ipl-logo

Essay On Gender Roles In Fairy Tales

1076 Words5 Pages

The Helpless, the Hero and the Villain: A Narrative Look at Gender Roles In fairy tales, often specifically from the earlier, patriarchal societies of the pre-1900s, there are explicit gender roles that are followed. The girls are seen as hopeless, naïve, and sometimes stupid, whereas the males are seen as heroic figures to assist the girls. While Charles Perrault’s “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” and Brothers Grimm’s “Little Red Cap” are no different, they exemplify these roles as they fit into three specific characters in their tales: the helpless, the hero, and the villain. The helpless shows the constraints that are placed on women in both fairy tales and in real life, the hero shows the male privilege exemplified in these patriarchal times, and the villain is a role that can be filled by either gender, but still happens to show the privilege men get even when placed in these roles. – insert link – The role of the helpless is almost always filled by a girl. She is naïve and does not know how to keep herself from giving into temptation. In Perrault’s tale, this is seen from the very beginning as she is doomed by both the aged fairy and the last young fairy: “The princess will indeed prick her hand with a spindle. […] At the end of that time a king's son shall come to awaken her,” (Perrault). She is immediately sentenced to give in to the temptation of the “spinning wheel” (a phallic symbol), which she eventually does due to her lacking in ability to …show more content…

With the way men and women are presented in the roles of the helpless, hero and the villain, the privilege of the male roles is highlighted. Girls stay as helpless objects in these stories, meant to serve their only purpose as lessons for other real-life girls who are also all naïve, helpless and cannot save themselves from giving into temptation, but must be saved by the men of the

Show More
Related

  • The Roles Of Women In The Knight's Tale

    164 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “The Knight 's Tale” I am wondering whether the sign that Diana made towards Emily on page 66 is meant to show the roles how women are an afterthought in society at this time or did it symbolize how the church puts the feelings of the knights first and fails to recognize the feelings of the women. In “The Knight 's Tale” I am wondering whether the reason that the stadium is decorated with gods and religious idols (54) to show that knights fight in the name of religion or that religion is just an excuse to solve their problems with an aggressive nature. In “The Knight 's Tale” I am wondering whether the reason that Arcite and Palamon are able to obtain such a large army willing to fight to the death (59) is to show the great powers of

    Read More

  • Women In Yvain And The Magic Ring

    1456 Words  | 6 Pages

    Many of the women in these stories are portrayed as strong, independent women who, in many cases, are the hero themselves. Women in Chrétien and La Motte-Fouqué’s stories are given strong roles in order to highlight and emphasize the important virtues of peace, bravery, and power which ultimately transfers the role of the hero from men to women. In order to understand why the women in Yvain and The Magic Ring are considered to be the true heroes, the definition of a true hero must first be fully defined. Many will describe a hero as a character who performs deeds to remove people from danger.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Thousand And One Nights

    642 Words  | 3 Pages

    Still in torment from the fear of her husband’s death, men stay in her home to persuade her to join them in matrimony. She, as a woman in the time and place of the story, holds little sway or say in the matter of this event. Without a man dominating the house, chaos follows even with her appearance with the company. Desperate for her thought-to-be-dead husband’s return, the women of no power and no choice, as all women of the story are seen (powerless and weak), lets the overrunning of her home

    Read More

  • How Is Grendel Portrayed In Beowulf

    961 Words  | 4 Pages

    Most women during the early middle ages were not treated properly. They were treated as housekeepers ready to serve every single one of their husband’s needs. According to society women who were not submissive to their husband where all evil. These ideas influenced many of the stories written during the early middle ages; stories such as, Beowulf, Marie de France’s Lanval, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wife of Bath. In all of these stories women were given a negative image because of the standards set for women by society.

    Read More

  • The Uses Of Enchantment By Bruno Bettelheim Summary

    948 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fairy tales are a big part of our childhood, they are the first window to real life. In the excerpt “The Uses of Enchantment” by Bruno Bettelheim, he points out all the benefits fairy tales posses and their significance to our development. He argues that classical fairy tales in contrast to modern stories have more of the “existential anxieties and dilemmas” of life kids need to familiarize in order to have the ability to understand and have a “satisfying independent” life. Undoubtedly, modern fairy tales sanitize every unpleasant aspect and leave the stories as a complete fantasy taking out any realistic aspiration. Consequently, I agree with Bettelheim due to the fact that modern versions of fairy tales leave kids thinking life is an easy

