Fairytales’, being around for several generations, have evolved through time and caught the attention of many folklorists, and demands an explanation of how feminism plays an essential role in today 's culture. Folklorist and author, James Poniewozik wrote, “The Princess Paradox” to raise an attempt to explain the “girls-kick-ass culture” (323). Peggy Orenstein published, “Cinderella and the Princess Culture” to examine and identify the belief of feminism within fairytales. Even though two different authors studied and evaluated the same topic, being feminism in fairytales, their approaches and conclusions on the topic tend to differentiate slightly, but also come to an agreeance in other areas.…
The Roles and Values of Women Can you imagine being a woman in a society that was not valued for the tasks she completed or her role in society? Imagine men in society being looked as more valued individuals. In the translation of the epic poem Beowulf, by Seamus Heaney, women are objectified by men and only valued if they were good servants to men during the Anglo-Saxon time period, this lifestyle shows the cultural norms of valuing servitude, obedience, and acquiescence. Women are looked at as inferior to men and are used as servants to preform scandalous tasks in order to please men. In Beowulf, an epic hero is greatly honored and preforms many dangerous tasks while other men have failed.…
Not only do male protagonists vastly outnumber females in most narratives, but also gender-stereotyped portrayals dominate. By giving a female a protagonist/ dominate role, it attracts more audiences that involve…
Since the beginning of human society, woman have always been considered a subordinate sex, as men have been associated with the upper hand of power in a household. Even today, after decades of for equal rights, many women still play and are viewed as this stereotypical role, and as a result woman have relentlessly attempted to strive away from it. In innumerable medieval texts, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Lay of the Werewolf, the prestigious women withhold their power in order to disguise the ultimate potential their power has. The Middle English texts, Sir Gawain and the Green Night and The Lay of the Werewolf display the vindictive persona woman possess as they attempt to defy the image society has set.…
Responding to the Critic’s idea: Young girls tend to imagine and dream of being whisked away by a charming and wealthy prince because of fairytales like Cinderella that show and encourage it. I agree with Jack Zipes’ analysis on the decisions that women in fairy tales make. This supports the fairytale Cinderella and the decision that Cinderella made. Jack Zipes says that “comic endings call upon young females to value communal stability over individual needs.” meaning that the women in fairy tales made the decision to chose communal stability which is marrying a wealthy and handsome prince instead of individual needs, which is being an independent woman who looks after herself, provides her herself and creates her own wealth instead of…
In the Grimm’s briar rose, the princess had to wait for 100 years for a strong princes to come to her rescue (Jacob and Wilhelm), whereas, maleficent proved that women do not have to depend on men for liberation. Also, in maleficent, Stephen deceived maleficent it a kiss, she slept next to him because she trusted him, but in return, he took her main source of power for his selfish interest. This reveal how men take advantage of women and give no regard or whatsoever to women. Lastly, in the past, even till now, people describe women as men’s property. In the Grimm’s briar rose, the prince got married to the prince because he save her.…
Women played a huge role in both the Gawain and Arthur stories by making the stories have an interesting plot twist. In most of the stories, women were very sneaky, and tricked many men into doing many things or betrayed them. Women can be related to characters from the Bible. Sometimes women in the stories could be helpful, but many just wanted to seek revenge. Some women may have seemed nice towards the beginning of the stories, but all of them betray or seek revenge on men in many of the stories.…
If a man failed to do this he was considered feminine. There are many examples in literature that discuss what happens when a male could not successfully fulfill his role or uphold his economic standing. This was seen in both The Luck of Roaring Camp and…
Some may assume that women get taken advantage of in history instead of literature, but women have always been the “lesser” gender when it comes to actions and qualities. Many actions have always been known as a ‘man’s job’, such as when it comes to fighting, defending, etc. Women are still seen as second to the male figures in today’s world. In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel’s Mother and Welthow convey how in this time period gender roles of women are depicted by men due to the women acting as servants/caregivers, displaying weakness, and portraying kind-hearted qualities. Grendel’s mother and Welthow both exhibit feminine qualities while still remaining very different.…
The Miller’s Tale” by Chaucer, centres around one female and three men. Chaucer skilfully uses the limited number of characters to represent more than just two simple genders. By linking to feminist literature, critics spot a clear pattern within these texts of a woman’s struggle for equality and acceptance as a human being, before becoming a victim of gender stereotypes , similarly to Alisoun. However, in contrast, we can debate that the male characters within this prose experience gender stereotypes also.…
Literature written during the Anglo Saxon period focuses on the importance of male roles and their ability to shape the outcome of a nation. Many of the Anglo Saxon texts depict women in very traditional social roles reflecting their given status quo, whereas men are depicted as heroes, Lords, Knights, and kings. Men are stereotypically known to influence both leadership and political power in society. As a result, Anglo Saxon literature was written from the male perspective, it focuses largely on the masculinity of patriarchal society and exemplifying how women are often overlooked and their experiences considered trivial. After a close reading of Beowulf, it is clear that women compose a significant portion of this narrative.…
“ You don’t really need someone to complete you. You only need someone to accept you completely.” (Disney Rapunzel). “Rapunzel” is a folktale first recorded by Jacob and Wilhelm. The Grimm Brothers wrote the story Children and Household Tales.…
Everyone knows the famous story of Cinderella. In 1950, Disney produced the animation of this story, and it became the most famous version of the story (Corliss 54). Just like any other artworks, the animation Cinderella sends hidden messages throughout the story. The messages perpetuate the gender roles and stereotypes. One way to analyze the gender roles and stereotypes is by addressing the class identity.…
In 1812, the Brothers Grimm published their first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen, Children 's and Household Tales. This collection of fairy tales was well-known for its violent and premarital sex content. However, why did the stories of the Brothers Grimm become less violent and more children friendly throughout the years? The editions of the Brothers Grimm Tales were greatly influenced by their culture and surroundings leading their first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen to be greatly different from the ones following. The Brothers Grimm started the research and writing of their stories during the Romantic period, “a movement in the arts that favored a return to nature and a greater focus on national culture, especially folk tales”…
Throughout fairy tales, the expectations of beauty and romance that are woven into the story are absorbed by the children viewing them. Children pick up on these ideals and quite often try to translate them into reality. Fairy tales, such as the one’s produced by Disney, often contain a magical romance with characters as magically beautiful as their love. However, these high expectations of love, beauty and happiness are unobtainable in our everyday world and leave children disheartened that their expectations of their body-image and love have not attained these unreasonable standards as they grow older. These expectations of body image, love, and happiness stem from infeasible beauty standards, magical romance, and living happily ever after…