preview

Zipes Oral Paradigm In Charles Perrault's Cinderella

Decent Essays

Few children’s literary texts present truthful reflections of reality – highlighted by romanticized ideals set forth by their protagonists, such as Cinderella’s unwavering virtue in Charles Perrault’s “Cinderella” (97). Others, however, deviate from this model, offering conflicting character traits and at times questionable morals. These characters deviate from Jack Zipes’ condensation of Vladimir Propp’s functions of the oral wonder tale paradigm (372), thus entering the likeliness of literary fairy tales. Most notably, in his tale “Jack and the Beanstock,” Joseph Jacobs’ protagonist and wondrous items depart from Zipes’ oral paradigm model, suggesting that the story fits most neatly within the realm of literary fairy tale texts.

In the first …show more content…

Throughout the tale, Jack repeatedly steals valuable items from the ogres in the clouds with minimal repercussions and rich rewards for his efforts. Indeed, Jack turns prideful and more daring, eventually entering the storied chase with the male ogre, leading to the latter’s (literal) downfall. While this does skilfully lend its hand to a conclusion directly in line with Zipes’ function in which “the success of the protagonist usually leads to…marriage…[and] the acquisition of money (374)” – wherein “Jack and his mother became very rich, and he married a great princess… (Jacobs, 161)” – it is met with a compromising moral caveat. Jack does not face repercussions for his thievery or selfishness, and is rewarded for his deception and cunningness. He is left with no moral “clean slate,” aside from an ability to provide for his mother and new wife. What then, is the audience to make of the protagonist? Is he to be celebrated as a symbol of daringness, or condemned for his moral misjudgements? It is this problematic characterization that demonstrates that the purity of Zipes’ function is not truly met, as the story gravitates towards literary fairy tale through a morally suspect

Get Access