Discuss the purpose of fairy tales for a contemporary audience. Do they hold as much value for present audiences as in the past?.
It is impossible to discuss the purpose of fairy tales for a contemporary audience and even more so to discuss their relative value for present audiences in comparison to audiences in the past without looking at a definition and history of the genre. Even then, though it may be possible to demonstrate different purposes it will still be difficult (impossible?) to make a quantitative comparison of relative values. .
The Lord of the Rings, a fifty year old fairy tale trilogy that was originally composed for the enjoyment of the author's children and then went on to become one of the most widely acclaimed writings, is now experiencing large scale success as a series of films. J.R.R. Tolkien, the author, understands a fairy tale to be:.
one which touches on or uses Faërie, whatever its own main purpose may be: satire, adventure, morality, fantasy. Faërie itself may perhaps most nearly be translated by Magic - but it is magic of a peculiar mood and power, at the furthest pole from the vulgar devices of the laborious, scientific, magician. There is one proviso: if there is any satire present in the tale, one thing must not be made fun of, the magic itself. That must in that story be taken seriously, neither laughed at nor explained away. .
Marcia Lane, a student of fairy tales and the author of Picturing a Rose: A Way of Looking at Fairy Tales, believes a fairy tale to be,.
a story - literary or folk - that has a sense of the numinous, the feeling or sensation of the supernatural or the mysterious. But, and this is crucial, it is a story that happens in the past tense, and a story that is not tied to any specifics . Fairy tales are sometimes spiritual but never religious. .
Together these two understandings make up a relatively sound definition of fairy tales.
The purpose of these fairy tales is to provide acculturation for young children growing up. ... Fairy tales can be used to show how an ideal woman should act. ... This shows Sexton's belief that fairy tales make women look dumb. ... This shows their belief that fairy tales portray women as dolls. ... Another important part of fairy tales is for the girl to get married. ...
Is "Silas Marner" a fairy tale? ... However, the core of it seems to be like a fairy tale. ... In every fairy tale, good always prevails over evil. ... It is actually a kind of happy ending expected in all fairy tales. To add to that, "Silas Marner" is like a fairy tale as most fairy tales have some moral in them. ...
Fairy Tales always start the story by saying this. ... A lot of knowledge comes from fairy tales. ... Fairy tales are commonly short and its purpose or moral of the story is rather obvious. ... The fairy tales are mostly written in third person narration. ... Short stories are a lot more contemporary than fairy tales. ...
In fairy tales, old and new, these same details were necessary to give the tales the life it needed to become alive. ... The Grimm Brothers also used certain scenes to depict just like modern fairy tales use today. ... Though there are many fairy tale illustrators and pictures in these stories, there are a few that are more prominent and known that others that have made many illustrations in the fairy tales we read today. One known fairy tale illustrator is Esther Morrison that has made many entries in other's tales in her career. ... At first glance, the fairy tale illustrations might n...
In children's fairy tales a theme that is predominantly found is the battle between ˜Good and Evil' and for the soul purpose for teaching good values to the child. In the fairy tales Good must always win over Evil. ... Ghosts take up a substantial performance space in the tales of ˜Thakurmar Jhuli'(Grandmother's Collection) and ˜Desh Bidesher Rupkatha'(Tales of Home and Foreign Lands) in Bengali, while ˜Thakurmar Jhuli' , ˜Desh Bidesher Rupkatha' as well as ˜Grimm's Fairy Tales' share the abundant presence ...
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. ... Fairy tales during the Brothers' time didn't have the same purpose as the ones today do. ... She totally learns her lesson, like all good girls in fairy tales. ... I always thought that fairy tales were all about happy endings and good always coming out on top, however,...
Children in fairy tales are usually portrayed as obedient and beautiful. ... The purpose of the girl's long, beautiful hair is to show that hair is a big part of a woman's looks. ... Zipes says that we often dismiss the lies told in fairy tales "by saying, "Oh, that's just a fairy tale," or "that's just a myth." ... How important are the fairy tale views in the lives of adults? Fairy tales are incredibly important in that many people strive for fairy tale perfection all of their lives. ...
The purpose of media is to entertain, to help pass the time. ... Violence has even crept its way into children's fairy tales. ... From The Uses of Enchantment, Bettelheim proposes there is a deep and profound meaning in the fairy tales. ... A child does so by resolving problems on his own by applying the lessons learned from the fairy tales to similar situations presented in the fairy tale. ... Therefore by removing the violence from a fable or fairy tale will only serve to destroy its magically complex fabric that enables children to develop. ...
One major contribution to fairy tales is the religious influence of all societies. ... To many authors, fairy tales or any imaginative stories are places and people that are unknown to us. ... What are these so called fairytales: "(a) A tale about fairies, or generally a fairy legend; with developed senses, (b) an unreal or incredible story, and (c) a falsehood," (Tolkien, 4). ... According to Tolkien many of the stories contain ideas of diminutive power and states that, "a 'fairy-story' is one which touches on or uses Faerie, whatever its own main purpose may be: satire, advent...
