10A01, Claire, Literature

Examples of fairy tales

A fairy tale is a type of imaginative writing that carries the reader into an invented world where the laws of nature, as we know them, do not operate. One famous example would be Cinderella.

Cinderella is a classic folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances which suddenly change to remarkable fortune. The word "cinderella" has, by analogy, come to mean one whose attributes are unrecognised, or one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect. The still-popular story of Cinderella continues to influence popular culture internationally, lending plot elements, allusions, and tropes to a wide variety of media.

Another well-known fairytale would be Rapunzel.

Rapunzel is a German fairytale in the collection assembled by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. The Grimm Brothers' story is an adaptation of the fairy tale Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force originally published in 1698. Its plot has been used and parodied in various media and its best known line ("Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair") is an idiom of popular culture.

Both stories contain morals that are meant to educate and instruct the readers on certain matters. For Cinderella, the moral of the story is that beauty is a treasure, but graciousness is priceless. Without it nothing is possible; with it, one can do anything. The Grimms’ version of Rapunzel also presents a strong moral message to young women in order to maintain the patriarchal nature and moral code of 19th century Germany. In Rapunzel, the Grimms took a story that was about rites of passage and, while maintaining that element, added a moral message about the importance of female purity, catering to the ideals of the time in which they lived. In the final version of Rapunzel, the Grimms add a moral message, based primarily on stories taken from the Bible, in order to demonstrate the importance of female purity.