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