Fairy Tales They’re not your average bedtime story…

 Short stories in prose, originally for adults.  Told from a peasant perspective  Unlike legends, which deal with historical events, fairy tales have vaguely medieval, undefined settings  Often set in common in exotic lands. What is a Fairy 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  Explore family tensions (as a main source of conflict in the plot) The Typical Fairy Tales…

 Triumph of the youngest, laziest, dumbest, weakest, most oppressed, least promising, etc.  Improved family structure in 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 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 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 - Jung’s archetypes - Cultural images - Christian and pagan beliefs The Origin of Fairy Tales

The Basics…  Fairy tales are stories either created or strongly influenced by oral traditions.  Stories of good and evil, with magic and luck determining the usually happy endings.  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 all throughout fairy tales.

The Setting…  An unspecified place  Unspecified time  Sometimes, the story is set in the distant past.  It can be presented as historical fact from the past.

The Characters…  The tales feature archetypal characters, many times without specific names - For example, "Cinderella" means nothing more than "girl of the cinders"  Fairy tales frequently have female protagonists.  The stories do NOT need to include actual fairies  The characters are “flat,” thus, they never develop or change  Clearly good and evil characters

The Plot…  Fairy tales have a simple plot that focuses on a problem or conflict that needs to be solved.  The protagonist leaves home.  Extreme conditions (beauty, riches, poverty etc.)  Includes magical elements (magical people, animals, objects, or magic spells)  Magic may be positive or negative.

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 characters experience social change - poor can marry royalty  There is often a a physical transformation - a beast turns into a prince  Frequently, there is a character transformation - 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 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 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 Authors….

About the 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 ✠ Jacob died September

Fairy Tales or Horror Tales? ✠ The primary reason the Grimm Brother wrote the stories was to teach important life lessons to their audience. ✠ The stories are amongst the most violent and gruesome tales ever told.