Are fairytales 'just' stories for children? Refer to at least two tales in your answer.

There have been many different fairytales, since they originated, and there have been many different versions of them. Charles Perrault wrote many fairytales, the most famous being "Cinderella" and "Little Red Riding Hood". His elegant and simple style made these tales extremely popular, and they quickly became the accepted version of the stories. These tales, as we have them today, owe their form and beauty to Perrault's magical retelling. J.R.R. Tolkien has said that Perrault's influence is "so pervasive that most people, when asked for the name of a fairy tale, will cite one of the eight stories in his collection". On the other hand, Roger Sale claims that today most people only know fairy tales through severely altered versions, for example Disney, rather than tracing them to primary sources like Perrault. The "Contes" were instantly successful on their first publication, in 1697, and have remained enormously popular ever since. The style of the tales in the original French text suggests the sophistication of the courtly audience, however by the time the tales were translated into English, by Robert Samber in 1729, they were clearly directed toward a child audience. The moral of Perrault's stories, clearly spelled out at the end of the story, inevitably rewards honesty, industriousness, obedience, and virtuous behaviour, and gives children ideals to aspire to.

Cinderella is arguably one of the best-known fairytales in world, with over 700 variants reported; these include several significant groupings, only one of which corresponds to the popularly known fairy tale. The oldest version is "Yeh-hsien" from China, over 1000 years old. The most influential version is that by Charles Perrault, which was directed primarily to a courtly audience. Perrault introduced the elements of the fairy godmother, the glass slipper, and the pumpkin coach. This version, the most familiar, seems to be a fairly recent development in the evolution of the tale. Phillip notes that the Perrrault version is in many ways atypical, because of its level of sophistication and social detail, and certain "whimsical embellishments" - e.g., the pumpkin coach. However, because of modern society's privileging of the written over the oral, it has come to be seen by many people as the "correct" or archetypal story. And today, because of the dominance of the culture industry, the Disney version, based on Perrault, has in turn become the standard story. "Aschenputtel" is another version of "Cinderella", which has clear Grimm elements to it. This version of the tale is more likely to appeal to an adult audience because of the retribution visited upon the stepsisters at the end and the cruelty she experiences is identified more specifically. Unlike Perrault's version, Cinderella is punished at the end.

"Little Red Riding Hood" is another one of the world's most famous fairytales. Perrault was the first to write down "Little Red Riding Hood," but the tragic ending of this version has caused some to question whether it has a genuine folk origin. Shavit argues that it is a satire about "the city gentleman who does not hesitate to take advantage of the poor village girl" and she notes an eroticism in the description of the little girl as "a specific element encouraging the satiric reading", and the moral at the end tends to reinforce it. Shavit's criticism on "Little Red Riding Hood" is leaning towards the support of an adult audience. The Grimms' version, "Little Red Cap", is less satiric, more naive, and directed to the child alone, for educational purposes. This shift in focus more to the child authorises the restoration of the happy ending. Maria Tatar calls this "possibly the most famous cautionary tale of all times" but notes that "there is no clear cause-and-effect relation between violating the mother's injunction and being eaten by the wolf." In the Perrault version, there is no prohibition at all, but Perrault also eliminates the resurrection of the wolf's victims, which was added by the brothers Grimm, and Tatar suggests this was "in relation to the conversion of fairy tales to instruction of children." Although the tale is strong in moral for children it appears to be more adult orientated in terms of content.

In the early 1800's Jacob Ludwig Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm published a collection of fairy tales they had gathered as part of their effort to project a particular "German culture" as represented in the oral folktale tradition. This would explain why so many of the French tales of the oral and literary tradition found their way into the Grimms' collection, including a Cinderella story called "Aschenputtel," which in contrast to Perrault's version, invokes severe punishment on the step-sisters. This punishment on the step-sisters indicates that the audience was primarily adult, as this would fill their expectations of bad characters being punished. Children, however, may or may not know about the conventions of right and wrong, and therefore might not understand the step-sisters' punishment. On the other hand, this could be seen as a positive part of the fairytale genre, where children can learn morals that may not be shown as clearly as in Perrault's versions.

