The Importance Of Female Characters In Fairy Tales

Fairy tales have been shared around the campfire, in homes, in schools, and before bedtime for centuries. First told orally, these stories were passed down from generation to generation until they were eventually written down and collected for consumption by the public. Due to the passing of time and fallibility the stories have changed throughout the years and slightly differ from culture to culture, however, Stories such as Cinderella can be found in historical records from as far back as the seventh century, from all over the world (Nodelman, 2008, p48). Although the classic tales differ in many ways from their modern retellings, the characters and their journeys are still very much recognisable.
In a world filled with double standards and set gender views, one may wonder the origins of such beliefs. It …show more content…
Such is the case in Snow White with the evil queen. Snow White’s stepmother, the evil queen is a dominant woman who when threatened takes matters into her own hands and tries to kill Snow White. The Brothers Grimm write, “take out the child out into the forest. I don’t want to have to lay eyes on her ever again. You must kill her and bring her lungs and liver as proof of your deed” (2012, p84). The Brothers Grimm set the queen up as an evil woman because she is intelligent and knows what she wants, unlike Snow White who is passive and trusting. The Brothers Grimm establish a double standard when they categorized the queen as evil and forgive the huntsman. They write “He felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart, for at least he did not have to kill her” (2012, p84). In this scenario the huntsman is not presented as a villainous character even though he had every intention of killing her only because he is a man and he took pity on Snow