"Here's a knife, if the slipper is still too tight for you, then cut off a piece of your foot." Cinderella's stepsisters go to extraordinary attempts to win the prince in the original Grimm Brothers' version of the fairy tale, including slicing off parts of their feet to fit the golden slipper, before the prince spots the blood spilling out of the shoe. Even though fairy tales can be scary or carry obscure and unusual messages, as Melissa Taylor states in "Eight Reasons Why Fairy Tales Are Essential To Childhood," fairy tales show kids how to handle problems.
Fairy tales are a common thread throughout the fabric of childhood in many parts of the world. The Brothers' tales serve as the foundation to many of the stories that are common in a variety of movies. The sanitized innocent Disney versions focus on the pretty princesses and the happy endings, which dominate our collective memory. If you ever had "Cinderella" read to you as a child, you probably won't be familiar with the above excerpt from the Brothers' version, in which the stepsisters are urged by their mother to self-mutilate their feet in a bid to marry the prince.
Fairy tales during the Brothers' time didn't have the same purpose as the ones today do. Fairy tales were told to teach lessons and to pass on cultural values and wisdom to younger generations, not for entertainment. They were concerned about frightening their young ones so they wouldn't do something wrong. The fairy tales, "Cinderella," "Little Red Riding Cap" and "Little Snow White" help children learn how to follow rules. It can help improve a child's judgment and critical thinking skills. Fear is an instinctual aid to survival; it shapes psychological and sociological structures. Fear is a response to some threat in the environment, especially to the approach of a predator. These "predators" are imaginary beings such as a wicked stepmother, a wolf, or a stranger who serve the purpose of frightening children away from dangerous situations.
