Fairy Tale

Critically explore the themes of fairytale, memory and narrative in Jane Campion’s film In the Cut in relation to dominant ideology and gender. The essay proposed shall examine the way in which ideology and gender help portray the themes of fairytale, memory and narrative. By focusing on ideology through gender in the film, it shall firstly analyse ideology and then gender and combine the two. Important to note here, is that throughout the film gender and ideology is closely linked and throughout the film, narrative is linked to gender and ideology and together they build upon a dominance in the gender ideology.

Therefore the essay presented will look at ideology, gender, and narrative separately and then show how they form to complement each other using fairytale and memory as a catalyst to their dominance. Gender – Throughout the film, In the Cut gender roles and femininity is explored. In the movie the female plays the main protagonist, which is a recent idea as it has normally been the man who takes on such a role. I am going to explore how this is carried out and what this means for the way in which gender is portrayed in the film.

Laura Mulvey talks in detail about women and media in her chapter Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, in this paper Mulvey looks at the way in which a psychoanalytical approach to look at film shows the constant patriarchy found within the history of film and how this notion is constantly reproduced within the structure of cinema and fascination today. The gaze used in cinema according to Mulvey is a male gaze and the women are “to-be-looked-at. “In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness. “ (Mulvey in Penley: 1988:62). The detective is intrigued by Franny this alpha male figure holds power while the woman is always the passive object to the man. Women that are displayed as the sexual object are the ongoing, reoccurring musical theme of the male’s desire.

From strip teasing to seducing they constantly represent male’s desire. Mulveys ideas takes a rather Freudian notion of the woman. The woman is someone who is subjected almost flawed by her own biological functions. Her lack of a penis is symbolized through the procreation of children. This idea deriving from Derrirda whereby a woman is a man who is not fully developed therefore being significantly lower than the man in a Darwinian hierarchy. “A true man has no sex (… for he must be his sex. ” (Derrida: 1978:181) Femininity in the film is commonly associated with romance, sex and blood. In the film In the Cut, we can see that the colour red is used significantly with the women characters; this colour shows how femininity is used in accordance to love, romance and sex. Franny demands attention when she is embarking on sexual activity. Franny is intrigued by it and drawn into it; she gains pleasure from it and plays a dominant role.

The idea of this being different is that normally a female protagonist would not play this role, and the way in which it is carried out marks independence for her character, the film here shows an emphasis towards the red dress that her sister wears and then she wears in the ending scene, there is also associations with red in desire, in the bar when she watches sexual activity the whole room is red. Romance is embedded amongst each main character. These characters are Franny her sister Pauline, Detective Malloy and his partner Detective Rodriguez.

These character have a link toward opposition, the two females can be compared by the audience, as can be the two males. Here we seek to find what their stories hold. Each character is infatuated with romance and lust, Franny sees beauty of romance in her memory of her father and also in poetry, her sister finds romance in conventional social formalities, such as marriage lust to love which she desires with a doctor and having children. The two males are almost troubled males, the detective has a troubled pass being molested as a child, and wants a romance where he can provide not just sex for his partner.

This is shown when he is troubled by the murders, and when he takes Franny to a park and does not wish to have sexual relations. Rodriguez is troubled of the idea of being “a house husband” in the ending scene he wants to be able to control women and not let himself be controlled. Here the ideas of femininity and masculinity are embedded through the film, each character has a fixation with marriage, the image of the woman in a wedding suit and a cut arm portrays the violence associated with marriage and failed/troubled masculine and feminine identities.

Feminine power seems to cause disruption throughout the film. In Campion’s film, it’s as if the roles are reversed and then turned back again. The male seems to be a disruption and plays with Franny’s mind, however its Franny’s femininity which causes her to be led into her own trap. The ending of the film sees Franny as still almost to her death wanting to be in control but this city setting in which she wants to be in charge almost has to kill her before she can hold power. According to Thornham masculinity is played almost exclusively throughout the film.

If we look at the way in which the two detectives talk amongst each other and whilst Franny is there than we can see that they use her as an object and as an audience to show off their male desires. (Thornham: 2007). “Women walk arm in arm in pairs; when we glimpse them alone they are running. (… )Public spaces are unsafe meeting places for women. ” ( Thornham:2007:37). This idea of New York is portrayed as a never ending danger zone for women. Franny is unsafe even in her own home she is penetrated by male intruders, from the beginning we see her ex in the garden which thus amplifies this.

From Sue Thornhams article she associates the film with a feminine inadequacy, the female wanting to hold power but not quite getting there. This in and out feeling is associated with the film through the female protagonist. By depicting this picture we can see straight away that it is taken from a busy Town in America, from the busy road the dress code of the two women and the infamous yellow taxi. These images are what the mass audience know, and in a Marxist light, the metropolis working class proletariat are being subjected.

Hence, in the film we can see that these familiarities accompany the dominant ideology of gender. From this image taken from the film we can see how gender is incorporated within the film, the brunette is obviously a woman dedicated to her job, and there is a sense of freedom with the blonde in the red. Straight away we pick up on connoted messages from the denoted. Saussure’s structuralist work on the signifier proves adequate on this note, our familiarity of the scene, setting, and ideology is portrayed from what is being signified.

This image that is constantly displayed plays on the dominance of the gender ideology and the recognition of realism to an extent that we passively pertain to the “real” and see it as an adequate replica. Thus noting on the build up of gender and how it should be played across within society. This idea of space signifies the female protagonist’s form of being the only character to move through all of these spaces. Although Malloy does, embark on this freedom to an extent, we do not see him in the strip club, or at the main ending scene, in this scene his is tied up in her apartment.

This idea of space enables the story to be told through a narrative looked at in the eyes of the female. Ideology- From here we can see that the dominant portrayal of gender and ideology is clearly marked throughout the film. “According to the principles of the ruling ideology (… ) the male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification. ” (Mulvey in Penley: 1988:63). Dominant ideology of gender is represented through the way in which the male and the female are represented. In the movie what marks as odd is when the Frannys ex John Graham says: ”my mom use to dress me in girls clothes. (In the Cut: 2003). This already draws as strange to the audience. His character also portrays Frannys failed relationships and plays upon our desire to see her in a stable relationship. If the male is sexually objectified, in any case for example in the new James Bond movies, we always need a female character to create the desire. However in reversal the woman by herself creates desire. “Cinematic codes present a gaze, a world, and an object thereby producing an illusion cut to the measure of desire. ” (Mulvey in Reynolds: 1988:67).

Mulvey explains here that the way in which the male is portrayed is as if a mirrored image of the ruling ideology in society. Everything about the male character, suggests how they should be in reality. For example, if we look at film the male character who is the superstar he holds characteristics that are not around sex and glamour but a more perfect ideology so it can thus signify the main motive of the protagonist and societal ideologies. Ideology in film is a concept cited and drawn on by many media theorists.

When the Frankfurt started it, it was the first set of theorists to look at culture and the media to be a marker of capitalism and yet another way of the bourgeoisie to dupe us. Jameson talks of film to be a suppressed set of images injected with hidden meaning and ways to exploit its audience. (Jameson, 1991). Where do these theorists then get their views? By watching a film it is us the audience who are meant to gain an emotion or draw up a conclusion on what we have seen. If we take cinema to be an art then one can argue that cinema is meant to be read in the eyes of the conglomerate elite. A work of art understood dynamically (… ) is images in the feelings and mind of the spectator. ”(Eisenstein in Andrews: 1984:49). This idea of representation presented by Andrews is that ideology and representation go hand in hand the only way in which ideology can be formulated within a movie is through these representations to that which is familiar to the audience. “No matter what appears on the screen, audiences will instinctively shape it into a representation of something familiar to them. ” (Andrew: 1984:47). Andrews talks of realism and how it is portrayed within cinema.

