Grimm's Fairy Tales (Day 1)

1. These stories have become so internationalized because of the way they were written and the affect they have on children. Fairy tales often start off with “Once upon a time” and end with a happy ending. By beginning the fairy tale in such a way in engages the child’s mind and allows him to use his imagination. Although, the Grimm’s fairy tales were much more violent and graphic than the Disney versions, they portrayed a positive message and moral. There are also heroes and heroines in many of these stories. The main characters have to overcome many difficult obstacles before they can achieve success. The only person that has an unfortunate ending is the villain or bad guy. For example, in “The Frog Prince” the King’s daughter was trapped under the command of the ugly frog and she and her father had to do what he requested. In the end she got fed up and threw him against the wall and he turned into a handsome prince. And in “Little Red Riding Hood” the little girl and grandmother were eaten whole by the wolf, but later let out of the wolf’s stomach by someone passing by. Her stomach was sliced open and Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother jumped out alive and the wolf collapsed dead. The storylines, organization and morals to these stories are made them so popular and wide spread.


2. In fairy tales it is usually the female’s part to play the “damsel in distress” role. Like in “Briar Rose,” “The Frog Prince” and “Snow White” the female characters usually depend on the male to come and rescue them or be there to sweep them off of their feet. After Briar Rose came out of her sleep one hundred years later a prince entered the castle and the two wed and lived happily ever after. In “Snow White” she was rescued from the old Queen by a prince who took her away with him. In many of these fairy tales the women are usually swept away by prince charming. However, in “Roland” this idea of women being chased and desired by the men is kind of subverted. The maiden was forgotten by Roland, but she continued to stay true to him. She went after him this time and assembled with all the other maidens on the wedding day. He recognized her voice and the two were able to get married and live happily together. These stories often point to the male or often times, prince, as being the hero. This is not necessarily true in all of the stories. The heroes in each story had a battle to overcome in order to have this fairy tale ending. All of these stories taught a moral and ended happily.