Another major contributor to the fairy tale tradition is Hans Christian Anderson. Where Perrault and the Brothers Grimm primarily appropriated and reworked existing tales, Anderson created new tales using the traditional fairy tale form. Anderson wrote these stories 'exactly as I would tell them to a child'. However, critics complained of his rough colloquial style, and at the lack of lessons to be learnt from these tales, given that they were meant for children. These critics, however, did not consider the fact that these stories may have been more for adults who were able to identify with his stories, most of which were based around Anderson's life. Anderson continued writing his stories, and by the end of ten years was recognised as a master of this form of story. All of Andersen's tales - whether based on folk themes or of his own invention - had a personal touch to them: 'Most of what I have written is a reflection of myself. Every character is from life.'

Today when people discuss fairytales a "Disney classic" will always appear in the conversation. Children are more familiar with the Disney versions of the original fairytales, whereas adults may be more familiar with the original or other written versions. This introduces the topic of the rise of technology in today's society. For example children today watch far more television than adults did when they were children, and don't read as much as they should, therefore they are less likely to enjoy the written tales that adults may appreciate as part of their own childhood, as Jack Zipes discusses in "Breaking the Disney Spell." He says that "In a domineering and controlling fashion, Disney created a new venue for fairy tales, but one that glorified him as the technologically astute animator rather than another storyteller. His goal was to immerse the audiences in seamless images more-so than the story, which was most often reinforcing of the patriarchal view, bland female protagonists, and a cleaned up world." He goes on to say that "Where the oral folktales built community, and the literary tales built complex narrative to be read and re-read in solitude, his films tend to be generally non-reflective, impersonal, and one-dimensional." However, it is through Disney's films, and the associated marketing, that children will be most familiar with fairy tales

Adults may well enjoy the idea of fairytales, and the tales themselves, however if these adults are parents it is quite possible that they may interpret the stories differently to when they read them as a child, or if they had no children of their own. Some adults could see that fairy tales have become outdated, for example the princess waiting at home for her "Prince Charming" to rescue her could be seen as degrading, or that fairy tales encourage stereotypes that no longer exist within our society, this is not just sexist stereotypes but possibly racist or against the working class. Furthermore they could see some tales as too violent, for example when the wolf eats little red riding hood.

Fairy tales deal with elemental human experiences: love and loss; kindness and cruelty; the power of wishes; fear of the darkness, both without and within. In these tales as in the originals, the great revelations, for good or ill, most often take place in the house, within the family - the only setting considered worthy of tragedy by the ancient Greek dramatists. Like their great predecessors, these modern fairy tales dramatize the darker side of childhood, the end of innocence. Yet some questions must be asked. Fairy tales have been an important part of cultures all over the world. They have been passed down through generations and read and reread to countless children. But do they really have any place as children's stories? This is one of the questions that has recently been pressed against them and one which is well worth asking. If children are to be presented with fairy tales, it is quite reasonable to question the effect of these stories on them. This is reasonable to ask, but the answer may not come as naturally. Children are people too. They and their reactions can be just as varied as their grown-up counterparts. Through these shades of doubt, a general statement can be made. Fairy tales can make good children stories. Whether or not adults read them, they should read and learn to understand fairy tales so that they can better comprehend the structures of literature as well as for the sake of the wonder, pleasure, and human understanding these stories can provide in their own right.

2148 words.

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm

http://www.hca2005.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Perrault

http://www.grimmfairytales.com/en/main

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/

Charles Perrault, Neil Phillip - The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault

Zohar Shavit - The Concept of Childhood and Children's Folktales

Maria Tatar - The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism

Jack Zipes - Breaking The Disney Spell

Bruno Bettelheim - The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales

Vladimir Propp - Morphology of the Folktale

J.R.R. Tolkien's Mythopoeia and essay on fairy tale literature