In the film In the Cut it starts off with camera techniques using shots that are mostly pan shots at the beginning of the film and finally resulting into close ups, we are shown the way in which we as an audience are made to recognise the settings. For example, at the beginning of the film In the Cut, we can see images of Franny, if we take one of the introducing scenes where we are introduced to her student Cornelius, we are shown the scene from a road away, however as the film progresses so does the cameras closeness. This movement of the camera subconsciously inflects a message onto the audience to know when to be drawn in and out.

In this way ideology is formulated from the very start of the movie. (Andrew: 1984). In the film, when Franny remembers her dad, it can be looked at as very Freudian; she is almost fantasizing about him and wanting to be with a man just like him. This shows the way that the representation of gender used in cinema portrays patriarchy as an ideology. Noting here on at Jacques Lacan`s idea, which states that when a child recognizes his own image in a mirror; it marks the central part of ego formation. Meaning by looking in the mirror and observing oneself forms an image and constructs an identity. (Mulvey :1988).

This idea of a familiar setting is observed throughout the film. We relate to Franny’s, work ethic and her curiosity resembles the audience’s investigatory role. Narrative- Narratives is closely linked to cinema as film is an ongoing documentary; which is much more explicit in telling a story then say a magazine advert. In the film In the Cut I will look at how narrative is represented and why it uses fairytale and memory as significant in relation to dominant ideology and gender. Before watching a film, Bordwell and Thompson argue that we already know to an extent what to expect, and we know to an extent how the narrative will pan out.

The idea of narrative is not just about the story but can be about the desire of wanting to know more, the idea that we want to follow the protagonist, this idea of narrative is popular with many structuralists. Mulvey claims that this active/passive opposition controls the narrative structure. These binary oppositions that are used in film are looked at closely by structuralist Claude Levi Strauss. He looked at themes within a film and how they motivated deeper meanings from capturing these binary oppositions.

Bordwell and Thompson argue in Film Art that a narrative is recognised from early distinguished stories in life. For example we associate a films narrative from birth, when we are children we look at fairytales and are infatuated by these stories, these fairytales stay with us and from film we form an attachment. We can also see this in religion and how these stories can be captured in our inner conscious by film. (Bordwell and Thompson: 1997). Serei Eisenstein believed that it was more effective if films narrative was not shot in a linear direction, thus making the narrative obvious.

Instead the film should be shot in different chronicle arrangements in order for the mind to jump and build on its own conclusions. “In a more light-hearted way it is used today in pop videos and advertising to encourage us to make associations and link ideas. ” (Bordwell and Thompson: 1977:4). In the film In the Cut, we can see that the idea of fairytale is carefully portrayed and used in different chronological arrangements to maintain its emphasis. “In childhood we learn fairytales and myths (…), the prevalence of stories in our lives is one reason we need to take a close look at how films may embody narrative form. (Bordwell and Thompson: 1997:59). There are numerous scenes where we see how ideas of fairytale (not just for Franny) are perpetuated, throughout the narrative of the film. Her memory is linked with typical fairytales, what I mean by typical fairytale, is that what we associate with old folk tales. The story that has a beginning a middle where an issue is dealt with and an ending which seeks exaggerated happiness and a moral issue that is learnt. In ‘In The cut’ we can see when Franny is remembering her past she sees it as if a fairytale.

The light becomes lighter and colour is drawn out, this provides us with a fairytale like image as it far from the reality signified in the film. Here I mean that in the films everyday cinematic language, colours are normal, setting and light have a reoccurrence however when Franny uses memory to envisage her fairytale fantasy. The image we are shown is completely different to the one that marks reality. The idea that love conquers all that her father fell in love and it didn’t matter about the other woman holds the fairytale ideal. We also know it is fairytale like as it holds certain characteristics that we hold as fairytale like. Andrew: 1984). Another account in which we fairytale and childhood can be interpereted, is the way in which Franny holds a childlike state, she is dazzled by the world around her and is excited by danger. This analysis is seen throughout the film, she is watching through a Childs eyes. By the end of the film Franny adapts a child like romance. She runs out the house and behaves erratically, she follows a man into the car with no hesitation and her child like behaviour is drawn closer when she wakes up in the car as if a child, and is excited by where she is and where she is going.

Her amazement reels the child behaviour to an end when she finally shots the murderer and its as if she has grown up or been born again as a new person who loses her ability to fight, when she is covered in blood and is ignored by society shows her rejection she walks in solitude and engages in no conversation her emotionless character that then returns to her home and to the detective without even conversing with him shows her lack of defeat.

Vladimir Propp, analysed fairytales and found 31 different functions that a fairytale holds, he also describes 8 different characters. This vary from the hero leaving the home, the hero having tension between the opposition, the man claiming to be a hero and then finally the issues are resolved. (Propp: 1968). Every story whether it be in media should be looked act in this structuralist light. By structurally analysing In the Cut in accordance to fairytale, we need to ask who the hero is. If the hero is solely Franny then who do Malloy, Pauline and Rodriguez play.

The film starts of with Franny being in a normal state then encountering with Malloy becomes the start of the equilibrium being disrupted, if she is the hero then she needs to resolve the issue of the murder, however the murderer becomes unclear to her, and in the conclusion of the film, the fairytale does not have its sufficient ending Malloy is left in handcuffs and although Franny lays next to him she merely rest next to him as a pose to kissing him, realising him or even getting back to a normal state.

Therefore this film defies the structuralist outline proposed by both Propp and to an extent Todrov, as the equilibrium is not resolved or even in a calm state. Is the murderer dead? Was Malloy involved or is he a hidden hero? These unresolved issues come to the conclusion that we as an audience have not had the satisfaction, of a nor a fairytale narrative. Memory is also used in the film; we can see this throughout the film.

Franny is always remembering her past and her past effects her future, everything that means anything happens on her fixation towards memory. From the very beginning the detective becomes consistent on knowing if she remembers anything from the night of a murder. Her relationship with the other main characters for example the detective Malloy, he always asks her to remember if anything happened and she ask him about his memory of the same night too, this is in order for her to find if he was involved in her murder.

Their sex life is looked at immensely and part of this is based on memory, memory of his sexual past about when an older woman either raped him or abused him and how he knows how to perform in the present. The whole scene mentioned above when she remember her parents love life is entwined in fairytale and memory. Her memory is childlike and her approach to situations is almost childlike until the final ending scene where she shoots the murderer. She is almost vulnerable all the time and has a naive character which links to her memory.

In conclusion, this essay has critically assessed Jane Campion’s film In the Cut, by focusing on ideology, gender and narrative. By looking at ideology we can see how gender is perpetuated throughout the film, through different notions of analysing femininity we have seen how a women is presented in society portraying a patriarchal society, where film is obsessed with the female gaze, leaving the male as a perfect form of power. (Mulvey:1988). We have then noted that through narrative fantasy/fairytale and memory portray this ideal of a patriarchal society.

Form structuralists such as Propp and Strauss we have analysed the way in which narrative is portrayed however discovered the inadequacy of looking at this film through narrative solely and by viewing gender and psychoanalysis we can draw a conclusion of femininity representation.

References

• Andrew, D: (1984) Concepts in Film Theory. New York, Oxford University Press.
• Mulvey, L in Penley, C: (1988) Feminism and Film Theory. New York, Routledge.
• Cook, P and Johnston, C in Penley, C: (1988) Feminism and Film Theory.

New York, Routledge.

