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The Importance Of Fairytales

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A little boy and a little girl sit, eyes wide, eagerly awaiting the story. 'Once upon a time... ', and they are reeled in. This short phrase is a trigger to our subconscious; for every fairy tale is a mirror reflecting the moral, social and political lessons of our society. Passed down through thousands of years of oral tradition (1), variations arise. Yet beneath the different versions the lessons are the same: both to entertain and condition their audience, fairy tales have maintained their popularity throughout time.

Starting in the 16th century these European, oral tales were transcribed into short stories. Some names that are strongly linked to this genre are those are Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm and Charles …show more content…

When fairy tales were solely oral tales their use was, as Jack Zipes a professor specializing on fairy tales, mentions, 'to communicate knowledge and experience in social context. ' He comments that themes of religion and patriarchy were common in fairy tales, although they tended to be secular (2). When these fairy tales became reading material they were crafted by and for the educated upper class, the aristocrats, the ones who could read (3). Thus, with complex structure and themes they absorbed issues of those in high social …show more content…

Due to the change in audience over time, not only of different classes but also different ages, the plots of the fairy tales have undergone transformations and the lessons absorbed have changed. Beauty and the Beast (most famously scripted by de Villeneuve and Beaumont) is a story of Belle, a beautiful girl who in exchange for her fathers survival offers herself to a beast, who is in fact a prince under a magic spell. This story concludes with the spell being broken by Belle 's love for the beast or her marriage to him depending on the version. I chose this story to explore the different concepts brought out through fairy tales, as not only is it one of the most renowned fairy tales but it also spreads over a range of aspects I want to

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