminist bm that brought a closer examination of gender roles in fairytales. In Lissa capital of Minnesotas article she argues that While childrens literature is predicated on the notion that children are essentially blank or naive and are in need of protection and instruction, then issues of suitability or unsuitability are important. (Hunt, 1999, p121) This idea seems to be evident in feminists attitudes with regards the lead female character in fairy tales.Feminists feel that these women over rely on their beauty and each wait, in some way or another, for their Prince Charming to come rescue them. According to Lissa Pauls article, season discussing Cinderella, she states that Most of us- women, children and feminist critics, I imagine dont want to be seen valuing riches. Or princes for that matter (Hu nt, 1999, p. 112). However many of the fairy tales chosen for the essay have the common theme of a male grinder rescuing or saving the female heroine in the story.They solely depend on the prince to come save them in the end. In Cinderella her family feels she is inferior to them and so she serves as a slave in her own home. They were very unkind to her and say her about from morning until night. She is too weak to stand up to them and so waits for a prince to come rescue her. Similarly in Sleeping Beauty she sleeps for one hundred years before a prince comes and rescues her, in Beauty and the Beast, Belle finally ends up with a fine-looking prince the beast disappeared and in his place stood a bounteous prince.In Snow White after she ate the poison apple, she lay peacefully in her coffin until a prince fell in love with her and rescued her she opened her eyes and on seeing the handsome prince she fell in love with him. There is evidently a hefty portrayal of physical beauty i n these fairy tales and these images of the female protagonist gives a very weak and negative display of womens abilities and aspirations. On the contrary, however, a very interesting aspect is in Beauty and the Beast. Belle demonstrates having a mind of her own compared to her female counterparts whose main focus was to find their handsome prince using their good looks.Belle looks beyond physical appearance and recognises the good man in the Beast she has not mistaken a human buffer for a monster, like Psyche, or failed to see a good man beneath the surface.. (Warner, 1995,p. 307) This follows her gradual arousal of both attraction and sexuality for the Beast throughout the course of the fairytale until he unsurprisingly too turns into a handsome prince at the end. Beautys wooer has the appearance of a monster, and only after Belle has overcome her aversion for his vile shape underside the monster be seen to be a handsome prince. (Opie, 1980, p. 180) The notion of being socially stable is put forward to us. Once these women are saved by their Prince Charming and fall in love with him, they are rewarded with a grand life as a princess and will ultimately live happily ever after. The Little Mermaid was written by Hans Christen Andersen in 1836 and was released by Walt Disney in 1989. This fairytale was hoped to go against the grain and portray a leading women who wasnt submissive or passive but rigid and independent and good role model of young children.The tale is about a young teenage mermaid, called Ariel, who doesnt like her life under the sea and is much more fascinated by the human world. disregardless of her fathers warnings she exchanges her voice for legs with the evil witch to spend three days on land. She must make Prince Eric fall in love with her and kiss her or else she becomes the sea witchs forever. The witch reassures her the supple form, the modest gait and speaking eyes. With such as these, it will escaped to infatuate a vain human mal e (Anderson, 1993,p. 8). It is clear from that short summary that the tale still managed to stereotype women. The message being sent out is that if Ariel relies on her beauty alone she will get the Prince to fall in love with her. Trites 1990 said, Undoubtedly, feminists have criticized Ariel because she seems to have little ambition beyond getting her prince. (http//charlottesmedia. blogspot. com/) The story of Mulan helped change the perception of women in Fairy tales but still managed to imply a message that women are inferior to men.Mulan is no ones trophy and to me is the first groundbreaking Disney film to maneuver a woman to be capable of taking the same roles of men. The story is based on a Chinese myth about a woman who saves china from the Huns. She goes to fight in the war instead of her father and displays traits that are stereotyped as only being male. She is a strong and a courageous woman and breaks social boundaries and expectations. However, Mulan is similar to Be lle in Beauty and the Beast, as she too isnt seen as acceptable in society and this idea of gender obligations is evident.Women should be a homemaker and a wife, not cleaver and strong. Finally the film Shrek, created in the 22th century and displays beauty in a different way. Beauty is displayed on the inside in this bran-new image of the princess, which I found to be really refreshing. The two leading characters are ogres. The film goes against the classical fairy tale characteristics. Princess Fiona is different from other princesses and does not wait for prince charming to rescue her. She is a dependent woman who is able to stand on her own two feet. She chooses Shrek as a husband and decides to live her own life as an ogre.This is a bizarre fairytale as Fiona overlooks physical beauty and is not saved by a male, which results in her having a better life. However she still does live her life as a princess. Unfortunately, many women today hold a princess attitude, and aspire to have a princess type of life. This attitude can be seen among some girls and young women. They often believe that marrying well, especially financially, is desirable, so they can easily live the life of a princess. This may very well be an effect caused by the women that are presented to us in these fairy tales since early childhood.Certainly a clear progression can be seen with regards the representation of women between the 17th-18th century fairy tales (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty) and the 19th -22nd century fairy tales (Mulan, Shrek). I do appreciate that the morals and values are changing in regard to fairytales in recent years. As a whole, however, In my opinion I think that the fairy tales discussed portray a negative stereotype to young children and are not good role models. According to Zipes We can continue to enjoy this harmless pastime of carnal knowledge classical fairytales to our children, not realising the possible harm or harmlessness. Zipes, 2006,p. 57) Bibliogra phy Andersen, H. C. Fairy Tales The Little Mermaid, Bristol, Parragon Book Service Ltd, 1993. Bettelheim, B. The Uses of Enchantment The Meaning And Importance Of Fairy Tales, England, Penguin, 1991. Charlottes media blog. available at http//charlottesmedia. blogspot. com/ accessed on 14/4/2012 Hunt, peter. Childrens Literature, An illustrated History, Oxford, University Press,1995. Hunt, Peter. reasonableness Childrens Literature, London, Routledge, 1999. ladybeetle, Snow White And The 7 Dwarfs, Ladybird Ltd, 2005. Marsoli, L. A.Mulan, NY, Mouse Works, 1998. Opie, Iona Peter, The absolute Fairy Tales, USA, Oxford University Press, 1980. Soanes, Catherine, andAngus Stevenson. Concise Oxford English dictionary. New YorkOxford University Press,2012. Southgate, V. Beauty and the Beast, UK, Ladybird Books Ltd, 1988. Southgate, V. Cinderella, UK, Ladybird Books Ltd, 1982. Southgate, V. Sleeping Beauty, UK, Ladybird Books Ltd, 1984. Warner, M. Beast to the Blonde ,London, Vintage. 199 5. Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tales and the artistic production of Subversion, New York, Routledge, 2006. Film Shrek, Disney, 2001.