Bettelheim's Theory: Fairy Tales Clarify Realism Essay

A parent will never know what goes on in the mind of their child, all a parent can do is shield the child from the negatives of life and hope negativity never enters their mind. Author Bruno Bettelheim wrote The Uses of Enchantment, published in 1976, the book contains an essay called “Fairy Tales and the Existential Predicament,” in which Bettelheim presents a psychological perspective of the impact that traditional fairy tales have on children. Bettelheim begins his essay with personal knowledge, rhetorical appeals (pathos and, logos) and textual evidence. In his essay, Bettelheim sets the stage by reaching out to to his audience, he writes “overcoming narcissistic disappointments, oedipal dilemmas, sibling rivalries; becoming able to relinquish

As a child, I can remember watching the Lion King movie several times because my family loved this timeless movie. I always just thought of it as a story about the “circle of life” that we all hear so much about in church and from our parents. However, for this assignment I chose to watch this movie once more; giving particular attention to details and thoroughly examining Simba’s life stage development in relation to Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages and Jean Piaget’s cognitive development stages. Needless to say, I was able to find significant evidence relating to these developmental theorists. The story not only displays the hardships of maturation, and the perplexities associated with growing, but it also deals with the search for one’s own identity and responsibility.

"The King has returned." These are the powerful words Rafiki uses when telling Nala, Timon, and Pumba that Simba has gone back to the pride lands to overthrow Scar. Before making his entrance to Pride Rock, Simba's "palace," he gains three helpers to assist him in gaining his kingdom back; Nala, Timon, and Pumba all offer their services to him. There are a few scenes in the story that can be easily compared to the Odyssey. First, Simba wants everyone to continue to think he's dead, as Odysseus did prior to his own entrance. Second, Simba uses Timon and Pumba as a form of "Trojan Horse" to distract the hyenas while he and Nala sneak in. Third, Simba tells Nala to "rally the lionesses" as a form of weapon against the hyenas which are like suitors in his palace.

Review: A young lion prince is born in Africa, thus making his uncle Scar the second in line to the throne. Scar plots with the hyenas to kill King Mufasa and Prince Simba, thus making himself King. The King is killed and Simba is led to believe by Scar that it was his fault, and so flees the kingdom in shame.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a largely known tragic play with many different interpretations, one of them being The Lion King. The Lion King is a Disney film indicating that the film was targeted for children. Considering Hamlet is largely violent it would not be suitable for children, hence differences were required to make it suitable and understandable for children. However, to keep the origin of Hamlet in The Lion King similarities are also required.

A couple minutes after Nala leaves, Simba is graced with the presence of a crazy baboon named Rafiki who tells him that his father is still alive, inside of him, and that he should follow him if he wants to see for himself. Simba follows the baboon to a pond and looks to where the monkey is pointing. Unfortunately he only sees his own reflection but Rafiki tells Simba to look harder. He then sees his father in the water, realizing what the baboon meant. Mufassa is now in the dark clouds telling Simba that he’s forgotten who he was, therefore he’s forgotten him, and this triggers Simba’s emotions making feel disappointed in himself for not going home like he should have. His father then tells him that he needs to find his place back in the circle of life and says “remember who you are. You are my son and the one true king. Remember who you are.” His voice is very deep and almost sounds like he is hurting. Then in an instant he is gone with the storm and Simba is chasing after him begging him not to go.

After Mufasa's death, Scar became a ruthless tyrant, ruling the Pride Lands through malice and oppression. In the following years, Scar denounced the laws created by his brother and caused a massive decline in their resources. Despite this turn of events, Nala managed to find their knight in shining armor; the lost prince of the Pride Lands. Once Simba returns, the prince orders the villainous tyrant to forfeit his title as king, however; Scar refused to resign. As a result, the pair engage in a brief skirmish to determine the true ruler of the pride lands. Near the climax of their confrontation, Simba managed to catapult his uncle off the ledge of Pride Rock. Eventually, Scar loses his life when a pack of Hyenas murder the former king and

