Fairy Tale Analysis Essay
Giants, evil stepmothers, ogres and trolls are usually found in fairy tales, but what actually is a fairy tale, why do we read them, and why are they so important. In the article “An introduction to fairy tales” Maria Tatar, a Harvard folklore professor clarifies what a fairy tale is. In her article, Tatar uses several different sources to give an effective model of what a fairy tale is and why they’re so important. Using the fairy tale Robin Hood, we will put the model to the test and see if it can resonate with a real fairy tale.
What is a fairy tale? According to Harvard professor Maria Tatar, fairytales are defined by several criteria. First, fairy tales are “close up and personal, telling us about the quest for …show more content…
Robin Hood can meet this criterion easily. Throughout the fairy tale, Robin Hood rescues the villagers and on several occasions, steals money from prince john and gives it to the poor, giving off the message to be kind, giving, and caring to the less fortunate, those qualities are universal, everyone can benefit from it no matter your cultural disposition, and through continued retelling; the message will survive throughout the years. According to Tatars model; Robin Hood is an exemplary representation of a fairy …show more content…
I saved this question for last because it requires the combination of the previous two questions to adequately answer. Nowadays in stories for children we have come to expect clear, uplifting moral position, along with a straightforward message, but “even fairy tales, with their naïve sense of justice, their tenacious materialism, their reworking of familiar territory, and their sometimes narrow imaginative range, rarely send unambiguous messages” (Maria Tatar, 232). Fairy tales have survived because of continued belief that they convey good moral direction and a straightforward message, but “morality endorsed fairy tales are not without complications and complexities” (Maria Tatar, 231). Take robin hood for example, the message was kind, caring, and giving if we just stop at that message that’s most obvious we become blind to different interpretations, Robin Hoods deeds are noble and kind, but the way he goes about it is through stealing and scheming We praise our fairy tales for their positive morals but miss the message that is just as important, is stealing and scheming something we want to praise people for? Wherever we look, fairy tale characters are getting their happily ever after by lying cheating or
Giants, evil stepmothers, ogres and trolls are usually found in fairy tales, but what actually is a fairy tale, why do we read them, and why are they so important. In the article “An introduction to fairy tales” Maria Tatar, a Harvard folklore professor clarifies what a fairy tale is. In her article, Tatar uses several different sources to give an effective model of what a fairy tale is and why they’re so important. Using the fairy tale Robin Hood, we will put the model to the test and see if it can resonate with a real fairy tale.
What is a fairy tale? According to Harvard professor Maria Tatar, fairytales are defined by several criteria. First, fairy tales are “close up and personal, telling us about the quest for …show more content…
Robin Hood can meet this criterion easily. Throughout the fairy tale, Robin Hood rescues the villagers and on several occasions, steals money from prince john and gives it to the poor, giving off the message to be kind, giving, and caring to the less fortunate, those qualities are universal, everyone can benefit from it no matter your cultural disposition, and through continued retelling; the message will survive throughout the years. According to Tatars model; Robin Hood is an exemplary representation of a fairy …show more content…
I saved this question for last because it requires the combination of the previous two questions to adequately answer. Nowadays in stories for children we have come to expect clear, uplifting moral position, along with a straightforward message, but “even fairy tales, with their naïve sense of justice, their tenacious materialism, their reworking of familiar territory, and their sometimes narrow imaginative range, rarely send unambiguous messages” (Maria Tatar, 232). Fairy tales have survived because of continued belief that they convey good moral direction and a straightforward message, but “morality endorsed fairy tales are not without complications and complexities” (Maria Tatar, 231). Take robin hood for example, the message was kind, caring, and giving if we just stop at that message that’s most obvious we become blind to different interpretations, Robin Hoods deeds are noble and kind, but the way he goes about it is through stealing and scheming We praise our fairy tales for their positive morals but miss the message that is just as important, is stealing and scheming something we want to praise people for? Wherever we look, fairy tale characters are getting their happily ever after by lying cheating or