• Thornham, S: (2007). Starting to Feel Like a Chick. Feminist Media Studies. 7:1 33-46
• Propp, V: (1968). Morphology of the Folktale. Texas. University of Texas Press.
• Jameson, F: (1991). Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. London, Durham University Press.
• Barthes, R: (1997). Image-Music-Text. London. Fontana Press
• Derrida, J :(1978). A Derrida Reader : Between the Blinds. London, Wheatsheaf.
• Bordwell, D. Thompson, K: (1997). Film Art an Introduction. New York, The McGraw-hill Companies.

The very first reference to a religious aspect is that they are twelve as the apostles of the Bible, and one of them, the youngest had the name of one bible character – Benjamin- who was too the 21st son of Jacob also, who had a daughter too.

The next reference is the Golden Star on the girl’s forehead, which is a compost symbol with two pieces, the first is gold, and it evokes what is illuminated, sacred and durable. The second is Star, it symbolize “the presence of divinity’ (Cooper, 156). Like the brothers on this fairy tale, Jacob once had to flee from the wrath of his brother Seas. When the princess took off the flowers from earth she deflowered her brother she committed an incestuous act.

The brothers turned into Ravens, which are in the Bible god singers and prophets, as a punishment to the Incestuous act and she was not punished too because of being a divinity and sacred being. The seven years of silence that she had to obey can be a reference to Mary of Sorrows, which symbol Is a heart pierced by seven swords, each sword meaning one of the sorrows that she had to face. The latter reference is the step-mother who persuades the King to send his beloved wife to the fire, acting like the Devil stacking his claim of the sinner princess.

Anonymous Disneyfied Fairy Tales Everybody knows how Cinderella found her glass slipper after dancing at the ball. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were awoken by true loves kiss and lived happily ever after. The Little Mermaid longed to live on shore to be with that one special person. The thing that people don’t know is that the tales are wrong. Grimm Fairy tales are the original fairy tales dating back to early Germany. Disney took the fairy tales and put their own spin on them to be more appealing to children.

The origin of the fairytales cast a large shadow over the new “Disneyfied” tales with major transformations, differences, and a syndrome that sparked from the change as well as up rises among feminists in the community. The Grimm Brothers were German professors who grew famous for publishing classic fairy tales and through their work in linguistics. Linguistics relates to how the sound in words shift over time through translations, specifically relating to how translations of tales were changed because of the switching between languages (Grimm Fairy Tales).

Before being professors and taking an interest in linguistics, it was a tragedy that originally brought them to discovering the fairytales. Without the tragedy, who knows if the fairy tales would be around today? The Grimm Brothers grew interested in the fairy tales after their father died unexpectedly and the family grew very poor (Brothers Grimm). The Brothers later met a wise man that brought them to a library filled with old books containing a couple tales (Brothers Grimm). The flame continued as they read the tales and grew more of an interest.

They started to listen to people’s favorite stories in order to hear vocal patterns and while doing this; it helped them to record the tales that would be later published (Grimm’s Fairy Tales). By understanding the linguistics behind story telling they were able to understand how the pieces of the tale fit together as best as possible. The Grimm Brothers were determined to preserve the true Germanic folktales as they were, however, once popularity spread amongst them, pieces in the story started changing (Brothers Grimm).

Originally, the fairy tales were meant to be told at campfires and in taverns as entertainment to adults, not primarily to children like it is nowadays (Layt). Over the years, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm began a collection of the fairytales in the 1800’s that were like the previous European generations- gruesome and cruel (Brothers Grimm). By spending time in the library for a while, the brothers interest flourished and they officially gathered all the fairy tales in one big book that they named their own (Brothers Grimm).

They began their own collection of books with stories and folktales, telling them mostly to women (Brothers Grimm). Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm kept a record of the tales and published them officially in 1812 called “Children’s and Household Tales”, with a follow up edition in 1814 (Hunt). Over the various new editions to the collections, the Brothers due to word pronunciation, altered the books as well as changing possible implications of sex, pregnancy and parents changed minor details (The Brothers Grimm).

In the Grimm brothers first book, it contained 86 folktales and was popular and very successful (“Grimm…”). In the next volume, “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”, 70 more stories were added (“Grimm…”). After 6 editions, the book contained over 200 stories (“Grimm…”). The Brothers hard work and dedication throughout the course of making the books led to it being one of the most well known works of German literature in history (“Grimm…”). The time period in which the books were written reflects Germany’s state of being in many small Germanic communities.

Fairy Tales takes places in Kingdoms, much like the small communities seen in Germany at the time (The Brothers Grimm). This also is an indication of alterations between tales due to the fact there was no unification and as the tale went through the grapevine, making it was easy for things to get changed or mixed up. The fairy tales show life lessons about strangers, trust, and watching what you wish for and carry’s on to be the foundation for popular fairy tales today (The Brothers Grimm).

Throughout the stories, abusive parents, distressed damsels, and chivalry are the building blocks for most classic Disney movies (The Brothers Grimm). It wasn’t until the 19th and 20th centuries that original fairy tales became more focused towards children rather than adults (origin). As the focus shifted and things got changed from history, Disney producers feared that by only showing interpretations of Grimm Fairy Tales, it can cause people to lose sight of what the actual fairy tales were (Brothers Grimm).

Although things were altered over time, nothing can take away from the stories core, spreading them around the world in more than 160 languages (Brothers Grimm). As time went on, other editors changed things as well. They became softer and sweeter, spreading morality, unlike their original descendants from the Germanic folktales (Brothers Grimm). The Grimm Tales show angry, wild beasts in dark forests. Disney shows a softer side by making all animals nice and only changing the mood to horror if completely necessary for the shortest amount of time possible (Disneyfication).

American producers now feel that fairy tales must end with a happy ending, ruining the message that was intended to be sent by original fairy tales (Teramis). Modern day authors take the stories and add new humor to take away from the “scariness” of the tale (Berner). New endings provide unique twists that were altered to create a different version seen in Disney fairytales (Berner). Everybody knows the story of the beautiful girl, Cinderella and how she was saved from her horrible life from a handsome prince and carried off into the sunset to live happily ever after.

However, that’s the way that Disney portrays but Grimm’s fairy tales has a little bit of a different view towards it. In , it is her mother’s words on her bedside before she dies that pushed Cinderella to be the best she can and not to let the abuse her stepmother and stepsisters put on her dragging her down (Holler). In the movie by Disney, he real mother isn’t even mentioned which leaves a hole in the story that may be confusing at first.

After years of slaving away for her stepmother and stepsisters, the invitation for the Prince’s ball comes in and they all prepare to go. A slight alteration between the movie and the fairy tales was that it wasn’t just a one-day ball that happened, but a 3-day festival (Taylor). The Prince would look for Cinderella and would only dance with her, turning down any other offers given to him (Taylor). On the third night, she hurried home because her stepsisters and stepmother was coming home, not because the magic in her dress was wearing off (Taylor).

Referring to the magic seen in the movie, in the fairytale itself there is actually no magic present at all or even fairy godmother. Although she exists in the movie and gives Cinderella her beautiful dress and pumpkin coach, she does not exist (Taylor). In the original tale, birds bring a gold dress with gold shoes lined with satin for her to wear (Taylor). Not only is the Godmother made up, but the portrayal of the slippers and blue dress was misleading in the movie as well (Taylor). In another version of the story, the translation between languages may have mixed up the slipper even more.

The French words “verre” and “vair” sound extremely close meaning that it is uncertain if she had a fur slipper, a glass slipper, or like seen in another translation, a golden slipper (Layt). While at the ball, it shows her leaving behind her slipper by accident, however, in the Grimm version, the prince convinces her to leave her slipper behind so that he may go find her after the ball (Aschenputtel). In the movie, when the Prince goes to find Cinderella to try on the slipper, he encounters her stepsisters who try to cram their feet into the slippers to prove that it was them he was dancing with.