Out of spite, both protagonists plan to take revenge on their evil uncles. Hamlet ponders on the idea of revenging his father’s death, but it wasn’t until Claudius’ guilty conscience was exposed during the play and also when the Ghost orders Hamlet to “Revenge his soul!” that Hamlets purpose was clear. In the end, Hamlet confronts Claudius but it is pointless ending in a blood battle. Simba on the other hand was told, “Run away and never return!” after believing it was himself who killed his father. Wanting to do what was right, Simba followed his uncle’s orders and it wasn’t until a chance encounter with Nala, that he realised the damage he had caused. Trying to take back what was rightfully his, Simba defeats Scar but instead of death as his revenge, he banishes Scar from The Pride Lands, telling his “to never return”. Both antagonists in the texts experience the heartbreak and misfortune of revenge but deal with it in ways their intended audiences will understand and learn from.

Born as the heir of King Ahadi and Queen Uru, Mufasa was a courageous lion who ruled over The Pride Land. After the birth of his son; Mufasa, began teaching Simba about the circle of life, training him to take his place as king. As a result, his jealous younger brother; Scar, hatches a scheme to over throw him and rule his kingdom. Once it's discovered that Scar missed Simbas's presentation ceremony; Mufasa, enters the lion's den in order to chastise his brother for his insolence. As the king continues to scold his brother, Scar turns his back and walks away, stating he might attack Mufasa if he turned his back on him. A few months later, Mufasa travels to the Pride Lands to show Simba around his kingdom. As the pair continue their journey,

Fairy tales, folk tales, and fables are commonly used as lessons for individual growth. In European tales, an emphasis is place on the importance of good behavior for the individual. The reader sees how negative behavior inhibits personal growth, while positive behavior improves it. Material wealth and riches are often the reward for good behavior, and there is a strict barrier that separates the social classes. In contrast, tales from Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific have an overwhelming concentration on positivity for public good. A stronger focus is placed on how one can serve his or her community rather than how one can serve him or herself. Characters in these tales seek resolution through peaceful or neutral means, often to keep

It appears to be that no matter where a person had lived as a child, everyone has crossed paths with a translation of the more common fairy tales such as Cinderella. Whether it be the sugar coated version made up of happily ever afters for each character involved or the grim version that chopped off toes, this fairy tale has most likely staked its claim on every child’s most memorable childhood experiences. However, not many children were aware at the time of the true meaning that is at the base of the magical kingdoms that were recited and dreamed of. The lessons were subtle and hidden away, just breaking the surface enough to breathe a wise word into the subconscious of children. These lessons spoke of a world they had not yet adjusted to,

Thesis: Simba proves himself a hero throughout the story by taking on an adventure that would soon lead him to becoming the King of the Pride Land.

The movie “The Lion King” demonstrates exceeding amounts of psychological concepts, theories and principles as shown in the movie. There is a few of which we talked about in class that takes place during the movie in which will be stated below, even though there are tons more that could be talked about. The creators of the film knew what they were doing when they were putting together the animation movie, sliding in all the psychological concepts as possible in a little childs film. When a child is watching the movie they do not think about, or even know any of the concepts/theories on what is going on. These are things such as the prosocial behavior, guilt/shame, extraversion/introversion, and Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality,

On the other hand, in Disney's The Lion King, Simba's father is killed after he falls from a cliff into a herd of antelope. Simba falls into a deep depression after Scar twists things around and convinces Simba that he is the one responsible for Mufasa's death. Simba can not deal with what has happened and Simba exiles himself where he meets a warthog and meerkat, named Timon and Pumbaa, and develops a carefree lifestyle with them. Later on in the story, as an adult, Simba returns to the Pride Lands to reclaim the throne from Scar.

The movie The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride follows the life of Simba and Nala’s daughter Kiara. She falls in love with Kovu, a male lion from an exiled pride known as the Outsiders who was once lead by Simba’s evil uncle named Scar. Separated by Simba’s prejudice against the Outsiders, who are followers of Scar with a vindictive plot planned by Kovu’s mother Zira, Kiara and Kova struggle to overcome the two obstacles that are keeping them apart. Desperate to be together, Kiara and Kovu become the key to join both prides at peace. This paper will be focused on Kiara’s life within the movie and also examine Kiara’s process of development through Freud’s psychosexual and Erikson’s psychosocial stages, and as well as Piaget theories.