Violence In Fairy Tales
Professor Rania Said
Re-visioning Fairy Tales 26 June 2015 Reimagining Violence in Modern Fairy Tales Often times in literature we see modern adaptations created by authors in order to display mild to significant changes on the original piece of work. These modern adaptations reimage themes displayed in traditional versions of the fairy tales. For example, violence is often tamed in modern adaptations but exaggerated in original versions such as “Snow White”, “Hansel & Gretel”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Cinderella”. Fairy tales were originally written to entertain adult audiences but overtime they transitioned into children’s literature which explains why violence is more tamed in modern adaptations. One of the main reasons …show more content…
After hearing that the huntsman has betrayed her from her magic mirror, the evil queen takes matters into her own hands and decides to find and kill Snow White herself. After disguising herself as an old beggar, the Evil Queen gives Snow White a poisoned apple and Snow falls into a deep sleep only to be woken by a handsome Prince and they live happily ever after. In the original Brothers Grimm tale, the aforementioned isn’t the end of the story as the Evil Queen unknowingly is invited to Snow White and Prince Charming’s wedding. Once she arrives at Snow White’s big day, hot iron shoes are placed in front of her and, for her crimes against the Young Queen, she is forced to step into the burning shoes and dance until she drops dead, a much darker ending than seen in the 1937 Disney film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The Disney film adds a child-like wonder to the tale where the dwarfs are given names that reflect their unique personalities: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey. Both Grimm and Disney domesticate Snow White as she does the housework for the dwarfs. In the Disney version, however, she voluntarily does the …show more content…
The story of this little girl has had several adaptations, perhaps more than any other fairy tale. According to National Geographic, there are at least 58 versions of similarly themed stories around the world, from Japan to Africa to Korea (Shea 2). In the earliest version of the tale, the antagonist isn’t always a wolf, but sometimes an ogre or werewolf. Also, the wolf leaves the grandmother’s blood and meat for the girl to eat, who then unwittingly cannibalizes her own grandmother. Traditionally, the story of Little Red Riding Hood is about a pedophile seeking to make the little girl one of his sexual preys. Although the modern adaptation attempts to recite the same moral, it does so in a manner less violent. Even the sexuality in the story is displayed differently. Catherine Lappas provides some interesting insight on the difference in sexuality between “The Company of Wolves” by Angela Carter and the stories predecessors. Lappas states that “Angela Carter boldly transforms themes of victimization and voyeurism into opportunities for female empowerment.” (Lappas 117) Although Carter’s version of the story focuses more on displaying a change in sex and gender, it’s significant as it shows the difference in modern
Re-visioning Fairy Tales 26 June 2015 Reimagining Violence in Modern Fairy Tales Often times in literature we see modern adaptations created by authors in order to display mild to significant changes on the original piece of work. These modern adaptations reimage themes displayed in traditional versions of the fairy tales. For example, violence is often tamed in modern adaptations but exaggerated in original versions such as “Snow White”, “Hansel & Gretel”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Cinderella”. Fairy tales were originally written to entertain adult audiences but overtime they transitioned into children’s literature which explains why violence is more tamed in modern adaptations. One of the main reasons …show more content…
After hearing that the huntsman has betrayed her from her magic mirror, the evil queen takes matters into her own hands and decides to find and kill Snow White herself. After disguising herself as an old beggar, the Evil Queen gives Snow White a poisoned apple and Snow falls into a deep sleep only to be woken by a handsome Prince and they live happily ever after. In the original Brothers Grimm tale, the aforementioned isn’t the end of the story as the Evil Queen unknowingly is invited to Snow White and Prince Charming’s wedding. Once she arrives at Snow White’s big day, hot iron shoes are placed in front of her and, for her crimes against the Young Queen, she is forced to step into the burning shoes and dance until she drops dead, a much darker ending than seen in the 1937 Disney film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The Disney film adds a child-like wonder to the tale where the dwarfs are given names that reflect their unique personalities: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey. Both Grimm and Disney domesticate Snow White as she does the housework for the dwarfs. In the Disney version, however, she voluntarily does the …show more content…
The story of this little girl has had several adaptations, perhaps more than any other fairy tale. According to National Geographic, there are at least 58 versions of similarly themed stories around the world, from Japan to Africa to Korea (Shea 2). In the earliest version of the tale, the antagonist isn’t always a wolf, but sometimes an ogre or werewolf. Also, the wolf leaves the grandmother’s blood and meat for the girl to eat, who then unwittingly cannibalizes her own grandmother. Traditionally, the story of Little Red Riding Hood is about a pedophile seeking to make the little girl one of his sexual preys. Although the modern adaptation attempts to recite the same moral, it does so in a manner less violent. Even the sexuality in the story is displayed differently. Catherine Lappas provides some interesting insight on the difference in sexuality between “The Company of Wolves” by Angela Carter and the stories predecessors. Lappas states that “Angela Carter boldly transforms themes of victimization and voyeurism into opportunities for female empowerment.” (Lappas 117) Although Carter’s version of the story focuses more on displaying a change in sex and gender, it’s significant as it shows the difference in modern