|
|
|
|
Fairy Tales Explored
Fairy tales almost always begin their lives as folklore and usually will contain enchanting stories of fairies, elves, and goblins. These stories almost always have a happy ending and a theme which includes royalty and enchantment. Many cultures use demons and witches to explain difficult events such as famine and illness. Fairy tales often stem from the beliefs of these cultures, where both the teller and the listener believe them to be true. Many fairy tales do not actually include a fairy but instead have characters such as talking animals, witches, brave heroes, and maidens in distress. While these tales were originally geared toward the entertainment of adults they became associated with childrens literature in the nineteenth century. These stories came from an oral tradition and were passed down from generation to generation without ever being written down. There are those who believe that many of the fairy tales began as a way to share news from towns and villages far away. If they are right, then many fairy tales do indeed carry some truth. Story line such as those found in both Snow White and Cinderella, were an evil stepmother worked to protect her own childrens inheritance were not unheard of at the time many of these stories originated. We do not, however, have historical evidence linking these story tales to a particular person or event. To make fairy tales more appropriate for children they have been altered over the years. Common changes include a happy ending, a villain who always pays for their crime, and a reduction in violence. A survey conducted in 2004 of 1,200 children found that the most popular fairy tales were: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Hanzel and Gretel, the Little Red Riding Hood, Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
|
Home page
What you need to know about copyrights
|
