A lot of today’s popular fairy tales were written in the 18th or 19th century. Even though writers have been making revision on classic fairy tales or producing retellings over the years, the most well-known and most read fairy tales are still the classic ones. When writers are writing, their beliefs and thoughts are inevitably influenced by the society and time period they live in. Since the society has definitely changed compared to 18th or 19th century, are the fairy tales that were written decades ago still appropriate for people to read? And if revision is needed for classic fairy tales, what would be considered as good revision? Considering there are many types of fairy tales, this paper would focus on typical classic fairy tales that
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It might appear to be that Beauty has the power to make her own choice. But if we examine the story closely, Beauty is taking the responsibility of a mistake that is not made by her. Even though Beauty’s father is the one who accidently stole the rose, he blamed Beauty from his misfortune when he returned to home: “Beauty, take these roses, they have cost your poor father dearly” (De Beaumont 35). With her father saying that it is Beauty’s fault that he encountered the Beast, Beauty had no choice but to sacrifice her own happiness to save her father. The tale presents the patriarchal society standard because Beauty does not have any power over her own fate. Her father is the one who, in a sense, has the power to decide Beauty’s fate. Also, the Beast might seem to value Beauty very much as he claims, “The thought of having lost you made me decide to starve myself” (Beaumont 41). While some might use that as an evidence to argue that “Beauty and the Beast” displays scenario in which woman is actually more powerful them man, we need to recognize the reason why Beast would treat Beauty with so much respect in the first place: The Beast needs Beauty because “an evil fairy condemned [him] to remain in [the form of beast] until a beautiful girl would consent to marry [him]” (Beaumont 41). Even though “Beauty and the Beast” is written by a woman, there is still power inequality between the female and male characters. Beauty does not have any power over the Beast, since he only loses his power due to the spell. And Beast’s respect and goodness toward Beauty are, in the first place, acting out of the intention to gain her love so that he could break the
It might appear to be that Beauty has the power to make her own choice. But if we examine the story closely, Beauty is taking the responsibility of a mistake that is not made by her. Even though Beauty’s father is the one who accidently stole the rose, he blamed Beauty from his misfortune when he returned to home: “Beauty, take these roses, they have cost your poor father dearly” (De Beaumont 35). With her father saying that it is Beauty’s fault that he encountered the Beast, Beauty had no choice but to sacrifice her own happiness to save her father. The tale presents the patriarchal society standard because Beauty does not have any power over her own fate. Her father is the one who, in a sense, has the power to decide Beauty’s fate. Also, the Beast might seem to value Beauty very much as he claims, “The thought of having lost you made me decide to starve myself” (Beaumont 41). While some might use that as an evidence to argue that “Beauty and the Beast” displays scenario in which woman is actually more powerful them man, we need to recognize the reason why Beast would treat Beauty with so much respect in the first place: The Beast needs Beauty because “an evil fairy condemned [him] to remain in [the form of beast] until a beautiful girl would consent to marry [him]” (Beaumont 41). Even though “Beauty and the Beast” is written by a woman, there is still power inequality between the female and male characters. Beauty does not have any power over the Beast, since he only loses his power due to the spell. And Beast’s respect and goodness toward Beauty are, in the first place, acting out of the intention to gain her love so that he could break the