Understanding Fairy Tales from Around the World Once Upon a Time Cultural Differences in Fairy Tales

 In many lands and many cultures people told stories that had important themes (life lessons).  The original stories had no author!  These stories were once known as traditional fantasy, but we know them as fairy tales. Once Upon a Time…

Stories From Many Lands Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty were stories told in many countries, in different languages along with cultural differences, but all basically held the same message.

 Magic  Castles  Forests/ deep dark woods (European fairy tales)  “magic number” 3 or 7  “good” characters and “bad”  Royalty  Long ago, far away… How Can I Tell if it’s a Fairy Tale?

 The characters in these tales may be faced with everyday human experiences such as  Love  Jealousy  Fear  Greed  Danger  Loss  Acceptance  Good vs. evil Characters, Plot, Setting and Theme

 The plot is usually very simple because stories were told by and among “common” people.  These people were generally farmers and country folk with little to no education. Many of them did not know how to read or write. Plot

 The setting is usually in the past… once upon a time… Setting

 Themes in traditional tales are universal…  You are judged by the company you keep  Don’t talk to strangers  Misery loves company  Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched  One good turn deserves another Theme

The Cinderella story has been retold many times throughout many cultures. Some of the elements remain the same, while some change according to the culture. Cinderella Around the World

Fractured Fairy Tales  This is a fairy tale that is changed in some way to be funny! The story may be told from a different point of view.  The stories are “twisted” or “fractured” from the original.