Fairy Tale

A fairy tale is a kind of short folktale narrative typically of European origin. Most fairy tales contain folkloric fantasy characters such as elves, mermaids, trolls, giants, goblins, witches, and more, as well as magical elements. What makes fairy tales distinguishable from other folk narratives is that unlike animal fables, fairy tales do not serve as overt morality tales, and they are not usually based on some historical event or character, such as embellished legends of heroic deeds and great battles. Fairy tales are also different from myths, which characteristically find their basis in religion and a need to explain how the natural world works.

Aside from the fantasy elements, there are many other recurring traits found in fairy tales. These include a clear distinction between good and evil, characters of royalty, and a conclusion of "they all lived happily ever after." There are several recurring themes in fairy tales as well, such as coming of age, physical transformation, justice, and humility.

Brief History

Fairy tales as known today in the Western world date back at least several centuries. Many fairy tales were passed down via oral tradition before being written down; thus, tracing their exact origins is a difficult task. However, research including a 2016 phylogenetic study by Jamshid J. Tehrani and Sara Graça da Silva suggested that many fairy tales and other folk tales likely originated long before writing, and in some cases as far back as the Bronze Age. Storytelling traditions in countries and regions like Italy, Russia, central Asia, and elsewhere helped pass down fairy tales from generation to generation. While it is impossible for scholars to trace the specific origins of many fairy tales, the consensus is that they came not from the elite, but from common people with a strong oral tradition of passing down accumulated wisdom through storytelling.

Anthropologists have studied the origins of fairy tales and found that variations of many of the classic stories, such as "Little Red Riding Hood," have been told by different cultures around the world for centuries, and each country has its own unique variation on a given theme. For example, in China the wolf of "Little Red Riding Hood" is a tiger, and in Iran, where it would be strange for a young girl to be travelling alone, the protagonist of the tale is instead a young boy. By looking at how fairy tales changed and spread throughout different cultures over centuries, scholars can gain a broad view of human psychology and what civilizations found important to transmit.

One of the first landmark publications in the history of fairy tales is Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals (1697), by French author Charles Perrault. This book helped establish the groundwork for the modern fairy tale and featured many well-known tales, such as "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Sleeping Beauty," whose plots changed little in retellings in the centuries after their first publication. Another major fairy tale collection, Fairy Tales, was also published in 1697, by French author Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, who is credited with coining the term "fairy tale" (contes de fées in French). Her fairy tales became very popular in her native France as well as Italy and England.

The next major fairy tale publication was Children’s and Household Tales (1812) by German authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. This collection, commonly known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales, is made up of three volumes containing over two hundred stories. By more modern standards, the fairy tales contained graphic violence and sexual references, and they became highly influential around the world.

In contemporary times, fairy tales continue to be passed on via films, particularly the works of the Walt Disney Company. Beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937), these films have helped popularize many fairy tales for a contemporary audience and have since become iconic.

Overview

Fairy tales are short narratives that are usually meant to teach a moral lesson. They have been around for centuries, and some scholars have traced their origins to times before the Common Era. Fairy tales were spawned from traditional folktales and were passed on through a culture’s oral tradition, making their exact origin date difficult to trace.

There are several recurring elements that run through fairy tales from all cultures. Clear distinctions between good and evil are universal, and fantasy aspects such as magical creatures and spells are frequently used to move the narrative toward a happy ending. While each culture may have its own variation on the fairy tale, certain themes and motifs are repeated across cultures and time periods. Universal themes such as justice, bravery, coming of age, and physical transformation regularly appear in fairy tales. Recurring characters in fairy tales include evil stepmothers, members of royalty, and a magical creature that sets the hero off on a quest.

Charles Perrault

One of the pioneers of fairy tales was French author Charles Perrault. His collection Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals (1697) is credited by scholars as being among the first landmark works of the fairy tale genre. His collection, subtitled Mother Goose Tales, consists of folk tales such as "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Sleeping Beauty." Perrault took these popular stories and wrote them in a way that would appeal to the refined bourgeoisie that frequented literary salons in Paris. He removed many of the more rural elements from the stories that would make them relatable to the lower class and added literary flourishes to interest the more educated upper classes.

The lower classes in Perrault’s stories were portrayed as dimwitted and unworthy of God’s good graces, while noblemen receive God’s blessings. Scholars have noted that women in Perrault’s stories are typically portrayed as sinful and are oftentimes punished for possessing the same traits that make the men heroic. Regardless of his biased portrayal of gender and class, Perrault’s collection was highly influential.

The Brothers Grimm

Interest in fairy tales was revived in Europe during the nineteenth century due to the rise of Romantic nationalism. The German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm believed that folklore and fairy tales were crucial to a nation’s identity and that it was the commoners, not the aristocrats, who embodied the national character. They published the next major landmark in fairy tale literature: Children’s and Household Tales (1812). While Perrault’s stories contained overtly Christian themes, the Grimms’ tales were more secular and fatalistic. Many of them, including their version of "Little Red Riding Hood," depicted children being violently punished for disobeying their parents. Despite the brutality in their work, their tales are more popular around the world than Perrault’s.

Walt Disney Films

Fairy tales have continued to resonate in modern times thanks in part to the popular animated films of the film studio the Walt Disney Company. The studio’s first feature-length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was based on the story "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm. Since then, the company has adapted over a dozen fairy tales, many of them by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The Disney films, both animated and live-action, have been hugely successful with children all over the world helping the fairy tales they are based on continue to permeate popular culture.

Bibliography

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