The Tiger's Bride Analysis

Morals and lessons are very hard to instill in one’s mind, especially a stubborn one. The people of the past, however, had found the way to do it. Stories and fairytales, though also used for entertainment, were mainly used to teach lessons to the young. Every tale once analyzed is seen to be formed through certain structures that include Propp Theory among others. As a result, many of the tales told in similar time periods contain the same morals and societies rules and beliefs. Some of which have immersed themselves into modern culture. Such tales like “The Tigers Bride” by Angela Carter and Grimm Brother’s “The Raven” and “The Goose Girl” are results of this, and share similarities and contrasts along the lines of point of view, animal …show more content…
The tale follows the main character and hero, Beauty, who is ‘lost to The Beast at cards’ (Carter 853) by her father. It follows her journey to The Beast’s palace, where she discovers his intention for her to undress for him. Offended, she stubbornly refuses him, and is given a clockwork maid that is identical to her. Beauty is also gifted two teardrop earrings, but they are given at different times. Eventually, she agrees to undress for The Beast and ends up turning into a beast like him. Following Propp Theory, the villain shifts depending on the point in the story, but the most consistent one is her father. The footman would align to being the donor, because he is the bringer of the maid and the earrings. Compared to the other two tales, Beauty is the only character who turns into an animal, and she is the only one who ends up saving herself in …show more content…
The tale is about a princess who encountered misfortune while traveling to meet her husband-to-be in a foreign land. On the journey, the servant took advantage of her, and when they arrived at the kingdom, the servant impersonated the princess, banning the true princess to tend to the geese. The princess had a magic horse named Falada who could speak, and the princess’ imposter had the horse beheaded for fear of the horse exploiting her. The princess requested the head be hung above the gateway she passed under each day, so that she could mourn Falada. The king of the foreign land saw her, and forced her to tell the truth about her situation. When the king learned of the servant’s treason, he tricked her into choosing her own doom, and then the prince and princess got married. Compared to the other tales, this is the only one where there was a loving parent, and one who is not the villain. In this tale, the classification of the villain rightfully belongs to the servant. In this mindset, the servant did unknowingly help the princess by decapitating Falada matching a few of the donor requirements. The princess however, may or may not be considered the hero because she did nothing to improve her situation, and without Falada she may have been stuck tending geese the rest of her life. This is also the only tale where the main female figure does not appear in animal form. Similar to “The