In short, the value of the (traditional) fairy tale lies in its unique ability to grant credibility to the child’s predicaments while, at the same time, promoting self-confidence in the child (7). In this manner of addressing and alleviating universal childhood fears, traditional fairy tales play a critical role in childhood development.
One thing children, who are small and somewhat helpless, fear is that they will always be at a disadvantage. Fairy tales teach children that even a situation that seems desperate can improve. Fairy tale heroes and heroines are often young, oppressed, disadvantaged, and seemingly unable to help themselves; but over the course of the story manage to overcome their challenges. As Max Lüthi puts it, “In the fairy tale, all things are possible ... the lowest can rise to the highest position, and those in the highest position — evil queens, princes, princesses, government ministers — can fall and be destroyed.” The change in fortune that fairy tale protagonists experience sends the message to children that nothing is “set in stone.” Children, like the fairy tale heroes and heroines, can — whatever their ethnicity, age, or social position may be — change their fortunes too if they apply themselves.
“Cinderella” is an example of a fairy tale in which the young heroine, …show more content…
Magical images from beloved childhood tales are treasured experiences among individuals. A naïve, little girl conversing with a wolf in the woods; a sleeping beauty revived by true-love’s kiss; two children eating from a gingerbread house — all these images evoke childhood memories and with them a multitude of associations. They have followed human societies through the ages, transmitted from one generation to the next through oral storytelling; through print, as compiled by the Grimm brothers; and later, through Disney movie adaptations. Still, even with continual revisions, the classic, traditional tales
One thing children, who are small and somewhat helpless, fear is that they will always be at a disadvantage. Fairy tales teach children that even a situation that seems desperate can improve. Fairy tale heroes and heroines are often young, oppressed, disadvantaged, and seemingly unable to help themselves; but over the course of the story manage to overcome their challenges. As Max Lüthi puts it, “In the fairy tale, all things are possible ... the lowest can rise to the highest position, and those in the highest position — evil queens, princes, princesses, government ministers — can fall and be destroyed.” The change in fortune that fairy tale protagonists experience sends the message to children that nothing is “set in stone.” Children, like the fairy tale heroes and heroines, can — whatever their ethnicity, age, or social position may be — change their fortunes too if they apply themselves.
“Cinderella” is an example of a fairy tale in which the young heroine, …show more content…
Magical images from beloved childhood tales are treasured experiences among individuals. A naïve, little girl conversing with a wolf in the woods; a sleeping beauty revived by true-love’s kiss; two children eating from a gingerbread house — all these images evoke childhood memories and with them a multitude of associations. They have followed human societies through the ages, transmitted from one generation to the next through oral storytelling; through print, as compiled by the Grimm brothers; and later, through Disney movie adaptations. Still, even with continual revisions, the classic, traditional tales