The Princess Bride
Once upon a time…
Fairy tales are part of the oral tradition of literature.
What makes the fairy tale different from
folklore, fables, and tall tales is its use of
magic and fantasy.
The fairy tale is generally the
longest, most detailed of all
folktale types.
•Originate from the oral tradition
•Few fairy tales of most cultures concern ―fairies,‖ and the name probably comes from the French ―contes des fee,‖ French literary tales from the 17th century that do, in fact, feature fairies.
•Not originally written for children, fairy tales were most likely stories told by adults for adults
The German term for fairy tale is ―Märchen,‖
a term for which there is no exact English
translation.
• Authors generally associated with fairy tales are Charles Perrault, the Grimm Brothers, and Hans Christian Anderson.
• Most of the tales that we read today have been ―sanitized‖ of their more gruesome and/or overtly sexual references.
• The Grimm Brothers, while removing most of the sex from their tales, did leave a good bit of the violence. The also helped fairytales to ―migrate into the nursery in the 19th century‖ Most fairy tales, even the Disney versions remain violent.
Collected fairy tales and
published Tales of Mother
Goose in 1697
Born in Paris, France in 1628
Among the eight stories in this
book are The Sleeping Beauty,
Little Red Riding Hood, Blue
Beard, and Cinderella.
Died in 1703
In the early 19th century the Grimm brothers of
Germany traveled around the countryside collecting
stories.
Fewer people know about the lives of
the Grimm brothers and how they
went about the countryside listening
to folktales as told by those who had
heard them from their mothers and
fathers.
Their 200 stories commonly called Grimm’s Fairy
Tales have been translated into 70 languages.
Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was
born on Jan. 4, 1785.
Wilhelm Carl Grimm
was born on Feb. 24, 1786.
The brothers went to school determined to study
law as their father had done.
However, while attending school, Jacob
became interested in the legends and both
discovered that they enjoyed folk poetry.
Because of these interests, Wilhelm
obtained a job in a library and Jacob joined
him.
The brothers were born in Germany.
The brothers
quiet, scholarly
Jacob
and the more
friendly, jovial
Wilhelm
The first volume of Nursery and Household
Tales was published in Berlin in 1812
A second volume was published in
1815 and a third in 1822.
spent some 13 years collecting stories "from the lips
of people" of Hesse in middle Germany.
Sometimes there were several versions of the stories, and
these the Grimms combined into one.
It must have been difficult to choose between
different versions.
Should Rumpelstiltskin ride around the
fire in a ladle, or should he hop around it
on one foot?
live in the sugar house
found by Hansel and
Gretel?
Should a wolf or a witch
The stories were kept alive by the German peasants of
the time--the cowherd, the woodcutter, the wood-carver-
-who had no hope of rising above their positions in life
Wilhelm died on Dec. 16, 1859 Jacob died on Sept. 20, 1863.
Tartar argues that the Grimm Brothers
transformed fairytales with their Nursery and
Household Tales
• ―Once the Brothers Grimm started to collect the tales,
they were transformed from entertainment for adults to
diversion for children, and in some ways, also an
educational manual for children. Then the stories
suddenly developed an incredible moral backbone.‖
Another writer whose tales became universally popular
was
He was born April 2, 1805, on the island of Fyn, off
the coast of Denmark.
He memorized and recited plays to
anyone who would listen.
To put an end to this, his mother apprenticed him first
to a weaver, then to a tobacconist, and finally to a
tailor.
Hans Christian knew these occupations were not for
him. The only things that held his interest were the
theater, books, and stories
When he was 14, he decided to go to Copenhagen, the
capital of Denmark, and seek his fortune.
Andersen's writings began to be published in Danish
in 1829. His first works were poems, plays, novels,
and impressions of his travels. He was slow to
discover that he especially excelled in explaining the
essential character of children.
In 1835 Andersen published Fairy
Tales Told for Children.
He published these short stories with little
appreciation of their worth and returned to the
writing of novels and poems. However, people who
read the stories--adults as well as children--wanted
more.
Andersen published 168 fairy tales in all.
"The real ones come of themselves," he
said. "They knock at my forehead and
say, 'Here I am'."
Although he never married
and had no children of his
own, he was at his best as an
interpreter of the nature of
children.
He died on Aug. 4, 1875.
...the appeal and popularity of the tales, continue to entertain us
and we live happily ever after.
Although these authors lived long ago and far away...
Us--
United
States
Grimm Brothers--Germany
Perrault--France
Andersen--Denmark
Fairytales are generally women‘s
tales.
• Most fairy tales seem to originate as
women‘s stories.
• Note the emphasis on the women
characters—Name some of the women
heroines—Name the men
• The male authors who, like the Grimms,
collected and edited the tales, also
―masculinized‖ them.
The female versions tend to be more
―fantastic‖ and ―nastier‖ than the ones
written by the men.
• The original fairy tale tellers were women who passed
on tales to the young.
• The tales often outlined social function and promoted
the ideas that virtue would be rewarded and adversity
could be overcome with the application of luck and
wit.
According to Maria Tater
• ―Everyone wants to know where fairy tales
came from in the first place. It is important
to keep in mind that there really are no
originals, ideal types, sacred texts or
global master narratives, so all we have
are copies, variants, deviant forms, and
local narratives.‖
Tartar continues
―[A] ―scene of origin‖ takes us into an adult culture
where we have raconteurs telling racy, ribald
and violent stories to an adult audience. They
are stories about the quest for power, wealth,
romance—not necessarily in that order. They
are also stories that speak to the anxieties and
desires of adults who are negotiating the path to
marriage, sorting out family conflicts and. . .
‗rehearsing, preserving and transmitting
communal value, beliefs, and prejudices.‘
Why are we so attracted to fairy
tales?
• Often involve ordinary people caught up in
extraordinary circumstances.
• Language is generally simple, yet
dignified.
• Tales use devices of structural and
linguistic repetition.
• Often use suspense and life/death
situations
Fairy Tales characteristics cont‘d
• Other familiar stories and literary
conventions (myths, revenge tales,
parables, etc.) also pervade fairy tales
• The ―types‖ appear again and again and
cross-culturally.
Original Fairy Tales – 17 Min.
• 10 Original Fairy Tales