fairy tales they’re not your average bedtime story…
TRANSCRIPT
Fairy Fairy TalesTales
They’re not your average They’re not your average bedtime bedtime
story…story…
Short stories in prose, originally for adults.
Told from a peasant perspective, quite unlike the aristocratic perspective in heroic legends.
Unlike legends, which deal with ostensibly historical events, fairy tales have vaguely medieval, undefined settings
Often set in common in exotic lands.
What is a Fairy What is a Fairy Tale?Tale?
Have no character development. Strongly contrast “good” and “bad”
characters. Often include the use of magic and magical
items. Feature familial settings
Frequently the family is dysfunctional or incomplete
(compared to the “nuclear” family)
Explore family tensions (as a main source of conflict in the plot)
Rely heavily on stock characters and very well-known motifs and plot structures.
The Typical Fairy The Typical Fairy Tales…Tales…
Triumph of the youngest, laziest, dumbest, weakest, most oppressed, least promising, etc.
Inherently good and bad characters with strong moral contrasts.
Triadic structure circuitous journey with a reversal of fortune
Familial adversaries with a eventual establishment of improved and secure familial structure at the end.
Helping figures with magical objects and creatures.
Rewards in the form of honor, wealth, spouse, or power.
Talking animals – animate world with enchanted cosmos
Happy ending, poetic justice, reward and retribution
Common Fairy Tale Common Fairy Tale Motifs…Motifs…
A significant amount of sex and violence.
Protagonists that are:- active OR passive- male OR female
- successful OR unsuccessful
An innocent or cynical tone.
Fairy Tales Often Fairy Tales Often Include…Include…
Fairy tales can be interpreted in different ways.
The “origins” of fairy tales are extremely difficult to trace.
Many of the motifs are common in Europe and even beyond.
For example, Cinderella versions are everywhere!
Fairy tales often delve into:- Power and class relations - Freudian sexual fantasies - Jungian archetypes- Cultural images- Christian and pagan ideologies - Collective class consciousness
Simple, yet Simple, yet Complex…Complex…
The Basics…The Basics… Fairy tales are stories either
created or strongly influenced by oral traditions.
Their plots feature stark conflicts between good and evil, with magic and luck determining the usually happy endings.
While each culture and geographic region of the world has its own body of folk tales and fairy tales that it considers "its own," certain themes and motifs tend to be repeated across many cultures and time periods.
Universal human emotions such as love, hate, courage, kindness, and cruelty appear in bold, broad strokes on the canvas of fairy tales.
The Setting…The Setting… Is typically set in
an unspecified place
Often, the time is unspecified
Sometimes, the story is set in the distant past.
It can be presented as historical fact from the past.
The The Characters…Characters… The tales feature archetypal characters, many
times without specific names - For example, "Cinderella" means nothing
more than "girl of the cinders"
Unlike Arthurian Legends, fairy tales frequently have female protagonists.
The stories do NOT need to include actual fairies
The characters are “flat,” thus, they never develop typically
Nearly all fairy tales incorporate clearly defined good characters and evil characters
The Plot…The Plot… Fairy tales have a simple plot that
focuses on a problem or conflict that needs to be solved.
Usually, the protagonist leaves home. The story features extreme conditions
(beauty, riches, poverty etc.) Includes magical elements, often
magical people, animals, objects, or magic spells
The existence of magic may be positive or negative.
Frequently, the story includes objects, people, or events in groups of threes (three battles, three tasks, etc.)
The Plot…The Plot… The hero (or heroine) has bad luck
The hero (or heroine) must perform impossible tasks
The hero (or heroine) must fight villain
The hero (or heroine) meets helpers
The hero (or heroine) is treated badly
The hero (or heroine) is in danger
The villain is punished
The hero (or heroine) is rewarded with wealth
The hero (or heroine) is rewarded with happy marriage
The Plot…The Plot… The characters experience social mobility
- For example, poor can marry royalty
There is often a a physical transformation
- For example, a beast turns into a prince
Frequently, there is a character transformation
- For example, the ugly duckling turns out to have been a swan all along
There is almost always a happy ending in which order is restored in the end based on the resolution of the conflict
Typical Typical Themes…Themes… “Good is rewarded and evil is punished” Encourage middle-class social values Teach a
lesson or demonstrate values important to the culture
About the About the Authors…Authors…✠Brothers Jacob and
Wilhelm Grimm
✠Famous Fairy Tale writers
✠They wrote some of the most violent and gruesome tales told
✠Their stories were translated into over 160 different languages
About the About the Brothers Grimm…Brothers Grimm…✠ Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm and
Wilhelm Karl Grimm were born in 1785 and 1786 (respectively)in Hanau near Frankfurt
✠ Their harsh background influenced the ways in which the brothers wrote their stories.
✠ The Brothers worked as librarians.
✠ Wilhelm died December 16 1859
✠ Jacob died September 20 1863