Essay Title - Can we defend the view that fairytales are simple stories to be enjoyed, without consideration of any supposed secondary meaning?
Comparative Literary Studies
The Tale
Children never question the fairy tales they hear. To them they are little more than beautifully woven stories to dress their dreams with. Yet a fairy tale, like so many other things in life is a subtle and perhaps one of the more beautiful mechanisms by which man has managed to convey life. For what can be more expressive of life than the idea that nothing is ever as it seems.
The beginning of the fairy tale is not known to many people for fairy tales have been retold over and over again that their humble origins are often overlooked. The origin of the fairy tale has in fact, its roots in folklore where stories and tales, where created to depict the daily lifestyle habits of certain societies. The lifestyles and beliefs of certain societies have been depicted in literature for centuries. For man rarely writes without purpose. The enjoyment a child receives from being told a fairy tale is also, perhaps even more so, the same enjoyment a historian or sociologist will receive in uncovering the subtle hints of human behaviourism within different cultures. For where as the common human vices of envy and jealousy arouse in similar waves they differ in context.
Consider the Russian fairy tales of Afanas’ev. Unlike the fairy tales of Charles Perrault and Hans Christian Andersen Afanas’ev tales remain in their original form as told by the Russian people he gathered them from. Such tales are extremely helpful in conveying the social structure within Russia at the times. The tale ‘The Raven and The Lobster’ shows great similarity to the Aesopian fable ‘The Crow and The Fox’. This is a vivid example of how stories are retold over and over, each one changing to suit the context and times it is being told in. Yet Afanas’evs ‘The Raven and The Lobster’ differs considerably from Aesop’s fable. The very structure has changed with the two main protagonists being instead of the crow and the fox, the raven (the raven was a common part of eastern European culture and tradition, as the Norse considered it the mark of the Norse god Ovid) and the Lobster. Other structural differences include traces of the importance of family values thus showing evidence of the fact that within the Russian community family played a big role. Considering the fact that this is a rather short tale, the traces of social ideals and beliefs are not limited. A difference of ideals and beliefs is seen between the Russia and The Greece of Aesop. The value of beauty is replaced by that of wisdom developing the belief that across the different continents there was a change in the hierarchy of values depending on the social structure and lifestyle of a certain civilization. This notion can be further seen and strengthened in another fairy tale of Afanas’evs; the tale of ‘The magic shirt’ for example contains many elements that could paint a pretty vivid picture of life within Russia. The very title places a garment as the main framework of the story thus effectively reporting the importance of clothing to the Russian common citizen. Traces of other common daily habits emerge throughout the tale. Such is the incorporation of Kasha which is today’s parallel to porridge or gruel and the importance of sitting by the pot and ensuring that the food was kept ready and edible. ‘The dragon brought the soldier to his palace and charged him as follows: ‘Sit by this kettle for three years, keep the fire going, and cook my Kasha!’. Exaggeration is a strong part of human story telling and it only helps in stressing how long and boring the job of cooking the kasha was. By the end of the tale the soldier marries the princess yet her betrayal leads him to finally create a happy ending by marrying the humble cook. Such a turn of events leads to the belief that finery and luxury were not an important aspect of Russian culture. Yet what is evident through the reoccurring motif of the theme of food is that where as luxury and finery where of no consequence, food was.
Where as in the Russian culture fairy tales were mainly concerned with the elements of food and the importance in the strength of the family the stories collected by Charles Perrault portray a rather different picture.
Charles Perrault was a French writer who lived during the period of 1628-1703 which was also the period of reign of King Louis XIV. Perrault lived and wrote in a period where the importance of the acquisition of luxuries and fineries consisted much of daily life. Taking this and the fact that his tales where aimed at the French palace court, into consideration it then not surprising that under his pen the somewhat more ‘crude’ tales underwent a somewhat ‘polite’ transformation. One could suppose that it was Perrault’s fairy tales that helped bring forth the idea of the ‘Prince on a white horse’. Perrault’s version of ‘sleeping beauty’ is a good example of this. Perrault had created a story that incorporates the more romantic version of the fairy tale. Such is evident through the including of fairies and magical enchantments. One could even perhaps state that this tale could have been the draft manuscript for the Disney version. Even so subtle hints arise within the tale that lead a closer reading to derive a deeper meaning concerning French society. Where as the saviour of the princess was pursued by many young men, only one was able to finally reach her and he was of a royal status. This could be an indication of the belief that a marriage would only be successful and harmonious if both individuals were of the same social status. It must be stated that within Perrault’s ‘The sleeping beauty in the wood’ there seems to be an overlapping of different tales. The marriage of the princess and prince does not bring about the ending, in fact Perrault goes on to tell the tale of how driven by jealousy the Princes mother tries to murder the children of her son. Elements such as the Queen mother ordering the clerk to kill the children and then being fooled by the clerk is reminiscent of snow white where the queen is fooled into thinking snow white is dead through being presented with a pigs heart instead of that of snow white. This is evidence of how tales where taken and pulled in different directions within different societies. However Perrault’s mixing and editing of these two tales within ‘The sleeping beauty in the wood’ does create a rather weak tale, which begins rather well and then unravels as it proceeds. It would have been perhaps wiser if Perrault had ended ‘The sleeping beauty in the wood’ with the entrance of the Prince and then begun a new story based on that of ‘Snow white’.
