Week 3: The Definition of a Fairytale

Image result for sleeping beauty grimmFairytales are an ever-evolving story that can be changed through the beliefs of the culture that is writing it and yet it also is timeless in it the way that it tells its story in how systematic it is. The Brothers Grimm are a great example by how they changed the stories that they collected, an example would be with how they changed sleeping beauty from the original version. When they would contaminate stories that they heard and collected, they would add inherently Christian motifs. The first part of the story used the motif of prophecy that the princess was destined to sleep for 100 years at the age of 15 which was proclaimed at her birth by the 13th fairy. They would also add a lot of detail Lüthi said this about how they changed their stories from one iteration to another "A comparison of the Grimm brothers' original notations with the final version of '"Sleeping Beauty"' shows what their poetic imagination and genesis for language they added." (Lüthi 26).

When talking about the differences between saint tales and fairytales Lüthi described on of the most common parts of a fairy tale that when animals or other supernatural things happen the hero is not scared by it but made it fact and show it is real in their world Lüthi says "The wild beast in the forest may frighten the fairy-tale hero, but as soon as it speaks, the anxiety vanishes...The real fairytale hero is not astonished by miracles and magic; he accepts them as if they were a matter of course." (Lüthi 46) Zipes also describes a common part of fairytales and the Grimm fairytales to be specific :

(1) "The departure of the protagonist to explore the great wide world."
(2) "Several encounters (generally three) in which the protagonist helps needy creatures or obtains gifts from strange but helpful people."
(3) "An encounter with a powerful person or ogre who threatens to deprive the protagonist of obtaining success and happiness."
(4) "The demonstration by the protagonist that he or she is resourceful by using gifts obtained or calling upon needy creatures that he or she had once helped."
(5) "The reward in the form of wealth or a perfect union with someone else." (Zipes 46)

Sources :

Lüthi Max. Once upon a Time on the Nature of Fairy Tales. Indiana University Press, 1976.

Zipes, Jack. The Brothers Grimm. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2002.

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