Research

Initial idea: Warped fairy tale

• Short story featuring fantasy characters
  -> far-fetched story
  -> tall tale
• Older fairytales were intended for an audience of adults as well as children
• "Once upon a time" means a fairytale/ little story from a long time ago when the world was still magic
• The moralizing strain in the Victorian era altered the classical tales to teach lessons
• "Damsel in distress" is always a woman
  -> usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue
  -> The helplessness of the damsel (who can be portrayed as foolish and ineffectual to the point of naiveté along with her need of others to rescue her) has made the stereotype the target of feminist criticism

History of the Damsel in distress

* = example

Antiquity

• Ancient Greek mythology
  * Andromedo
• Ancient Indian epic
  * Sita = Ramayana

The middle ages

* Rapunzel

* Snow white

* Sleeping beauty

17th Century

* The spanish lady

18th and 19th Century

* Clarissa

Portrayal of women in fairytales

• Men = strong, smart, powerful
• Women = pretty, passive, powerless
  ^ The women depend solely on a man to save them in their lives

Cinderella

• Portrayed as weak and passive
• Doesn't have the self-respect to stand up for herself
• Her family members feel that she is inferior to them and her only purpose is to serve them

The little mermaid

Hans Christian Andersen first wrote the Little mermaid in 1836

• Teaches girls that looks are all that matter in life
• She has a voice and is rebellious
• If Ariel gives the sea witch her voice she will receive a pair of legs in return
  ^ The catch is that Ariel has to get Prince Eric to give her a kiss of true love before the sun set on the third day
• Ursula tells Ariel "Men up there don't like a lot of blabber, they think a girl who talks is a bore. But don't worry you have your looks, your pretty face, and don't forget about body language".
• The message that girls are getting from this story is that they don't need a voice, instead they can depend on their looks to get by in life
• Ursula gains power of the sean by a deal she made with King Triton to save his daughter and sacrifices himself instead. Ursula is about to kill Ariel but Eric comes to the rescue and saves the day. Once again a man saves the day and gets the girl

Snow white

• In the Brother's Grimm version of "Snow white", the dwarf's play an important role in the safety and security of Snow white herself
• The male figure is initially brought into this story when the huntsmen let Snow white go without harm because he "took pity on her"
• When Snow white finally finds the dwarf's house, they let her in with one request; if she were to keep the house, they would protect her
  ^ This is the typical stereotype about the roles genders are supposed to cook, clean and keep everything neat and tidy while the man is out working hard and coming home to protect her
  ^ In most fairy tales, the female plays the role of being naive and always ends up getting herself into danger, then the man comes along and saves her life. Women are never capable of saving themselves and always need a man to protect them (according to literature).
• The queens actions also play an interesting and important role in the story. She too is given a typical female role: jealous, conceded and self-centered. She physically cannot live unless her mirror tells her that she is the "fairest woman of them all" but tells her that Snow white is "fairer". She seeks out to kill her by disguising her identity. Her actions reinforce the ideas of how women are conniving and manipulative
• When Snow white falls for the same trick three times, it reinforces the stereotype about how women are naive and gullible
• In addition, the character of the Queen was very carefully created and places into this story to reinforce many of the common stereotypes about women and the roles that they are "supposed" to play in society
• The dwarfs and the Queen in the story both play critical roles in exemplifying the common stereotypes about genders that are prevalent in most fairy tales. This fairy tale is a perfect example of how women are being perceived/ portrayed in literature.