Fairy Tale Analysis

The thrill and excitement created in fairy tales are ideal for entertaining young children. Important life lessons may seem subtle in fairy tales, but if one pays attention closely, there are obvious messages a story is communicating to the reader. In the article “Fairy Tales and Modern Stories” by Bruno Bettelheim, Bettelheim provides a series of examples of the effect fairy tales have on a reader. The sole effect a fairy tale has on a reader is based upon which story is read and the challenges in life the reader is struggling with. Another article, “An Introduction to Fairy Tales” by Maria Tatar, introduces the basic principles and themes brought across from fairy tales. Tatar also interprets how the plot of the stories is educating young children to adopt similar characteristics to those of the protagonist. In addition to Tatar’s and Bettelheim’s article, Elizabeth Danish wrote the article “Influence of Fairy Tales on Children,” which is a summary of different possible outcomes a fairy tale may have on a reader. Although she focuses mostly on the negative aspects of fairy tales, Danish briefly covers some positive consequences that fairy tales might have on an adolescent child. A similarly named article to Danish’s, “Influence of Fairy Tales on Children” by Rave Uno, concentrates mostly on the positive aspects of fairy tales. Uno, unlike Danish, is biased towards fairy tales having unmistakable benefits to a youthful reader and indicates many well thought out opinions.

Alicia Elsbeth Stallings, an American poet and translator, constructed an Italian Sonnet poem by the title of Fairy-tale Logic. In this poem, Stallings works towards portraying life through the use of common fairy-tales. Stallings presents life as a whole by describing in the first stanza that life is not always going to be easy. She begins her poem by reminding her readers that every individual is going to continuously be faced with everyday dilemmas that sometimes may seem impossible to surmount. Eventually upon arrival at the second stanza, Stallings shifts gears to present the reader with a motivation for overcoming life’s obstacles. She describes that only one’s self can overcome the obstacles that are present in everyday life through believing in themselves, for only one’s true self has the ability to face obstacles with the confidence of overcoming them. Fairy-tale Logic, thoughtfully constructed by A.E. Stallings, seeks to portray a message that life is not alway easy, but it is not impossible though the shifting of tone as the poem progresses, the use of parallelism, as well as the use of literary allusions.

The genre of the story would be a fairy tale. The reason I say this is a fairytale is because in the story it talks about if the soldier was to put on a cloak he would disappear. Another genre for this story would be a folk tale.

They have been with us since were old enough to be read to or told a story. When we were young they brought us entertainment and often instilled within us the foundations of what would later become the structures of our morals and character. They are fairy tales and though it may be implied that we are meant to grow out of them, many people find it comforting to return to them throughout their lives. Many of the great authors of our time and the past have found fairy tales to be a great source of material. Their views on fairy tales can be contradicting, however, with many of them expressing a disillusionment with the typical “fairy tale” ending and at the same time latching to these stories for the comfort they found in their

Fairy tales change over time because of race back then there wasn’t any african american or latinos characters in the fairy tales like little snow white and rapunzel all of them were white like snow white the dwarfs the prince the evil queen all of them were white.

Look closely enough, and you can always find a motif in a fairy tale. Fairy tales use motifs to help with the overall moral of the story, and will be an object, image or type of action with a recurring appearance throughout the tale. Take Disney movies, for example. Most familiar with Disney movies and tales can tell you there is almost a guarantee to be a talking or funny animal sidekick. Why does Disney do this? Mostly for comic relief, but they can also be a helping figure or guide the hero or heroine. They make multiple appearances throughout the movies, and help achieve the overall goal or moral of the story. In some tales we’ve read, one common motif is that of a travel or journey, which in most tales, work to move the characters, both physically and mentally, to a better place or state of being. Physically, they help guide this character to a new place, and mentally, they help this person grow and learn.

“Happily Ever After,” the three words are so characteristic of a fairy tale. But do fairy tales need to have a happily ever after? The factual answer would be – No. Some of the original versions of the adapted screenplays didn’t have happy endings. In Charles Perrault’s version “Little Red Riding Hood1,” the wolf ate the grandmother and Little Red, thus leaving us with no happy ending. But fairy tales aren’t based on facts and logic. They are the creation of our imagination and (some) a result of our perversions.