In Grimm’s fairytales, the stepsisters try cutting off their toes and heels from orders of their stepmother so the Prince may take them home (Layt). After the sisters force their feet to fit into the slipper, the prince believed them until he noticed the blood coming from the shoe (Taylor). For a prince who seemed so in love with Cinderella, it shows Grimm’s dark side considering he couldn’t tell the difference between the women and solely relied on the fact that the shoe fit. The prince didn’t realize it was Cinderella right away like in the movie.

Due to the stepmothers and stepsisters attempt to trick the prince, the birds who brought her dress to her pecked the eyes out of them for their wickedness showing the harsh Germanic tales that provided exquisite detail (Layt). After they get their eyes pecked out, they live as blind beggars for the rest of their lives with a broken bond between Cinderella and her fortunes (Differences…). Cinderella lives happily ever after, however, the stepmother and stepsisters don’t live fortunately like what is shown in the movie with no money, no house, and no toes.

Snow White is a loved classic from Disney that shows a beautiful girl who stumbles upon a quaint little cottage in the woods and lives with dwarves until her prince comes to save her. In the original Snow White, it featured her and her sister Red Rose who encountered angry dwarves (Taylor). It is uncertain why the fairytale split it into just Snow White and the dwarves without mentioning her sister (Taylor). The classic poison apple that is seen in Disney’s Snow White was not the original plan of attack from the evil Queen.

At first it was silk that the Queen disguised as an old hag brought to the house. She wrapped her up in it so tight that she couldn’t breathe and appeared dead when he dwarves returned home (Taylor). Fortunately, the dwarves saved Snow White when they returned home and cut the laces of the silk, allowing her to breathe again and restore her back to life (Taylor). Not only was there the attempted murder with the silk, but she also tried to poison Snow White with a comb that would make her senseless when contacted with her (Taylor).

On the Queen’s third attempt, she finally killed Snow White with a slice of an apple that she poisoned (Taylor). The dwarves were unable to awaken her, however, a glass coffin was made so she could be displayed to show her beauty, even when she was dead (Taylor). The attempts at murder that the Queen did was a different change from the movie that only showed the one successful attempt. In the Disney classic, it was not true loves kiss that awakened her, but when the dwarves were carrying her coffin and hit a bump, it dislodged the piece of apple from her throat and allowed her to awaken again (Taylor).

Out of the Queens jealousy, she tried to kill Snow White. Snow White’s birth mother died after giving birth and her father remarried and although never mentioned in any Disney movie, the Queen is her jealous stepmother much like Cinderella (Taylor). Despite that small misconception, the biggest and bloodiest change in Snow White comes from the Queen who not only wants her stepdaughter dead, but also wants her heart so she can eat it (Layt). Depending on the translation, the Queen may of asked for other internal organs such as the liver, lungs, intestines, etc. Layt). Unlike the fatal ending in Disney’s Snow White, the Queen must suffer for her wickedness by dancing around on hot iron shoes until she drops dead at Snow Whites wedding party (Layt). Unfortunately, it wasn’t a quick death off a cliff like seen in the movie. Snow White was one of the earliest and most changed tales from the Grimm’s collection; yet, it is still loved for its originality today. With scarce amounts of detail, the classic story of Sleeping Beauty is one of the most exaggerated tales due to lack of original content (Disneyfication).

They needed enough material in the movie by Disney to cover two hours worth of film, changing and elongating the tale greatly (Disneyfication). Disney’s film features a beautiful, young girl named Aurora, Rose for short. In the Grimm’s tales, she is known as Briar-Rose because she lived in it for 100 years of sleep was engulfed in thorns and bushes making it impossible for someone to save her (Dornroschen). Unfortunately, with the new productions and marketing, the evil dragon outside the castle wrapped in the thorns (Dornroschen).

However, thorns were a major and difficult barrier to get through, but there wasn’t any magical dragon that breathed fire (Dornroschen). The famous spindle is a symbolic feature of the Disney film, but in the original fairy tale, she does not prick her finger on a spindle but does get a piece of flax stuck under her finger nail that causes her to fall asleep, she is put into a deep sleep for 100 years (Layt). While sleeping, a Prince climbs through the barriers and up to her sleeping body but instead of awakening her sleeping with a kiss, he rapes her and causes her to give birth to twins while sleeping (Layt).

It is not the Prince’s kiss that will cause her to awaken, but her child sucking on her finger that dislodges the piece of flax under her finger nail, allowing her to wake up early from the 100 years. She wakes up to a very confusing situation with a husband she did not know and kids she didn’t remember having (Layt). The spunky redheaded mermaid under the sea is a well- known classic from Disney. Disney portrays the tale with a mermaid who longs to be a human and sees a prince that she wants to meet pushing her to go on shore even more.

She gives up her voice to an evil sea witch to be with him and ends up marrying him, living happily ever after. In the original fairy tale, it is not because her voice was taken away that she couldn’t talk, but because of excessive amounts of pain she felt every time she walked due to her weak leg muscles (Differences…). With a young audience from Disney, the Little Mermaid is not lucky enough to have the man she wants and is offered a knife from her sister to kill him as revenge (Differences…). Unfortunately, he was not in love with her and she must kill him to revert her back to her “mermaid” self again (Differences…).

In Disney’s version, they transformed the ending dramatically. Instead of a sea witch tricking him, she is unable to kill the prince with the knife provided by her sister, so instead she plunges herself into the ocean because she cannot bare to see him with anyone else (Differences…). This causes her body to turn into sea foam and she basically commits suicide ending the tale(Differences…). Through the recreations of tales, little girls assume that they will live as those in Disney movies (Grimm vs. Disney).

Some may grow out of it; however, others may develop Fairy Tale Syndrome (Grimm vs. Disney). Girls who suffer from Fairy Tale Syndrome tend to struggle with relationships, trying to make the wrong guy fit into their lives (Fairytale Syndrome). They are unable to realize you can’t fit a square peg in a round hole. Without realizing it, almost everyone suffers from Fairytale Syndrome meaning that they need that prince to come and sweep them off their feet (Dolnick). It is a subconscious occurrence that people cant help.

People think they are in love when they fall under fairytale syndrome. Love is a chemical reaction and when people fall in love, their brains release certain kinds of chemicals that puts people on a “high” making it harder to be resistant in a break up (Dolnick). Love is so emphasized in modern day society that some people may not even realize that they are actually addicted to it (Dolnick). Girls pretend to be something their not causing emotional stress in fear that no one will like them for who they are and feel like they must change (Gender Roles).

Girls develop the feeling of being rushed into relationships from the influence of The Little Mermaid who immediately changes her whole life to be with him (Snow White Syndrome). This causes problems in girl’s lives because they didn’t wait and followed the moves (Snow White Syndrome). It is believed that girls agonize over their appearance due to the glamorizing alterations Disney has made, setting high standards for every girl if she wants someone to come for her (Snow White Syndrome). The portrayal of princesse’s lives make young kids believe everything will come easy to them (Grimm vs. Disney).

The view of what is normal to children as they read and watch fairytales act as early foundation for socialization processes of children that may cause them to believe everything comes easy (Kuykendal). Adopted or stepchildren may develop a specific syndrome called “Cinderella Syndrome” (Syndrome Diagnoses). This leads them to make outrageous stories of abuse and isolation such as suffered from (Syndrome Diagnoses). The portrayal of Cinderella in Disney’s film reflects that women are dependent and terrified unless they are accompanied by a Prince, causing emotional issues in girls (Cinderella Syndrome).

