The History of Fairy Tales
Fairy Tales are often thought of in the “Disney” version. Back when fairy tales were first written, in the late 17th century, they were no where close to the disney, happy version. Fairy tales were often gruesome and meant as adult literature and definitely not meant for children to read. It was authors such as Hans Christian Anderson and Brothers Grimm who really made fairy tales popular, they are the authors that wrote many of the fairy tales that are popular today.
What is a fairy tale? A fairy tale is a short story that usually has characters from fantasy. These characters include fairies, goblins, dwarves, mermaids, and much more (Beeny). Another characteristic of a fairy tales is that they generally have unusually happy endings (Beeny). They have endings that seem to be almost unrealistic. A final characteristic of fairy tales is that they were meant to be adult literature. Therefore, there is often gruesome things that can happen in these tales.
Even though fairy tales were not originally meant for children use, they have been shown to play an important role in a child’s development. Fairy tales can play an important role in how a child understand the world and people around them (Beeny). They have also proven to play a role in how a child socializes (Kuykendall). A child may read a story and start to believe the roles that have been placed on certain characters and that will cause them to do the same thing in life. Children will begin to see fellow classmates as the characters that they read about. Fairy tales also affect the way a child is treated and fairy tales influence expections in behavior (Kuykendall). When a child begins to see other as fairy tale characters they will have preconceived notions and expectations for these people.
Brothers Grimm created many of the fairy tales we know and love today. They were well known for European Folktales. They popularized stories such as Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Rumplestiltskin (“Grimm’s Fairy Tales”). Most of their stories were not intended for children. However, many of their stories have been adapted for children. Brothers Grimm wrote many of the stories that we know as Disney stories today.
Hans Christian Anderson was another author who wrote many popular fairy tales. Anderson is one of the most renown fairy tale masters throughout history (“Hans Christian Anderson”). His works have been translated into many different languages, many of his stories were published in America before they were published in his own native country Denmark (Feng). His stories had a major effect on adult literature and changed the way this type of literature was written.
Fairy tales were originally meant for adult use only, but have been adapted for children. Many of the stories that we know and love today were created in the era of adult fairy tales, some of them are extremely different from the kid friendly version we know today.
What is a fairy tale? A fairy tale is a short story that usually has characters from fantasy. These characters include fairies, goblins, dwarves, mermaids, and much more (Beeny). Another characteristic of a fairy tales is that they generally have unusually happy endings (Beeny). They have endings that seem to be almost unrealistic. A final characteristic of fairy tales is that they were meant to be adult literature. Therefore, there is often gruesome things that can happen in these tales.
Even though fairy tales were not originally meant for children use, they have been shown to play an important role in a child’s development. Fairy tales can play an important role in how a child understand the world and people around them (Beeny). They have also proven to play a role in how a child socializes (Kuykendall). A child may read a story and start to believe the roles that have been placed on certain characters and that will cause them to do the same thing in life. Children will begin to see fellow classmates as the characters that they read about. Fairy tales also affect the way a child is treated and fairy tales influence expections in behavior (Kuykendall). When a child begins to see other as fairy tale characters they will have preconceived notions and expectations for these people.
Brothers Grimm created many of the fairy tales we know and love today. They were well known for European Folktales. They popularized stories such as Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Rumplestiltskin (“Grimm’s Fairy Tales”). Most of their stories were not intended for children. However, many of their stories have been adapted for children. Brothers Grimm wrote many of the stories that we know as Disney stories today.
Hans Christian Anderson was another author who wrote many popular fairy tales. Anderson is one of the most renown fairy tale masters throughout history (“Hans Christian Anderson”). His works have been translated into many different languages, many of his stories were published in America before they were published in his own native country Denmark (Feng). His stories had a major effect on adult literature and changed the way this type of literature was written.
Fairy tales were originally meant for adult use only, but have been adapted for children. Many of the stories that we know and love today were created in the era of adult fairy tales, some of them are extremely different from the kid friendly version we know today.
References
Beeny, Martyn, and Koupal, Nancy T. "The Prairie Tales: Introducing Literature, Art, and History to Young Readers." Interdisciplinary Humanities 29.1 (2012): 35-50. Print.
Feng, Ruizhen. "Contradiction Leads to a Miracle A Rethinking of Hans Christian Anderson and His Fairy Tales." Review of European Studies 1.2 (Dec2009): 34-38. Print.
"Grimm's Fairy Tales." SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, Carnegie Mellon. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/>.
"Hans Christian Andersen." : Fairy Tales and Stories. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
<http://hca.gilead.org.il/>.
Kuykendall, Leslee F., and Sturn W. Brian. "We Said Feminist Fairy Tales, Not Fractured Fairy Tales!" Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children 5.3 (2007): 38-41. Print.
Feng, Ruizhen. "Contradiction Leads to a Miracle A Rethinking of Hans Christian Anderson and His Fairy Tales." Review of European Studies 1.2 (Dec2009): 34-38. Print.
"Grimm's Fairy Tales." SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, Carnegie Mellon. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/>.
"Hans Christian Andersen." : Fairy Tales and Stories. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
<http://hca.gilead.org.il/>.
Kuykendall, Leslee F., and Sturn W. Brian. "We Said Feminist Fairy Tales, Not Fractured Fairy Tales!" Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children 5.3 (2007): 38-41. Print.