Atwood began the story as the female lead being beautiful, but changed her to being average looking, and changes the stereotypical evil stepmother to an evil stepfather. On the contrary, Perrault follows the basic generic conventions of fairy tales by having the prince marry the beautiful princess and writes the main antagonists as two older women. Perrault uses his story to frame the prince as the hero who saves the sleeping princess and her kingdom, and later saves his family from his evil cannibalistic mother. Perrault’s story has more of a magical aspect than Atwood’s since he includes fairies and curses in his story. Perrault’s story offers an escape from the trials and
Specifically in “Cinderella”, there are three easily identified character archetypes, which include the earth mother, star-crossed lovers, and damsel in distress. Although it is not a human character, the earth mother is recognized as “her mother's grave beneath the hazel-tree” (Hunt). Her mother’s grave is a great example of the earth mother because whenever Cinderella comes in contact or cries to the grave, it grants whatever she is in need of, which is also known as the fairy godmother in the modern version. Cinderella and the prince share a romantic relationship that is not tolerated by anyone because of the difference in their social statuses; therefore, they are seen as star-crossed lovers. When the father says, “she cannot possibly be the bride” and the step-mother says, “oh, no, she is much too dirty, she cannot show herself” it shows how cold-hearted and unaccepting of their love they are (Hunt).
In “Princess Paradox”, Poniewozik distinguishes that there is a different kind of “Cinderella” in today’s world compared to pre 21st century Cinderella. Poniewozik points out that the new characteristics of today’s Cinderella are being: self-determined, independent, not wanting a Prince Charming, and at the same time to be the one that saves Prince Charming. These characteristics are much more different compared to pre 21st century where Cinderella finds true love with a Prince Charming, and is completely dependent on him. The reason why Poniewozik thinks that this new trend of Cinderella isn’t bad for young girls is because those little girls who fantasize about being a princess one day see these new traits and try to imitate them. They see that these new princesses aren’t dependent on anyone, and have also learned lessons of feminism.
Princesses’ in Disney movies are tied down to a recurring theme: the princess that must be saved from the evil woman by the charming prince. A significant contrast to the usually weak and easily persuaded figure of the father. Even though the women are portrayed as weak, nobody stops to think how strong they have to be to carry the responsibility of an entire household on her shoulder, while the men always seem to be traveling or ill. Fairytales are based on a patriarchal way of thinking and as time passes by, it’s proven to be detrimental to society Women and men are constantly being bound to a series of stereotypes.
In a modern approach to Cinderella, Jessica Day George’s Princess of Glass gives fairy tale readers a whole different Cinderella perspective. Poppy, the main protagonist, is a young princess who is shown to be smart, independent, and not your usual royalty. She takes part in a royal exchange program to help unite her kingdom. Over there, she meets Prince Christian, the ‘Prince Charming’ of the story. He is first introduced to the readers as a young man whose parents want him to marry therefore throwing him big parties to meet the girl of his dreams.
The fairytale is full of interesting symbolism like the forest, the birds, the bread etc. Therefore, the main purpose of this essay is to identify and analyze the symbols used by the author. The fairytale revolves around two young siblings who are left out in the forest by their parents who can no longer afford to provide for them due to poverty. The children, being unable to
Every great mythical tale consists of a Hero’s Journey as the backbone of the story. Yet the hero of Ella Enchanted strays far from the norm of most heros. An archetypal protagonist faces an ultimate antagonist or villain, yet Ella from Ella Enchanted battles a conflict within herself. Ella Afrell, born in the quiet town of Frell, qualifies as a normal baby until a fairy godmother comes along. Lucinda the fairy blesses the new born with a curse, despite her naming it a gift.
In “What's Wrong with Cinderella?”, Peggy Orenstein retaliates against the princess culture that bombards her daughter's life. Princesses, it seems, dominate the market for toys to young girls due to their inexplicable appeal to being pretty, pink and - as most girls see - perfect. As a feminist mother, Orenstein feels the need to rebel against this not-so-sudden craze that attracts her daughter's attention. The author assumes that the subliminal messages presented to her daughter's developing mind aren't beneficial to her future expectations in life. Because of this, she critiques the faults of princesshood in order to demonstrate the possible detrimental impacts that the princess culture may have on a young girl.
Lately, there have been a variety of classic fairy tales that have been renovated to appeal to an audience of the twenty-first century on the big screen. However, such revisions occur not only in movies, but in literature as well. Through the use of literary devices, we have the ability to connect classic tales to the modern world. In Edward Field's poem "Icarus", the author employs imagery and extended metaphor to adapt the Icarus myth to a contemporary setting.
“ The girl was lovely but she had dared to raise her eyes to the loved one of the princess and, with all interest of the savage blood trans mitted to her trough long lines of would barbaric ancestors she hated woman who blemished and trebled behind the silent door .The quote from the story shows the princess tried to send him to his death. The jealous princess couldn’t watch the boy open the door of the lady and then run off and marry her. Because the man is her lover and she would rather watch him die than be with someone else. 6
In the chapter “Cinderella and Princess Culture”, Orenstein, a mother and writer for The New York Times, expresses her concerns about companies marketing princess culture to girls. Orenstein starts by giving personal anecdotes, in order to describe her frustration with people calling or labeling her daughter as a princess. Orenstein does this to build ethos with her readers as she demonstrates that she is a mother herself and cares for the future generation of young girls. She then goes on to write about how much corporations are making in sales on princess merchandise.
William Goldman has a talent of teaching life lessons through his work. In The Princess Bride, he teaches and shows the unfairness of love and life. His choice of characters and fairy tale help set the story’s tone. The fairy tale is a whirl wind of adventure keeping the story from any boring parts, since it is known as the abridge version. [The Princess Bride by William Goldman portrays the struggles and reality of love and the fact that life is not fair through comedic relief.]
The Explanation of the Story: “The Thing in the Forest” by A.S. Byatt In A.S. Byatt’s “The Thing in the Forest”, the author uses the elements of a short story to craft a dark, fairy tale. The title of the story, “The Thing in the Forest”, in the sense that it foreshadows the main idea of the story. The audience expects more than just a "thing", as listed in the title. Byatt emphasizes that the main characters are the two-main protagonist who were girls dealing with more than just a “thing” in the forest that affected them for the rest of their lives. this is the use of symbols that expresses a meaning to focus on the story.
Conveying a story about love but not traditional romance, The Princess Bride incorporates a frame tale, which is a technique of putting a story within a story. The frame tale separates the outer frame from the inner frame of the story. The Princess Bride is far more than just a story; its frame tale explicitly portrays the main message of the story: generational love and the love of family. The first indication is revealed with this idea of generational love in the selection of the protagonist. The protagonist, the grandson, is the only character to experience any form of meaningful character change.
The art of storytelling is at the heart of fairy tales. Since the beginning, fairy tales have captivated readers with its magical worlds and enchanted characters. Quintessential to fairy tales are destined happy endings and the clear division between good and evil. The nature of these stories creates distorted perceptions that do not align with reality, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion. This is portrayed in Terry Pratchett’s Witches Abroad, in which Lilith Weatherwax struggles to free herself from the fictitious world she has fabricated.