Although women may appear okay on the surface, on the inside they are dependent on men due to the demand the Prince receives (Cinderella Syndrome). It doesn’t matter what age; it appears that most women depend on men. While suffering form fairytale syndrome, you may also fall into a Soul Mate Fantasy (Fairytale syndrome). People who have this believe you will meet one person and you will know they are the one and will fall in love right away (Fairytale Syndrome). Although Soul Mate Fantasy may sound harmless, it is often the path towards self-destruction.

People tend to set standards too high and cant find anyone or they will fall too fast for someone causing them to get hurt leaving them with emotional issues (Fairytale Syndrome). Master Servant Fantasy may occur as well. This means that people think a rich, handsome man will scoop them up out of their ordinary lives and bring them up to the riches they have (Fairytale Syndrome). What girls don’t realize is that you don’t have to drag yourself down to the bottom with the hopes that maybe someone will come along and pick you up (Fairytale Syndrome).

It is believed the Disneyfied fairytales can cause a lot of mental insecurities. If Grimm Fairytales remained as originals, girls would not feel this false sense of hope they are receiving from movies. Critics claim that by reading the fairytales, it creates gender stereotypes in kid’s minds showing how they are supposed to act; most of the time women being inferior to men (Kuykendal). A repetitive exposure to gender roles was concerning researchers with fear that a child may grow up with low self esteem (Kuykendal).

Critics began to question a child development after they noticed the gender patterns in fairytales around the 1960’s (Kuykendal). After being stripped of its violence in the 17th century, it as greatly criticized in the 18th century and on (Sexes). A set of critics claims Disney productions are sexist (Sexes). New goals formed amongst feminist writers stating that they would try to depict a character that is empowered regardless of the gender they have (Kuykendal). Authors must now revision classic works to reinvent powerful women, male protagonists, and feminist narratives in their writing (Kuykendal).

Many new feminist authors are altering and are rewriting original fairytales to fit in feminist views rather than fractured or corrupt fairytales (Kuykendal). As new times progress, feminist writers are striving to reject the weak, submissiveness of women and show them that they can be just as strong as men (Kuykendal). In Disney films, a woman always needs a man to save her. A woman is never strong enough to stop them and needs a man to step in for them (Origin). Feminist believe there are two types of women shown in Disney fairytales.

The good women are always passive and victimized (Kuykendal). On the contrary, bad women must always be killed or punished. Feminists argue that the powerful figures are always evil and submissive women are rewarded with a happy ending (Kuykendal). Feminist argue that powerful, smart women in fairytales always have a false interpretation because in Disney’s productions they are always hags, witches, or deranged stepmothers (Sexes). Only powerful, immortal women in fairytale are powerful and strong, showing the separation between mortal and immortal (Kuykendal).

Mortal women are beautiful yet weak and immortal figures can be beautiful and powerful (Kuykendal). All evil villains in Disney movies act as targets to get killed because they abused the power they were given and it backfired on them very badly (Kuykendal). The only exception to mortal women being powerful is if they are ugly or evil (Kuykendal). In some cases, women with power are ugly and evil showing how only good, submissive women can succeed (Kuykendal). Classic Disney movies also shape men’s views as looking at them as objects of pleasure and servants (Sexism). Women are looked at as images of sex.

When men meet princesses, they automatically fall in love with them. Men have no interest in anything else except for the fact that they are beautiful (Chaos). Cinderella is saved from horrible living conditions and gets married to a prince because she is beautiful and no other reason (Disney Princesses). Snow White is believed to have been saved by her beauty and sexuality. She was attempted to be killed because of her beauty that imposed a threat to another woman (Disney Princesses). Sleeping beauty was cursed at birth because of a political position amongst her parents.

She is killed by another woman out of spite and is woken by a kiss because of the attraction of her sexuality (Disney Princesses). Lastly, the Little Mermaid drastically changes her appearance so she can be more attractive to men. Her voice is taken in exchange but it is her sexuality that makes him fall in love with her making her voice useless (Disney Princesses). Stories portray women as weak, submissive, dependable, and self sacrificing while men remain as powerful figures. Women are always beautiful, however they lack power to control their lives unlike men who are handsome and unstoppable (Kuykendal).

Not only are gender stereotypes imposed through women in fairytales but in men as well setting an individual set of standards for them as well (Sexism). In several studies, it was concluded that there was many patterns showing male dominance and female subservience (Kuykendal). Also, in Disney films, it shows how men are defined through primarily physical fitness and appearance (Sexism). Disney movies also show men that have the classic body type for men that is extremely fit and in shape. Only those who are handsome and in shape will get the girl (Sexism).

In many films, the outcast in society is seen as opposites to the manly figures being sensitive, short, and not physically fit as the bodies of the heroes (Sexism). All women in fairytales must be moral and are expected to look beyond appearances to what’s inside. Men are allowed to be shallow, however, all women must rise above this (Chaos). In most films, the climax scenes always focus on a man fighting for power to either win a woman’s heart or for pride in themselves (Sexism). In spite of children’s concerns, feminist caution parents to be careful of what they are exposing their children to.

Fairy tales can be immensely influential on children’s minds and by relaying the wrong message it can be harmful (Kuykendal). Fairytales have developed and changed over time, however the building blocks from the Grimm’s Fairy Tales will always be the classics. Disney has changed and modified things but the originals still remain. The new productions show different views and could be potentially harmful to the youth. The Grimm’s Fairy tales will always be a famous work of classic literature that contains only the real stories of fairytales.

Setting is one of the vital elements of fiction. A work can only be fully approached if it is first based on its setting, which guides the development of the work. For “Pan’s labyrinth”, an outstanding cinema work rich in symbols, details and meaning, it is even more essential for us to take the underlying context into serious consideration The external setting of this work consisted of 3 element: time, place and social environment. In 2006, the movie was filmed in a Scots Pine forest situated in the Guadarrama mountain range, Central Spain by the talented Mexican director Guillermo del Toro.

The idea for Pan’s Labyrinth came from Guillermo del Toro’s notebooks, which he says are filled with “doodles, ideas, drawings and plot bits” which had been kept for twenty years. There are a lot of social factors affecting Del Toro. Firstly, his mind and work are characterised by a strong connection to fairy tales and horror, also he described his political position as “a little too liberal”. Del Toro got the idea of the mythological faun (Pan) from childhood experiences with “lucid dreaming”: after he waked up, a faun would gradually step out from behind the grandfather’s clock.

The faun became a mysterious, semi-suspicious relic who gave both the impression of trustworthiness and many signs that warn someone to never confide in him at all. Moreover, by exploring the figure of the god Pan and the symbol of the labyrinth, he tried to “mix those compelling factors and play with them”. Secondly, “Pan’s Labyrinth” continues a tide of fine movies of Del Toro, illustrating a period after Francisco Franco has come into power. He pointed out that the villains in most of his films are united by the common attribute of authoritarianism.

Most people make the villains ugly and nasty but Del Toro realizes that one of the dangers of fascism is that it’s very attractive. To him, perfection actually lies in fully loving the defect. Killing somebody can be because of he broke a law, or broke an idea: patriotism, liberty, democracy… In short, the idea behind the act is valued more than the act itself. The Internal Setting of “Pan’s labyrinth” is related to the 2 parallel storylines: Ofelia’s fantasy world against the colorless right angles of the fascist world. For the reality – the facist world, it takes place around

May–June 1944, five years after the Spanish Civil War, when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco. The world war II is about to end. The story happens in a mill on the border of Spain. When the war is raging across the world, women are subordinate to men. The Falangists is winning over the rebels and the rebels have to hide in the forest. It is really a time of suspicion and paranoia: rebel supporters are brutally killed. For the fantasy world, it is seen that the story is closely connected to an old and abandoned labyrinth and the Underworld Kingdom existing a long time ago.

