Madess # 9

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, 2^nd. 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