Madness # 9
In general
my journey through fairy tales and fairy tale land continues with a better
understanding of what to actually look for within a tale. My thought process when reading a fairy tale
has changed considerably since beginning English 575. Although as a reader I still look for the
common elements of fairy tales, like beginning with once upon a time, make
believe, good characters going against evil characters, royalty, happy endings,
and even a moral near the end. However, now much more time must be spent
looking for twists and turns and reading between the lines.
As a reader
of fairy tales, I can no longer just think about the tale being written for
“children.” Now, I pay closer attention
to look for bigger, more adult themes and innuendos. Although many of the basic motifs still exist
in most fairy tales, the trend seems to be to create opportunities for a reader
to branch to a far side, a really darker side, and when children are mature
enough, they can read along, too.
Although
this may sound a bit off base, I am now convinced that a fairy tale should be
taught and read like a mystery, as if a detective trying to solve a crime,
proving that at age sixty-six, one may still be challenged to do something in a
different way.
Week Seven
Discussion continued to have readers look at varying opinions about multiple
versions of the same fairy tale. Titles
and words change slightly, but the thought and main ideas of the tales may or
may not stay the same, forcing the reader to pay close attention to details.
Week Seven
Discussion
In “Sex and
Violence: The Hard Core of Fairy Tales,” by Maria Tatar, she chooses to analyze
why the Grimm Brothers may have chosen to increase the violence and actually
decrease the sexual content in certain tales such as in their version of Puss-in-Boots. Since many fairy tales already contain
violence, all Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm had to do was to merely add a few more
precise details. Tatar indicates that
the brothers took away sections that included premarital sex and pregnancy
before marriage, which makes readers either think the Brothers Grimm had
opposition to the topic or that they omitted this topic thinking more readers
would be satisfied.
A twofold
purpose exists for the change in the certain writings for the Grimm Brothers. The topic of premarital sex was not
considered by the Grimms to be an appropriate topic for children to read, and
because of the brothers own need of money, they chose to enhance the violence
part in their tales, an avenue adults seemed interested in reading.
Tatar seems
to further suggest that when Jacob and Wilhelm added morals and allowed the
characters to make judgments from their own beliefs, the appeal of reading
their works, such as Puss in Boots greatly
increased. Tatar does admit to a
struggle when trying to classify the collections of the Grimm Brothers, unable
to easily separate them into oral tales, folk tales, literary fairy tales,
etc. To add to the classification
difficulty was also the varied settings ranging from natural to supernatural. She eventually admitted that the Brothers
Grimm fairy tales invite, and even indeed demand interpretation” (Tatar 38).
Having read
earlier that even Walt Disney had disguised and eliminated sex from some of his
tales goes hand-in-hand with the Grimm Brothers choosing to do the same. No one should be able to say that the Grimms’
versions of certain tales were not violent, even though as American readers,
many of us are still somewhat surprised by the graphic details. For whatever reason, the Grimms were bothered
by conditions such as pregnancy, but readers may still be taken back by the
fact that maximizing their book sales was important enough to cause certain additions
and deletions from the work.
In Angela
Carter’s version of Puss-in-Boots, “happiness is compared to that of pigs,” as
Carter politely puts it (83) showing yet another method (through an unlikely
comparison) by which an author chooses to draw interest from a reader. In her version she seems to complicate
matters with morality, making determining if she is trying to move the tale
back to its original form a difficult decision.
Carter’s version of Puss-in-Boots
distinctly comes from Perrault’s version, although she “spliced and spiced with
opera and pantomime and commedia dellárte motifs to create a far more
exuberant, amorous and freewheeling tale” (Warner). Even though Carter tries to keep the original
story line, she seems to have to write a more liberal, unobstructed approach,
creating difficulty in keeping the total integrity of the original form.