Ofelia, the main character, is a young girl who loves fairy tales. She travels with her pregnant mother Carmen to meet Captain Vidal, her new brutal, facism and cold-blood stepfather and father of Carmen’s unborn child. The story is then gradually revealed within the (internal) setting, making viewers immersing completely in appalling scenes with its deep meaning implied. ? A work’s setting has important role as it is the world in which the characters appear, act and expose their emotions. It can be used to evoke a mood or atmosphere that will prepare the reader for what is to come in.

In many cases, setting contributes to the overall meaning of a story or affects the characters. It would be a shortcoming if we analyzed a literature work without interpreting its setting and meaning behind, especially for “Pan’s labyrinth”. In the realistic story, the decisive colors drawing the view of story is old-newspaper yellow and dark grey, which implies the atmosphere of sadness and lurking danger. Not much of Spain outside the mill is referred in the story but the war between political groups here can represent the overall country’s condition.

The influence of military is strong and almost encroaching on the natural order of Spain. However, the fascist seem not to belong to this place. They wear steely blue gray uniform, which is unnatural in the forest, while the rebels wear earthy browns connecting to soul of mountain. The fascists’ headquarters is lying in a small mill, and surrounded by trees and forest, the rebels’ habitat. It states the implication: despite the power of military, the fascists are still the small pocket of dry land in the midst of rising communism, one day they will face to the failure.

To further the point on the mill’s lack of femininity, it is an indication to us audience that this is not right place for Ofelia. The box shape of it exists only for function, efficiency and work and there is no room to growth and discovery. That this place is not for a child reflects the fact fascism does not fit in Spain. In the parallel story, the fantasy world appears in front of audiences with devastated views. It loses the princess Moanna like Spain is seeking freedom. The Labyrinth is the only place that Ofelia can fully realize her imagination. Moreover, it also reflects reality out there.

The structure of Labyrinth is the same as the circulation of destiny. Ofelia comes to the dream world, reunites with the parents, while the rebel defeats the fascist after so much sacrifice, blood and tears. “Pan’s labyrinth” (internal) setting partly reveals a sorrowful and tragic fairytale. As previously mentioned, the story happened when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco, in a mill surrounded by mountain and forest and rainy frequently. The film’s darkness overshadows the light, therefore most viewers can imagine the sorrow from that dreary framework without seeing any minutes of the film.

Unlike in other fairy tales where the writers omit events or elements that are deemed too harsh, in Pan’s labyrinth they do not overestimate the violent conflict between the rebel and German army which is leaded by a brutal person Capital Vidal; or the loneliness of the girl between two world, reality and fantasy. To some extent, both of them can reveal a tragic ending. Besides the internal setting, the external setting also discloses some values of the film but in artistic aspect. The author, Guillermo del Toro, has strong obsession of fairy tale and horror.

That why he can create details, characters especially fairy ones which contain many symbolic values and compel the audiences to thinking a lot. As a consequence, each time we watch the film, we can always find something new. If we ask why a writer chooses to include certain details in a work, then we are likely to make connections that relate the details to some larger purpose, such as the story’s meaning. By analyzing clearly the setting of ”Pan’s Labyrinth”, viewers, as well as critics, can draw lessons from what Del Toro conveyed

Megumi Naomi Nakane, an innocent Child Essay In Joy Kogawa’s Obasan, Naomi is an innocent child who suffers a great deal throughout the novel. The adults of the Nakane family go through a lot of trouble to protect Naomi’s innocence just so Naomi could have a childhood like any other child. However much the adults tried, Naomi still sees the dark side of the world at an early age. Naomi does not understand some things that take place in her life and therefore, she finds toys and stories as a vent to express her emotions.

In this novel, Naomi’s innocence is crucial seeing that throughout the novel she is baffled and unsure about the incidents that occur in her life in addition to that she has to suffer for incidents she does not comprehend. To begin, the elders in Naomi’s family endure a lot of pain at the hands of the Canadian government to shield Naomi as best they can. Everybody in Naomi’s house is looking out for her. As Naomi narrates, “Whatever [uncle] was intending to tell me ‘someday’ has not yet been told” which clarifies that uncle has been keeping something from her to shield her from all the wrongs in the world (Kogawa 3).

Later on in the novel, it is read that similar to everyone in the family uncle has been concealing the fact that Naomi’s mother had been brutally injured from the bombing at Nagasaki and also that following the injuries Naomi’s mother had died after a while. Uncle believes that if he were to tell all the details about Naomi’s mother’s death, then Naomi would be heartbroken. This is because afterwards in the novel, it is discovered that Naomi and her mother had a very close mother and daughter relationship.

Another similar incident is when Obasan remains silent while Naomi asks questions “‘Please tell me about mother’ [Naomi] would say as a child to Obasan… but she gave [Naomi] no answer…” (26). This quotation demonstrates that Obasan did not give Naomi any answers about her mother because Naomi would be grief-stricken upon learning the truth. Naomi’s mother is the one person she felt safe with and if she were to realize that her ultimate protector is no longer alive, she would feel threatened and alone in the world.

It also illustrates that Obasan kept her word as Naomi’s “[mother] had requested that Stephen and [Naomi] be spared the truth” (259). This quotation illustrates Naomi’s mother’s love and guardianship towards her children. Also from this quotation it is understood that Naomi and her mother’s bond is so powerful that her mother being overseas still knows that the truth must be kept from Naomi in order for her to continue living her childhood without trouble. All the adults in the Nakane family were completely determined to keep Naomi’s innocence intact, which made them to keep the truth from her. Stephen and I are unconcerned with such worries and life for us is a quiet and pleasant holiday” this illustrates that Naomi is frequently left in the dark because the adults believe that she is too young to handle the upsetting truth (149). Consequently, Naomi lacks key facts and whenever she tries to comprehend an incident she gets tangled up by her lack of understanding and thus remains an innocent child. To proceed, Naomi as a young child believes in fairy tales and plays with dolls which advocate her feelings when she cannot find a way to express them on her own.

As Naomi states in the novel, “Clearly we are the bear family in this strange house in the middle of the woods. I am the baby bear…” it reveals that Naomi as a child is confused about the issues that upset her family as she tries to understand their problems using characters from stories that she has read (136). It is shown that Naomi channels her own feeling into her toys as she says “…the doll is quite happy and excited about the train trip” (124).

In this excerpt, it is obvious that Naomi is talking about herself rather than the doll. It shows that Naomi is innocent as she does not know the complete truth and believes that she is just going for a ride on the train which excites her. Following that, after getting off the train, Naomi proclaims that her doll is lost as she asks Obasan “where is my doll? ” (128). Since Naomi’s mother gave her that doll, its absence can be associated with the separation she feels between herself and her mother, the ideal defender of her innocence.

It is vivid that Naomi is an innocent child which is exemplified through her thoughts about fairies helping her “I am in a grade two reader full of fairies, sitting in the forest very still and waiting for one fairy… to come flying… and lead me down to the moss-covered door on the forest that opens to the tunnel leading to the place where my mother and father are hiding” (164). This quotation illustrates Naomi’s distress about the disturbing thoughts that come into her mind when she thinks about her parents also, she feels helpless at the hands of other powerful figures like the RCMP in Canada.

Therefore, Naomi as a young child believes that her only hope is a mythical creature like a fairy that might help her locate her parents much like a child who believes in Santa Clause’s existence. Naomi is too young to interpret the reality and the difficulties of her and her family’s lives as they do not affect her much, proving that she is undoubtedly an innocent child. Lastly, Naomi is a helpless child who had to see the different side of the world too soon for her age.

