 Fairy tales are stories either created or strongly influenced by oral traditions.  A true meaning is difficult to define as the stories themselves have changed dramatically from the original oral tradition.  Their plots feature stark conflicts between good and evil, with magic and luck determining the endings.  Universal human emotions such as love, hate, courage, kindness, and cruelty appear in bold, broad strokes on the canvas of fairy tales.  Original fairy tales did not incorporate the typical “happy ending” but instead contained erotic, sexual, and cautionary elements which have been modified over time for children.

Characters  archetypal characters (no specific names)  often a girl as protagonist  does NOT need to include fairies  “flat” characters that never develop, more often types than anything else (even when given names -e.g., "Cinderella" means nothing more than "girl of the cinders")  typically incorporate clearly defined good characters and evil characters

Plot  simple plot which focuses on a problem or conflict that needs to be solved.  protagonist leaves home  Extreme conditions (beauty, riches, poverty, etc.)  Involves magic elements, which may be magical people, animals, objects, or magic spells Magic may be positive or negative.  may include objects, people, or events in threes (three battles, three tasks)  social mobility (poor characters can marry royalty)  a transformation, either a physical transformation (e.g., the beast turns into a handsome prince) or a character transformation (e.g., the ugly duckling turns out to have been a swan all along)

Setting  unspecified place  often set in the past  Usually significantly long ago. May be presented as historical fact from the past. Theme  morality  encouragement of middleclass social values  usually teach a lesson or demonstrate values important to the culture

 has bad luck,  must perform impossible tasks,  must fight a villain,  meets magical helpers,  is treated badly,  is in danger,  is rewarded with wealth,  is rewarded with a happy marriage.

 Wrote Histoires ou contes du temps passé or Les Contes de ma Mère l'Oye (Stories or Fairy Tales from Past Times with Morals or Mother Goose Tales), a collection of literary fairy tales first published in Paris in  The work became popular because it was written at a time when fairy tales were fashionable amongst aristocrats in Parisian literary salons.  Scholars have debated as the origin of his tales and whether they are original literary fairy tales modified from commonly known stories, or based on stories written by earlier medieval writers such as Boccaccio.  The simple plots Perrault started with were modified, the language enhanced, and rewritten for an audience of aristocratic and noble courtiers.  Thematically, the stories support Perrault's belief that the nobility is superior to the peasant class, and many of the stories show an adherence to Catholic beliefs, such as those in which a woman undergoes purification from sin and repentance before reintegration into society.

 Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, lexicographers and authors who together specialized in collecting and publishing folklore during the 19th century.  The first volume of the first edition of Children's and Household Tales was published in 1812, containing 86 stories; the second volume of 70 stories followed in  The first volumes were much criticized because, although they were called "Children's Tales", they were not regarded as suitable for children, both for the scholarly information included and the subject matter.  Many changes through the editions – such as turning the wicked mother of the first edition in Snow White and Hansel and Gretel to a stepmother, were probably made with an eye to such suitability.  They removed sexual references, but violence, particularly when punishing villains, was increased.  In 1825 the Brothers published their Kleine Ausgabe or "small edition", a selection of 50 tales designed for child readers. This children's version went through ten editions between 1825 and 1858.

 Danish author was a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems.  He is best remembered for his fairy tales (The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, Emperor’s New Clothes, and others).  His initial attempts at writing fairy tales were revisions of stories that he heard as a child.  Andersen brought this genre to a new level by writing a vast number of fairy tales that were both bold and original (possibly from oral tradition or completely original).  Initially, they were not met with recognition, due partly to the difficulty in translating them and capturing his genius for humor and dark pathos.