Identity In The Hobbit And Shrek, By J. R.

The fantasy genre is able to introduce us to countless versions of reality which can serve to be a framework for imagining what we don’t know. This is portrayed through J.R.R Tolkien's, The Hobbit, and Shrek (2001), through the use of themed and dramatic techniques, helping us to establish the overall idea of inner identity. Tolkien’s high fantasy novel portrays identity through the expansion of avarice and how it is able to explain the impacts alongside showing us how, over a narrow period of time, it can successfully modify the minds and views possessed by the characters. Shrek challenges the gender stereotypes which are often portrayed in children stories, such as that of the “knight in shining armour” and the “damsel in distress”. This

From a very young age, the minds of young children are taught to subconsciously feel that women are inferior to men. However, Shrek is characterised to overlook these assumptions by not playing the role of the traditional “knight in shining armour”. Shrek is shown to do this when princess Fiona demands to know, “what kind of a knight are you?” and he responds, “one of a kind.” The medium shot shown of the silhouette burnt into the wall in the following scene highlights Shreks unorthodox approach to the mission which turns out to be more effective than that of the more stereotypical knight's heroism. It shows us how Shreks unique and less decided approach to the mission helped him so much with saving princess Fional, depicting to us how it is not always important to fit in with the crowd, and it is okay to bring out your inner identity as well as the person who you truly are. This is because, although you might be different, that does not necessarily mean

Tolkien focuses primarily on the male characters while containing no women in the plot of the story. This can be made evident through the hyperbole used when describing the dwarves, “The most redoubtable warrior of all the Speaking Peoples.” These terms are used to describe the typical brave, strong, witty male warrior which is often seen in such stories. In contrast, Shrek creates a universe in which women do not have to be figures with the only purpose of beauty. This can be seen when princess Fiona says, “this is not how a princess is meant to look” showing us how her “monstrous” appearance does not follow the expected stereotypes of princesses in other fairytale stories. This helps to teach us an important life lesson about the way that people are unaccepting when it comes to someone being different and all it takes is support and believing in yourself to become the hero of your