    Read More

  • Fairy Tale Vs. Perrault's The Sleeping Beauty In The Wood

    1025 Words  | 5 Pages

    The reader’s understanding of the fairy tale genre changes when reading this story and reading Atwood’s. Perrault follows all of the generic conventions of a fairy tale while Atwood challenges them. The reader would have a new perspective on Perrault’s story after reading Atwood’s because it allows them to recall how all fairy tales are very similar and stick to their generic conventions. This allows people to think about the way society sees women as homemakers and men as breadwinners,

    Read More

  • Comparing Poniewozik's Cinderella And Princess Culture

    1213 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Cinderella tale has been at the heart of many stories for generations. People have become very familiar with the storyline, as it is very prevalent in society today through many moderns movies and stories. The Cinderella story is adored by young children, more specifically by young girls. However as a more feminist culture has emerged, society’s viewpoint of fairytales is becoming increasingly negative. In, “The Princess Paradox” and “Cinderella and Princess Culture”, authors James Poniewozik and Peggy Orenstein further evaluate themes found in the Cinderella stories.

    Read More

  • Comparing Susan Glaspell's Trifles And The Yellow Wallpaper

    1166 Words  | 5 Pages

    Common themes in these stories address the dominance of men towards women which affects the physical and emotional well-being of the female characters. The authors use symbolism, similes, metaphors and dramatic irony to exemplify patriarchal dominance and its suppressive treatment of women. In the early 1900s, patriarchal dominance reigned while women's roles were confined to raising children and taking care of their households and husbands. Men

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Princess And The Frog

    597 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movie “The Princess and the Frog” is not your typical “boy saves girl” movie. Instead, this Disney movie presents us with a strong female lead who doesn’t need a man to achieve her goals. In many previous Disney movies, it is demonstrated that a girl needs a man in order to get her happily ever after. Without a prince, she is nothing. In “The Princess and the Frog” the gender roles are presented to us as equal, even reverse at times.

    Read More

  • Perrault's Fairy Tales

    1789 Words  | 8 Pages

    Perrault’s Fairy Tales Introduction: Once upon a time, not so long ago, I was a small child eagerly exploring everything that the world had to offer. Through my expenditures and the influence of my parents, I watched many different Disney films that would be considered fairy tales. As a child, I did not think about this.

    Read More

  • Paper Bag Princess Stereotypes

    494 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Little Red Riding Hood In Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber

    975 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the oral tradition there is Little Red Riding Hood, who single-handedly is able to escape from the clutches of the wolf by her own cunning and wit (she tells the wolf that she has to go outside the house to defecate and then escapes). Here we also see eschatological references. The story of Perrault is considered a cautionary tale, considering that the little girl does not have the same fate and is eaten by the wolf as her grandmother. This version emphasizes the care girls must have not to fall into the clutches of a man-wolf, or how they should keep pureness and chastity without departing from the correct cultural and moral "path" predominating at that time (a metaphor for the route that follows the little girl to reach her grandmother). Later, the Grimm brothers introduced the male saviour figure -the

    Read More

  • Female Empowerment In The Film 'Maleficent'

    1999 Words  | 8 Pages

    A film may be considered as a commercial enterprise whose business is the selling of entertainment. However, certainly it offers more than that, it tells a story, a reflection of the way a society works and how its people function in relation to ideology and culture which are constantly developing and changing. Given that, Maleficent is one of the movies which show this shifting trend, it moves from an unrealistic plot of women waiting to be saved by a man to an era of portraying women as heroes. The film suggests the idea of female empowerment, in a general viewpoint; the female characters may be able to overcome obstacles and solve problems on their own. Nonetheless, this essay will discuss if that is in reality the case, what lies behind the idea and whether or not there is anything more complex than what may be seen.

    Read More

  • Marxism In The Little Mermaid

    881 Words  | 4 Pages

    Numerous schools of criticisms have attempted to find the meaning behind most of our favorite childhood stories. From Marxist who pursue the idea of social classes portrayed in literary works, to Psychoanalysts who depict the sexual tensions and desires that are subconsciously embedded behind characters’ motives and actions, to Historicists who try to show the preservation of tradition in stories, many different concepts exist for each fairy tale. The Feminist school of criticism greatly focuses on unveiling the patriarchal system and sexist roles that are displayed in stories, and more specifically, fairytales. Four versions of the well-known fairytale of The Little Mermaid will be compared and discussed while focusing on many distinctive

    Read More

  • Role Of Women In Literature

    1495 Words  | 6 Pages

    The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.

    Read More

More about Essay On Gender Roles In Fairy Tales

Open Document