Archetypes In Bruno Bettelheim's Fairy Tales

Many of us recall the classic fairy tales from our childhood that often contained dark plots and themes. Although these stories often frightened us as children, these stories gave us a new perspective on the society we live in. They taught us about the good members of the society (the hero), the bad members of society (the witch/monster), and even taught us important lessons that we continue to use in our lives even as young adults. As Bruno Bettelheim pointed out in his 1977 work The Uses of Enchantment, as children, these fairy tales helped to carry important messages to our conscious, preconscious, and unconscious minds that help to form us as an individual (4). These stories have an important place in society and are essential pieces of children’s literature.
These fairy tales are often composed of archetypes, which can be described as a prototypical example of a character. A good example of an archetype in fairy tales is the “knight in shining armor.” In the original fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, written by the Grimm Brothers, there …show more content…
This ending was seen as surprising to many readers because the female character gets to reverse her role by showing off her bravery and skill while saving the male character. Another character who played an essential role in the plot development of this fairy tale was the witch. Having a villain in these classic fairy tales helps to encourage a child’s moral growth and understanding of good and bad. In Hansel and Gretel, the witch is seen as the archetypal villain. She is characterized as ugly, manipulative, and selfish, similar to other villains often found in these classic fairy tales. Bettelheim describes that one of the functions of the archetypal villain is to help teach moral education to younger readers, as the villain in the fairy tales is almost always punished in some way