Through both Afanas’ev’ fairy tales and Perrault’s fairy tales the reader is able to distinguish the differences that existed between different countries and societies. Russia a vast and poor country, which majority of population consisted of poor peasant farmers, thus it is only natural that the tales within such a context, where mostly concerned with food, clothing and the family. On the other hand Perrault wrote and told his tales to the French royal and as such was mainly concerned with addressing the concerns, tastes and functions of court society. The Russian peasant was more concerned with securing a wife whose main feature was that of being a good cook, the French member of the royal court was concerned with a more romantic view of marriage, hence the main emphasis upon princes and princesses.
Perrault and Afanas’ev weren’t the only writers who recreated folktales. The brothers grim were another set of prominent scholarly writers who created fairy tales such as the famous ‘Snow White’ and ‘Rumplestiltskin’. Although like so many other fairy tales they offer a delightful read, their importance does not end there. On the surface ‘Snow white’ tells the story of a young girl battling the whims of her wicked step-mother, thus effectively conveying the battle between good and evil. Yet there is more than meets the eye. Themes of narcissism and sexual jealousy arise through the evil step-mother. The very word’s ‘mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of us all?’ is a good indicator of this .The Grimm’s convey an element of womankind that has been around since the dawn of mankind. That of sexual envy and jealousy. One cannot say such a theme has been blown out of proportion within the tale, as many are the stories of women committing atrocious crimes in the name of sexual envy. From an early age girls develop a dislike for any potential rivals that may threaten their relationship with a certain individual male.
Within snow white we are presented with an evil step mother whose main fear is that as snow white grows and sexually mature she will then challenge her own position as the more sexually dominant female. Her desire to devour snow whites liver and lungs which consist of the body’s vital organs represents her great envy for snow white’s beauty and her desire to engulf and absorb this beauty. Snow white is a tale that can be taken to many different levels. The feminist analyst will conclude that it is a tale that reveals male envy through the portrayal of the step mother as a witch.
"As for witchcraft, the last bastion of female spiritual power fell when the church declared its all-out war on witches, the name they gave to rural mid-wives, healers, herbalists, counsellors, and village wise women, inheritors of the unravelling cloak of the pre-Christian priestess. A queen who was also a witch would have been a formidable figure, adding political influence to spiritual mana. Snow White's stepmother therefore seems to me a projection of male jealousies. As re-envisioned in this story, she may seem more true to life."
What is evident through Afanas’ev, Perrault and the brothers Grimm is that fairy tales were not originally directed towards children. The fairy tale can be seen as the evolution of ancient story telling whose main aim was that to explain natural occurrences and describe the daily lives of a specific society. The appearance of writers such a Oscar Wilde created a whole different type of fairy tale one that was now concerned with the education of children. Messages became embedded within these tales so to create an impression upon the child and in true Victorian fashion convey a moral message .Oscar Wilde’s ‘Happy Prince’ is such a story. It is a tale whose main focus is that of conveying the importance of heaven. Both the swallow and the prince achieve this through the ultimate example of greater moral status. That of Self-sacrifice. One cannot though by pass the fact that traces of the idea that it was the poor rather than the wealthy that showed characteristics of humanity and goodness. In most Victorian tales the wealthy are portrayed as ignorant and selfish .In the happy prince when God asks his angels to bring him forth the most precious items within the city his angels deliver him the statues broken lead heart and the dead swallow, both of which had been scorned by the mayor and the prominent people of the town. What is really being said here is that above all things in life reigns kindness and love, the only two attributes that will unlock the gates of heaven. "Bring me the two most precious things in the city," said God to one of His Angels; and the Angel brought Him the leaden heart and the dead bird’’
Fairy tales have always been identified with childhood. Perhaps it is only because a child can appreciate wholly and unquestionably the true magic within a fairy tale. Although scorned by most scholarly figures during his time Hans Christian Andersen is a name associated with the art of fairy telling. Like those who scorned him, one could state that Anderson’s tales carry no scholarly substance as most are of his own creation .Take for example, the tale of the ‘Ugly duckling’ this is a tale that belongs to Andersen completely. It derives not from folk tale but derives from his imagination and yet it is one of the more memorable and more enjoyable fairy tales ever created. In ‘Hans Christian Andersen, Fairy Tales’ Tiina Nunnally comments that ‘Andersen’s vision was childlike to the core, as is shown not only by his sympathy with the child’s struggle too survive, believe ,be listened to(Gerda in ‘The snow Queen’, Elsa in ‘The Wild Swans’, the Ugly Duckling) but by is sympathy with plants, toys domestic objects, as living things..’ Andersen’s fairy tales did not lack in substance. Like ‘The Ugly Duckling’ many concerned themselves with injustice and moral justice. They taught lessons, regardless if his tales were considered inferior. Described as ‘Child like’ it is only then justifiable that his tales lacked in any adult underlying content of sexuality or coarseness. Yet who best but to understand and identify with a child than a child itself. Concerned only with scholarly substance, perhaps those, like the brothers Grimm who rejected Andersen, overlooked a very important aspect of Andersen’s works. The aspect of amazing and delighting children. Perhaps that is how a fairy tale should be regarded. Not as heavy in literary substance but as laden in mechanisms used to delight and thrill a child. For what can be more magical than bringing happiness to a child. Part of life does consist of reading between the lines, yet we spend so much time looking for the hidden meanings in life that we overlook the evident yet very simple joys that stare us right in the face each day. Such as joys of understanding that some things are best when left undisputed.
