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The Psychological Transformation Of The And The Grimm Brothers ' Juniper Tree

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Everyone must go through different challenges and transformations in order to reach their full potential. In fairy tales, physical transformations are not uncommon: a pig turning into a handsome prince or a frog turning into a beautiful woman. However, in some tales, the physical transformation has nothing to do with a spell or curse. In these stories, physical transformation can be seen as representative of the psychological transformation the character is experiencing. The characters diminish themselves, becoming something other than human, to discover who they really are. The psychological changes they experience can be described by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This pyramid shows the progression by which individuals become self-actualized, or reach their full potential (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). By transforming into an animal, like a sparrow in both Lin Lan Cinderella and the Grimm Brothers’ Juniper Tree, the characters are able to further move up the hierarchy, so that eventually they can return to their human form. In Lin Lan’s Cinderella, a girl named Beauty transforms a number of times on her path to self-actualization. She goes from a meek girl, to a woman standing up for her rightful place. By diminishing herself, she is able to more fully understand who she wants to become. She is able to move up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs by taking ownership of her own life. How does the physical transformation of characters in Cinderella or Juniper Tree contribute to their

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