Adrienne Singleton

ENG170

Sara Vinciguerra

3/27/2023 prompt1

Lessons learned from fairytales

There is a reason why some compare folklore to the bible. While we are taught basic human skills such as math and science, it is for the sake of our human nature that we learn from tales meant to form our way of perceiving the world by giving us the imagination to romanticize it. These teach us lessons on the cruel consequences of reality while giving vivid descriptions of examples of characters struggling between good and evil. Even though they are fiction, fairytales give us stories to relate to our lives.

The beauty of folktale is that it is like playing a game of “Grapevine.” The instructions for this game include gathering a group of people and spreading a myth. As it spreads through different ears and regions of the world, the story changes due to misinformation or is retold through contrasting perspectives. One person whispers a story into another ear (a story teaching a lesson is passed through generations of people and spreads throughout the world). This story, as it spreads, is constantly being changed as it passes through ears due to misinformation or because they misheard or decided to change it themselves. Multiple versions exist as different people and cultures share a folktale over time. These fairytales are constantly being changed to adjust the perspective of the storyteller or to adjust to the audience and social values of their circumstance. 

It is known that fairytales are told to explain human nature and different perspectives. “Since ancient times, humans have sought explanations for the mysteries of nature’s beauty and variety,” As told in the first sentence of “Pourquoi Tales on the Literacy Stage” The names of individuals who wrote this are Karen K. Foster, Deb Theiss, and Dawna Lisa Buchanan-Butterfield in “The Reading Teacher.” This is because it is human nature to be curious. Fairytales are told to create an image while entertaining us with the thoughts of others. They give us a break from reality while we learn of the complexities of the minds of others, widening our imagination while opening our eyes to the good and evils of humanity. 

The way the same stories are told through other perspectives is essential because this is how the storyteller likes to view their world. They are expressing their views or sharing their knowledge through storytelling, so it is essential to pay attention to detail. These tales are meant to help you grow as people and teach lessons while making them more relatable to draw the attention of a larger crowd. These stories are typically told by an average person to another just like them, entertain or teach. There is a lesson to learn from each tale that anyone can relate to, which can bring great comfort to those reading. No matter where you live in the world, there will always be similarities between people, and this is expressed through the art of storytelling. They shine a light on reality while hiding behind fiction and can be taught to anyone anywhere.

The Grimm’s fairytales shine a light on the imperfections of men by showing that there are no innocent characters and that anyone is capable of cruel behavior. These lessons help us be aware of this; teaching us to be cautious is essential for survival, especially while socializing with people we do not know. An example is the Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. There are many different versions of this story, but as Angela J. Reynolds said on page 20 of “The Better To See You WithPeering into the Story of Little Red Riding Hood, 1695–1939”, “All versions have this element in common…” referring to the story and how every version, despite their differences, all follow the same plot “… But there is more variation in the imagery” Instead of a predatory man harassing the innocent little girl, they romanticize the story by creating the villain into a comical “Big Bad Wolf” to spare the younger audience. Writers retelling a story tend to use the plot to create their own story within the story, using their added details to show their way of understanding the lesson to be learned.

This tale is meant to teach children to be cautious of strangers and teaches a lesson on the dangers of interacting with them. Even though the characters are fictional, some of the actions portrayed in these stories are not too far of a stretch when referring to the lengths some people will go to when they feel scared, disrespected, or curious. It would be best for children to stick to Disney’s versions until they mature enough to spare their mentality, but I firmly believe that the Grimms versions should be taught to everyone eventually. Even though quite graphic, the most character development you will notice after studying folklore will be your own. While showing the Grimm Brothers’ stories to young children might traumatize them, teaching them to an older audience would help open their eyes to the cruel reality of the world’s dangers. As some study the bible, some should study folklore. I do not mean worship Cinderella but let its stories affect your world perception. 

Cinderella emphasizes the phrase “kill them with kindness” as she always remains polite throughout the torture she endures, and in the end, karma gets to her oppressors. We see this general idea across every version of the Cinderella story, as do the differences in every version. “As scholars, whatever our disciplinary home is, we ought not only to enjoy the diversity and richness of the many Cinderellas but also accept the responsibility to put the historical and current multiplicity of fairy tales at play in our discussions.” (Hennard, Dutheil de la Rochère, Martine. Cinderella across Cultures: New Directions and Interdisciplinary Perspectives). The Cinderella story, in general, teaches us that you may see yourself in tattered rags from fighting your wars, but with effort, those rags could be turned into the richest of silks. Cinderella remained kind, gentle, faithful, forgiving, peaceful, and loving despite the extreme abuse she endured. She is an example of a woman who did not allow her circumstances to overcome her, but rather, she believed that the situations she faced would come to pass as they eventually did. She sings, “A dream is a wish your heart makes,” reminding us of the importance of dreaming and why it is important not to let your struggles keep you from achieving your goals.