The debate,
no doubt, will continue as to whether Puss-in-Boots
should be considered as children’s literature, as well as many other fairy
tales written by a variety of old and modern writers. Movie reviews of Puss-in-Boots, a spinoff of the popular Shrek, were mostly
questionable as to whether this movie was suitable for children due to the
included cartoon violence, mild innuendos, one character’s death, extensive
drinking and parties, and a couple of double meaning jokes.
With enhanced animation, these types of movies are often geared for
children; however, common sense and discretion by parents may still be necessary
before allowing children to view.
As for the
thoughts of Bruno Bettelheim in Struggle
for Meaning, concern arises as to what reading experiences children
actually need. This article suggests
that much of the readings of children are shallow (269). The article also indicates that a story must
hold the attention of the child, and I tend to agree. The author suggests that children must be
allowed an opportunity to not only understand himself or herself, but must also
be allowed to make sense out of life’s happenings, allowing them to learn how
to cope with the outcome (270). Because
Bettleheim thinks folk fairy tales are the most satisfying of all children’s
stories, I believe he justifies that children are far smarter than they are
given credit, and therefore, should be encouraged to read fairy tales (271).
Bibliography
Bettleheim,
Bruno. "The Struggle for Meaning."latech.edu. moodle.
Brothers
Grimm. The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company 1999.
Carter,
Angela. The Bloody Chamber. Penguin. 1993.
Tatar,
Maria. "Sex and Violence: The Hard Core of Fairy Tales."The Classic Fairy Tales, 2nd.
ed.,
W.W. Norton and Company, 2017, pp.
446-456.
Tatar,
Maria, editor. "The Poor Miller's
Boy and the Cat."The Annotated
Brothers Grimm. New
York: W.W. Norton & Company,
2017, pp. 346-353.
Warner,
Marina on why Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber Still bites.
Fairy Tale
Revision
Debbie Guidry
Dr. Rufleth
English 575
28 April 2017
Little Big Red Boy
Little
Big Red Boy was off with a spring in his step to see his ailing grandfather who
lived fifteen blocks away (on the other side of the tracks) in the city of
Philadelphia. He was bearing gifts for
his grandfather, two Sports Illustrated magazines,
including the swimsuit edition, two large cigars, one large Philly cheese steak
po’boy, and a six pack of his favorite brew.
At about block eight, Little Big Red Boy was approached by a
gorgeous “chick” who seemed to magically appear from the darkened alley on the
left. With her hand placed strategically
on her curvy hip, she came straight for him.
She simply said, “Where are you headed, Big Guy?” After retrieving his chin from the pavement,
Little Big Red thought that there was surely some mistake, as he stood a mere
5’3” if he stretched his neck. Little
Big Red finally was able to blurt out that he was on his way to see his sick
grandfather. He quickly identified his
destination as 1506 Madison Place, seven blocks due north. The girl hinted that Little Big Red should
stop by to see her at this exact spot on his return trip. Although the boy thought that odd, he nodded,
as if to say yes, and proceeded to his grandfather’s house.
The boy continued on his way not knowing that the beautiful
woman knew of a short cut to 1506 Madison Place. As LBRB continued his journey, he reached for
his cell phone and made a quick call.
Soon he arrived at his grandfather’s house anxious to give him the
gifts. LBRB did not bother to knock and
just flung open to the door, just in time to see that same beautiful woman he
had seen earlier. She was in the process
of taking advantage of his grandfather.
She abruptly turned to tell LBRB that he was next.
In an instant, almost without warning, sirens could be heard as an entire police vice squad stormed into the house, where the young woman was quickly apprehended, cuffed, and drug to a nearby police vehicle. Apparently, she had been terrorizing the elderly in area for some time and had been taking advantage of them in all sorts of ways, many of which that had included violence. Thanks to Little Big Red Boy who had an uncomfortable feeling about the woman he had met on the way to see his grandfather, he called 911 who swiftly came to the rescue.
Moral of the story
Always carry a fully
charged cell phone
Call 911 when danger
is sensed