In the novel, Naomi declares that “Again and again the hen’s beak strikes and the chick lies on its side on the floor, its neck twisted back, its wings, outstretched fingers. The hen lifts a scaly leg, the claws collapsing and clutching as it struts around the cage, bayoneting the chicks darting past Naomi’s feet, their wings outspread. ” (63). Naomi’s fate is represented by the chicks as she is a defenseless being, practically powerless against the Canadian government’s attacks on her family. She is a guiltless child being punished by the government for no legitimate reason.

Later on in the Novel, Naomi’s neighbor Old Man Gower who “carries her away, he tells [her] she must not tell [her] mother. ” as she puts it (65). Exhibiting the fact that Naomi is a vulnerable subject of Old Man Gower’s sexual attacks. Also, Naomi was devastated as she could not seek the protection of her mother for she was ashamed of herself and also that Old Man Gower had asked her not to talk about anything to her mother. Therefore, she is an innocent child suffering in her own grief and confusion at a very young age.

Subsequently, the reoccurring nightmare that Naomi has about the “three oriental woman that lay naked in the muddy road… and several soldiers… [Who] appeared to be guarding those women… prisoners …” is crucial to understand the abuse she suffered at the hands of Old Man Gower (66). The women in her dream are defenseless against the armed men reflecting upon her own experience as a victim of her neighbor. In the novel, it is portrayed that Naomi is unprotected and vulnerable when exposed to matters that only adults should be aware of.

All in all, Naomi’s innocence is a significant feature in her childhood as the adults in the Nakane family shield Naomi with their resolute endurance. An examination of the adults’ role in Naomi’s life reveals that they are essential because they try their best to protect her from the unlighted side of the world. After analyzing Naomi’s involvement with her toys or fairy tales it is revealed that she is unclear with the events occurring around her and henceforth turns to her dolls or fairy tales for an explanation or a solution for her questions.

Naomi’s discovery about abuse highlights that Naomi is a young child being exposed to something inappropriate as she has yet to develop a sense of right or wrong in the world. In Joy Kogawa’s Novel, Obasan, Naomi is a naive child who is bewildered and agitated throughout the novel considering that she does not have experience of the life outside the protection of her parents. **** Works Cited Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4P 2Y3: Penguin Group, 1981. Print.

Unit 2 narrative Assignment Kaplan University Pamela Baker HU 300 – 25 Folk tale, fairy tales, and fables have been used for generations and have been passed down from generation to generation to teach children about morals, what’s right and wrong, cultures and believes. The emotional connection to feelings that children develop from them will help them develop a sense of belonging. Folk tales, fairy tales and fables have changed over time depending on how and where they are told but the outcomes are always the same. My favorite fable growing up was Aesop’s the Tortoise and the Hare.

This fable was about a hare that thinks he is faster than anyone else. He is always boosting about how he is so fast that no one can beat him. He is always piking on the tortious about how slow he is. One day the tortious is fed up with the hair and his bragging and tells him that he can be beat. The hair laughs and asks by who you? The tortoise agrees to race the hair. They decide to start the race early the next morning. The tortoise started at a slow and steady pace. Since the tortoise is moving at a slow and steady pace. The hare feels that the tortoise is moving so slow he has time to take a nap even before he starts racing.

When he awakes he sees that the tortoise is only about a third of the way to the finish line. The hare then decides to get something to eat. He eats and eats until he is full. Now with his belly full and the warm sun shining he starts felling very heavy eyed so he decides to take another nap. This time when he awakes he sees that the tortoise has almost made it to the finish line. The hare jumps up and rushes out of the field. The hare runs and runs as fast as he can towards the finish line. He is running so fast he become so tired. He is too tired and cannot make it across the finish line because he is too tired.

The tortoise that has kept going at a slow and steady pace is not tired at all. He is able to crosses the finish line. The moral of this fable is that it is better to pace yourself then to procrastinate and then rush to get it done. You can get more accomplished and accomplished well if you take your time. I also think that another lesson that could be learned is that it is not nice to keep boosting about thing that you are better at than everyone else. It is also not nice to pick o people when they cannot accomplish or perform at the same rate as you.

I do think that the morals that could be learned from fairy tales, folk tales and fables could indeed effect the guiding of an individual’s action. If an individual understands the story being told then they will learn and will think twice about their actions. They will also learn that they should keep other individuals feelings into consideration. The narrative or story telling depend on which culture the story is being told. Communication a lesson though story telling parents, caregivers and educators can create an emotional connection to feelings.

This is a lot different than just giving a child a list of ruses to follow. Children tend to learn and retain better if it something fun. Rather than give them a set of rules. Families have used folk tales, fairy tales and fables to teach children a lesson or morals for many generations. Though the stories have changed over the years and cultures are not the same the meaning of the story is still remained the same. References : Janaro, R. P. , & Altshuler, T. C. (2012). The art of being human: The humanities as a technique for living (Kaplan University 3rd custom ed. ). New York: Pearson Education.

German folk literature undoubtedly is of the nationalistic nature, but not in the negative sense that most people usually associate it with. The Brothers Grimms folk tales have been thought of to have greatly influenced the German nationalistic attitude of which was pertinently shown in the twentieth century. Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Karl Grimm (1786–1859) are German philologists and avid collector of folk tales. They are the brothers who were made famous by the hundreds of children stories they wrote. Their book contains a collection of what probably are still the most famous children’s stories.

The Brothers Grimms started taking an interest in fairy tales in 1803. Since then, both began writing down the tales that have been handed down from generation to generation. Most of these were not German, but are in fact of French origin. The Brothers Grimms went to a large extent to modify these stories and add a German touch to each of them. There were a lot of myths regarding how these stories were collected. Only until a few years back had it been known that these stories were collected from the bourgeoisie, instead of what was believed to be from uneducated German peasants.

The results of these extensive studies on folklore lead to the publication of their book Kinder- und Hausmarchen (English: Children’s and Household Tales) contain the most beloved folktales in the work today. They have been translated to numerous languages – evidence that indeed these stories have interest the world. The first volume of the first edition of the Brothers Grimms collection of Folk tales was published in 1812, which contained 86 stories. The second volume followed in 1814 and contained 70 tales. Much were added and subtracted from the original set of stories in the succeeding editions of the collection.

By the seventh edition, the Grimms’ Fairy Tales totalled 211 tales. Among the most popular of these 211 tales are The Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty and Rumpelstiltskin. It would be impossible to fully analyze each one of these stories as there are so many of them. Contrary to what the names suggest, these folktales are not so much about elves and fairies but more on foolish younger brothers, beautiful ladies, vain queens, mighty kings, wicked stepmothers, and anthropomorphized frogs and mice.

Trickster figures are also rampant in Grimms’ stories, and most often than not, the heroes must trick these tricksters in order to fulfil their fortunes. The first edition of the Brothers Grimms stories received several criticisms. The book was entitled Children’s and Household Tales. However, critics feel that these stories are not suitable for children. The stories contain in-depth scholastic information that was regarded to be too heavy for children. They also had references to such subject matter such as sex and violence.

The Brothers Grimms resolved to change some details of their fairy tales to fit suitability for children. Snow White and Hansel and Gretel used to have wicked mothers in the first edition. In the subsequent editions of the story, it was changed to wicked stepmothers. They also removed proofs of Rapunzel’s betrayal to the prince. She was not made pregnant in the later editions. Also, since these stories were not originally German, a lot of terms had to be changed. A fairy is an enchantress. A prince is a king’s son, while a princess should be a king’s daughter.

