Women In Fairy Tales

Fairy tales have been part of the collective work of different cultures for centuries. Their main functions were to dictate moral concepts such as good and evil, as well as ideal notions of beauty, femininity, and motherhood. Such tales often told the struggles of different women who were bound to fill out their designated roles in patriarchal societies and were thrashed against each other in order for the author to make a point. The typical representations of women in fairy tales as good or evil, feminine or wicked, is a valid topic for research because it leads to a variety of subtopics, such as women’s relationships as depicted in this literary form. The most interesting aspect of the latter is the rivalry shared between the heroine and

Using these words, the authors draw the line of distinction between the roles of “the saint” and “the whore” (200). Secondly, independent women in fairy tales were often associated with the concept of evil because they menaced the patriarchal order itself (203). No longer relying on men for emotional or economic support, these women were harder to control (203). However, back in the days when these tales were crafted, “most women had not been by tradition so fortunate as to enjoy the economic independence that would enable them to run their lives as wished” (203). As a result, their roles in society were entirely defined by their relationships with men (207). This point is related to another one also discussed in this source: the hostile relationship between women, which is prevalent in fairy tales (202). According to the authors, “fairy tales are probably the narratives which better express classic conflicts between women” (202). They mention Snow White as the perfect example of the virginal heroine persecuted by her unloving stepmother, who was “jealous over the princess’s youth and supposedly superior beauty” (203). Apparently, for women living in a

Therefore, I plan to narrow down my focus to one of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales and analyze its portrayals of women and their dynamics. Furthermore, I plan to look into the modern adaptations of the tale and see if there exist any similar patterns to the original version. The question that I still need to cover is the impact which the depiction of women’s antagonism in fairy tales has on modern young readers. In order to do that, I might need to delve into some psychoanalytical studies and