The sadder side of happily ending fairytales such as “Cinderella” is the obstacles the main character usually needs to face to achieve their goal or “happy ending.” Reading these stories or watching these movies can be triggering to some, and, for others, might blow over their head completely. The abuse Cinderella endured after her father passed away is enough to cause her to break down completely; the fact that she stayed her sweet, charming self through it all makes her a notable role model for anyone who can relate and desires success. Punishments in society are highly debated due to the harshness some might see fit and others might view as cruel. Whether or not Cinderella’s stepsisters deserved to have their eyes pecked to the point of blindness by her birds happens to be on two ends of one morality scale. Some may say that even though they put Ella through hell, named her Cinderella to taunt her for the amount of cleaning they forced on her and the dirt she ended up covered in, and tortured her throughout their entire relationship, that blindness was not deserved. The article written by Robinson G.J. called “The Cinderella Complex” explains the relationship between punishment and society and how it relates to the tale of Cinderella and all other folklore. 

The article recognizes Cinderella as “a key actor in the stories we tell about penal change, pushing her out of the shadows of punishment and society scholarship.” Millions of lives worldwide have been affected by punishments such as imprisonment, and they can relate to Cinderella on some level. Cinderella was trapped in a house where she once was happy and free, then was forced into a maid by the family that robbed her of her life and freedom. The feeling of imprisonment affects the mentality of the imprisoned, and this is known as the “Cinderella complex,” but no matter what she endured, she did so with grace and a smile, which worked in her favor in the end. We learn from Cinderella in every version of her tale that a positive attitude can get you through anything.

Other fairy tales mentioning imprisonment included the tale of Rapunzel. In the Disney version, Mother Gothel locks the lost princess in her tower, forbidding her from entering the outside world. Her life changes when the felon “Flinn Rider” climbs into her tower to avoid conflict with the royal guards and stumbles across the beautiful Repunzle with her long golden magical hair. He shows her the outside world, and once she learns of what she has been missing out on the outside of her tower for the last 18 years, she grows to represent the mother she once loved after realizing what she has kept her from. We learn from Repunzle how important it is to step outside your comfort zone to fully enjoy your life and how cutting off toxic relationships is for the better. No matter how much she loved her mother, she was not hers, and all the lies she had been told held her from realizing that and reaching her full potential. No matter how terrifying it was for her to step outside, once she did, she never wanted to go back to the way things once were. 

This essay argues that the critical lessons taught by fairytales could be viewed as relevant to our lives in a way that the bible is meant to teach us the difference between good and evil. While we learn basic skills such as math and science, fairytales help us imagine the negatives and positives of the world in a more romantic way to teach us about the consequences of our actions. As these tales are passed down through different cultures and storytellers, they are adapted to suit the needs of whom the lessons are meant for a while, reflecting on the changing cultural values. Overall, fairytales provide valuable insights into human nature and help us to understand the unexplained in a glamorized way. 

 

Work cited:

 

  Robinson, Gwen. “The Cinderella Complex: Punishment, Society and Community Sanctions.” Punishment & Society, vol. 18, no. 1, 2016, pp. 95–112

 

  Foster, Karen K., et al. “Pourquoi Tales on the Literacy Stage.” The Reading Teacher, vol. 61, no. 8, 2008, pp. 663–67

 

  Reynolds, Angela J. “The Better to See You With: Peering into the Story of Little Red Riding Hood, 1695–1939.” Children & Libraries, vol. 16, no. 1, 2018, pp. 14–20, 

 

  Dutheil de la Rochère, Martine Hennard, et al. Cinderella Across Cultures : New Directions and Interdisciplinary Perspectives / Edited by Martine Hennard Dutheil de La Rochère, Gillian Lathey, and Monika Woźniak. Edited by Martine Hennard Dutheil de la Rochère et al., Wayne State University Press, 2016.