Considerable attempts were also made to reconstruct the stories and make it more German. Many of the stories in Grimms’ fairy tales are considered to be coming-of-age stories. Young boys must prove their worth against the strong forces of nature or their domineering siblings. Young girls must leave their parents behind and learn to live with their husbands. The stories show how a lady or a gentleman should behave, with emphasis on decorum, responsibility and respect for superiors. The stories invoke obedience as reverence and love for the king. Great honor and glory is attributed with serving in the military.

Loyalty also played a major part in the plot of the stories, which stress that anything beside a nationalistic spirit is unacceptable. Class separation is also very prominent in the stories. Generally, heroes are of low social status who turned out to be part of the royal family in the end. Heroes are depicted as gentle and compassionate to old women, poor peasants, and even to wounded animals. They are always rewarded with some treasure such as gold and silver, or are provided with a beautiful bride. On the other hand, a foolish character often finds himself a victim of some magic spell.

The Brothers Grimms could not have stressed in their Fairy Tales the importance of the above mentioned values. With the over two hundred fairy tales in their collection, these values repeat themselves in all stories. Regardless if that story is about romantic love, filial love, adventure or heroism. These are the values which constantly show in each of the tales. Obviously, the brothers would want their readers to familiarize and apply these onto their daily lives. It is evident in the fairytales that the Grimms would want to teach about good values such as sympathy, kindness, loyalty and bravery.

They want to educate by illustrating that heroes are richly rewarded while the villains are severely punished. The stories allow them to impart the values that are necessary for a nation to survive. The Germany we now know is different from what Germany was before 1800. It was only a group of people united together by one language, nothing more. With the publication of Grimms’ fairy tales, they combined fairytales that depicted real German culture and unified Germany. In fact, they have done their jobs perfectly well as Germans have a strong sense of nationalism.

The Brothers Grimms, through their fairy tales are strong advocates of nationalism in Germany. However, what sets the Grimms’ fairy tales apart from the rest are the violence involved, especially in punishing the wicked. They contain more violence compared to other folk tales. This probably is the reason why the first edition received so much criticism on the stories as being children’s stories. The Brothers Grimms did not intend their stories solely for the children, however. As philologists, they sincerely hoped that their works can be used as resources in the studies of not only German literature but of German history, as well.

Needless to say, the Brothers Grimms are granted as their collection of fairy tales have indeed made it to the cultural archives of German philology and are being used by scholars worldwide in understanding the German culture and language better. The Brothers Grimms were not only writers but are also active nationalists. They lived in an era when Germany was still a colony of the French, and literature proved to be an outlet for them to do their share to preserve the German heritage. They wrote about princes and princesses, of magic and witches.

But more than just being bedtime stories, these stories stirred the nationalistic character of their readers. They fought using their stories the promotion of a nationalistic Germany. The stories manage to bring back to life a time when knights were bold and the ladies were fair, when good always triumphed over evil, and when bravery and virtuosity were held in the highest esteem. Under Napoleon’s French rule, the Brothers Grimms strived to preserve what was German. That age was the age of Enlightenment. It was an age where traditional things are done in unconventional ways.

France was probably the strongest advocate of the idealogies of Enlightenment at that time. Its ideals launched the infamous French Revolution which affected the whole of Europe. And France brought these Enlightenment ideas with them to Germany. The brothers were two of those who encouraged their fellow Germans to reject the French ideologies, and instead take pride of their own culture. Through what may probably be thought of as cute bedtime stories nowadays, the brothers rallied to their people an intellectual backlash against the Germans which culminated the War of Liberation unifying the whole of Germany against Bismarck’s rule.

This intellectual backlash further presented itself in other areas such as philosophy, science and politics. Other intellectuals resolved to reject the Enlightenment, and instead looked deeper into their culture for inspiration. This movement known as Romanticism spread far beyond Germany. And undoubtedly, our Brothers Grimms made a huge contribution to that development process. People started looking within themselves the attitude and abilities demonstrated in Brothers Grimms characters. People started to place much importance into their own cultural heritage.

They were made aware how important it is for a country to preserve its culture so it can also survive. In a way, whenever Grimms’ heroes fight the wicked spirits, the brothers are also fighting the French colonizers. In an impressive way they participated in motivating the rest of the German people to stand up and fight Napoleon’s rule. It was easy for the French to colonize a Germany that was not unified. Germany at that time don’t recognize themselves as one country. They do not have that sense of pride to be Germans.

More so, they don’t as so much care regarding their cultural wealth. The Brothers Grimms changed that. The Brothers Grimms united the German people with the use of their popular collection of folklores. With the publication of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Germany now has something they can be proud of, something that was exclusively shared by the Germans. All a country needs to unite as one is to have something in common, and that’s what the Brothers Grimms provided. The brothers detailed in their folklores the ideals valued by each German.

When the Germans read about these entertaining stories, they were not only entertained but their German pride has been strengthened and their nationalistic character has been awakened. The fairy tales hide in themselves the secret to overcoming the French dominion on Germany. The past was recaptured in entertaining stories of love and adventures. The brothers discovered that Germany had a charming and magical past. This belief helped keep up their enthusiasm to further write their folklores which eventually have affected and influenced the rest of Germany to instil nationalism into their hearts and minds.

And the brother could not have chosen a better audience – German children. The children who were brought up with Grimms’ Fairy Tales grew to have a great sense of nationalism within them. The Grimms managed to incorporate into the child’s minds what is expected of him as part of the Germany. Like the characters of the fairy tales he used to read, this child grew up to be virtuous, responsible, loyal and a great deal of nationalist pride. With all those characteristics, what more can a country need from its countrymen? The Grimm’s Fairy Tales have widespread influence. W. H.

Austen regarded it as one of the founders of Western Literature. The Nazis patronizes it, especially among the children as it teaches them to be racist, especially in choosing their marriage partners. With this, the Allied Forces banned the stories as it promoted racial instincts. These tales were also referenced by Holocaust writers, i. e. Jane Yolen in her memoirs Briar Rose. It is simply amazing how a collection of children’s stories can have so much influence, not only in the authors’ hometown but to the rest of the world. Even up to this date, reading a Grimms’ Fairy Tale can still stir up the one’s patriotic side.

One can’t help but sympathize with the major character’s plot to fight and defend what is rightfully his. The Brothers Grimms would have been proud to see how their works have affected so much. Nobody can contest the fact how much these cute stories have helped awaken the nationalistic Germans. We are fully aware that Germany is one country who really prided and regarded itself highly. The Brothers Grimms have indeed revolutionized Folk Literature. Folk stories do not only serve as bedtime stories for children but are also believed to inspire nationalists.

Indeed, even a country’s fairy tales are reflective of that country’s ideologies. Brothers Grimms have found a most effective way of promoting the nationalistic attitude. They used entertaining fairy tales – subtle but sink deep in the youngest of hearts. References A. S. Byatt, “Introduction” p. xxx, Maria Tatar, ed. The Annotated Brothers Grimm. Haase, Donald, ed. 1993. The Reception of Grimms’ Fairy Tales: Responses, Reactions, Revisions. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. McGlathery, James, et al. 1988. The Brothers Grimm and Folktale.

Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press. Peppard, Murray. 1971. Paths Through the Forest: A Biography of the Brothers Grimm. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Tatar, Maria. 1987. The Hard Facts of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Tatar, Maria. 2004. The Annotated Brothers Grimm, W. W. Norton & Co. Ward, Donald. “New Misconceptions about Old Folktales” p 98 James M. McGlathery, ed. , The Brothers Grimm and Folktale. Zipes, Jack. 2002. The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World, Palgrave MacMillan.