Some fairy tales end with a happy marriage to a wealthy person and living a life on a bed full of roses. An example can be found in Beauty and the Beast. There is a young girl and her father is a merchant. She ends up marrying the Beast, who ends up being a handsome prince, and live happily ever after. But there are two fairy tales that are a little different. The first one is Thumbelina. She goes through all of these obstacles to end up marrying a prince. She is gifted wings and ends up living happily ever after. There are some fairy tales that really don’t have that “happy” ending. The Little Mermaid gets her heart broken due to her living in almost a completely different world than her true love. She ends up committing suicide because

Sagas about princes and princesses, beauty, magic, and love, fairy tales like Snow White and Cinderella among others have become children’s favorite bedtime stories. However, as parents tuck their sons and daughters in, they fail to realize that there is a much more daunting purpose to these stories. American writer and poet, Jane Yolen suggests that fairy tales indicate life values. Furthermore, Yolen insists that these tales are “thumbprints of history” (Yolen 27). Studying fairy tales in depth, she proves that the “functions of myths” consist of “creating a landscape of allusion [and] enabling us to understand our own and out culture from inside out” (Yolen 18). Yolen confirms that these stories comment on, “the abstract truths of our

The “Cinderella Story” has been a classic trope in literature throughout the ages, and there are numerous variations of the story across Africa, Asia, Persia, and even Native American Algonquian traditions. Some cite the earliest appearance of Cinderella as far back the first century CE with Greek Scholar Strabo’s mention of the myth of Rhodopis. This story recounts a woman whose sandal was snatched by an eagle as she bathed in the river and carried to the king of Memphis, who immediately sought out the woman to whom the shoe belonged. However others cite the first documented Cinderella story as the tale of Ye Xian, written by Chinese scholar Duan Chengshi in 850 CE. In this version, Ye Xuan is gravely abused by her stepmothers and sisters, and her only friend is a fish, which the stepmother cruelly kills and eats. However, a magical spirit appears from the fish bones, granting Ye

Once upon a time, there was a very nice castle. A king and queen ruled in peace. They were very nice and wanted justice.

For as long as humankind has been around, stories of folklore have been passed down from generation to generation. In order to teach children a lesson in an interesting way, people began fabricating stories filled with adventure, royalty, and villains. As the invention of novels started to become more popular, so did these elaborate stories. In time, the wild fables once reserved for a number of countries now existed all over the world. This is how fairy tales came to be. A fairytale is a fictional tale that centers around a hero on a mission filled with out of this world elements such as magic, royalty, and adventure. For years, children were entertained by the charming storybook elements that fairy tales

Fairy tales never cease to be retold. They are translated to different languages and changed to fit different cultures. Often they are changed to have a modern setting, while maintaining the basic outline. Sometimes, due to their familiarity, fairy tales are simply used as reference points for modern stories to relate to.

Fairy tales have been around for centuries due to their captivating nature, especially among a young audience. As parents continue to read these tales to their children, generation after generation, their popularity have not diminished. Although fairy tales continue to be pervasive and prominent within culture as time goes on, some of their themes and takeaways have become outdated. In today’s society as the socio and political environment is advancing the sexist themes and ideas depicted in fairy tales are being challenged as societal pressures evolve and both feminist tales and movements gain prominence. Unfortunately, in terms of today’s workforce, there are parallels to powerful women in high ranking jobs and evil females within fairy tales due to the stigma around dominant women and continued emphasis on beauty.

The fairy tales of old often have a sparse and often vague approach when it comes to characterization. This problem was more than likely brought about due to how these tales were told to children and how these stories more than likely changed over time, via word of mouth. Yet, as we have progressed and have begun a movement to novelize nearly everything in our society, we have come across the predicament of how these classic caricatures must be brought into modern society. One of the biggest companies capitalizing on these classic tales is Disney. Known, and criticized, for taking old fairy tales and adding more to the story in order to help sell their products to children and even adults. I say criticized, for while they help bring these old tales back into the minds of children, they don’t add much in the way of characterization, so they sadly don’t take their characters to the next level. Leave it to Fables: Legends in Exile to change that.