Blog #11

https://www.google.com/search?q=fairy+tales&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSy6e1zJXmAhVxU98KHQuhA9QQ_AUoAnoECBIQBA&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=i3TeRvz7eDnQ8M:

Throughout this first semester I’ve learned a lot about the Grimm brothers, the fairy tales they’ve created, and the interpretations behind them. Since I was just a child, when I thought of fairy tales the first thing that would come to mind was the Disney movies, not the Grimm brothers who spent many years gathering and perfecting them. From Brier Rose, all the way to Rapunzel I have studied fairy tales I wouldn’t have even thought of viewing from another perspective. In this class I have made a PowerPoint, reporting on Maria Tartar’s “Sex and Violence: The Hardcore of Fairy Tales”, analyzing sexual perceptions in the classical tales as well as the brutal aspects of them. I have completed numerous quizzes and papers elaborating on the importance and prominence that the stories hold.

My favorite tale in the second half of the semester was “The Juniper Tree”. I enjoyed this tale more than the others because it took a much different spin than other fairy tales, the content was gory, raw, and unfiltered. The best part of the story was when the stepmother decapitated the boy but attempted to cover up his death by tying his head back onto his body with a cloth. She then tries to make his sister believe she killed him by telling her to smack him on the ear, knocking his head off his body.

Blog #10

https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1366&bih=625&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=mT_bXb2qDISo_QayqorwDg&q=rapunzel+comic+strip+&oq=rapunzel+comic+strip+&gs_l=img.3..0i30.80730.80730..80972…0.0..0.146.146.0j1……0….1..gws-wiz-img.xsDRovV0Jkw&ved=0ahUKEwj92r25q4TmAhUEVN8KHTKVAu4Q4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=SFYC5TbpcHgNIM:
Author: Francis Bonnet

This cartoon takes a more modern approach to the classic fairy tale “Rapunzel” by the Grimm brothers. It features Rapunzel and Red Riding Hood walking during the day discussing a party she was not invited to. They are both wearing present-day clothing and instead of being portrayed as a sweet, innocent girl, Rapunzel is shown as a “mean girl”. She is angry because she was not invited to Goldilocks’ party, her self esteem and self worth were fractured. She manages to drag her vulnerability out of the dirt and takes her power back by verbally cursing Goldilocks, a sweet innocent girl who apparently did her harm. Rapunzel says “I hope Goldilocks gets eaten by a tub full of deadly, starving piranhas.

Both the Grimm version of the tale and the comic strip include a more mature adaptation of the princesses. At the end of the Grimm version, the princess has a more mature mindset because after getting caught by the evil witch, she was forced to live in solitary with her two kids. Once a woman has children she is able to take care of, she has to develop a stronger sense of maturity because she is not only responsible for herself, but the well being of another individual as well. In the cartoon, Rapunzel has a more developed based off the sole fact that she is gossiping about other girls implies that she is either a teenager in high school or a young adult. Her sense of maturity isn’t quite as developed as Rapunzel in the Grimm tale, easily identifiable by her disrespectful, narcissistic behavior.

Blog #9

https://www.google.com/search?q=bluebeard&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7rtXcifLlAhWOxFkKHYk6B1wQ_AUIEigB&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=ZWXwmfFBjmfr2M

The three versions of the story “Bluebeard” have various similarities and differences, although, “Fitcher’s Bird” and the Perrault version of Bluebeard shared more commonalities. In all of the tales, the female character uses her wits to escape the dangerous situation she is put in or to seek justice for the crime that takes place. In the Grimm version of “Bluebeard” the woman uses her story telling skills to inform the people at the party of Bluebeard’s mischievous activities which consist of cutting women up and eating them. In the “Fitcher’s Bird” the woman actually covers herself up in honey and feathers to disguise herself as a bird. She convinces the sorcerer she is intended to marry, along with his friends, to go up to the attic of the house. When they are all inside she sets it aflame, killing them instantly. In the Charles Perrault version of the story, after the woman was caught going into the room she was explicitly forbidden from entering, Bluebeard threatens to kill her. She asks for time to pray before he ends her life and she calls for help outside of the attic window. I enjoyed “Fitcher’s Bird” the most because the woman is actively the hero of her own story. This tale was different, in the way she disguised herself and used her own cleverness, she did not require the assistance of a man in order to be rescued.

Blog #8

https://www.google.com/search?q=hansel+and+gretel%3B+mgm&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZ563TmuDlAhWyiOAKHRoWBnkQ_AUIEygC&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=qqpysEQYrHAxcM

There are many similarities and differences between the MGM movie of “Hansel and Gretel” and the Grimm fairy tale. Both versions include the basic plot; Hansel and Gretel are required to leave home, they attempt to leave a bread/cookie trail in the woods but it gets eaten by birds, they get lost and find a house made of cookies and candies, the witch tries to eat them, and they kill her. Other similarities include Hansel, Gretel, and their parents being very poor, so poor that they could barely afford a loaf of bread to eat. As well as after defeating the witch, they brought treasures home to support their family.

There were no differences in the overall plot, but in the smaller, less important details. For example, in the movie, Hansel and Gretel’s mother was their biological mother, instead of her being their stepmother, similar to the Grimm tale. There was more background explaining why they were poor. The movie displayed the father at work selling firewood and being cheated out of money by the baker. This shows that he was a “nice guy” who was constantly pushed around, someone who can’t defend them self. The circumstances behind Hansel and Gretel getting lost in the woods in the movie was more sugarcoated in the Grimm tale. The stepmother convinced the father to leave them in the woods and he eventually gave in while in the movie, the mother was upset with the children who allowed the donkey to eat the fresh custard she just made, so she instructed them to gather berries for dinner and not to return until the baskets were full. The directors most likely did this to make the mother appear more humane. She did not hate her children, she was just upset and she did not want them to leave forever, just until she was able to get her emotions in order because it is only human to respond in that manner. One other main difference is that in the movie, Hansel and Gretel also had the opportunity to save other children the witch kidnapped, essentially amplifying their “hero” status.

Blog #7

http://joyreactor.com/post/510259

The name of this social cartoon is “Little Red” and it was posted on the website joyreactor.com by the user named Re-L Mayer. This cartoon strip is based on the famous Grimm fairy tale, “Little Red Cap”.

“Little Red Cap” is about a young, naive girl who takes a trip to her grandmother’s house one day when she discovers her grandma was not feeling well. Her mother gives Little Red Cap cake and wine to bring and strictly instructs her to go straight down the path without talking to strangers or stopping and getting distracted. To her dismay, she meets the wolf and discloses her grandmothers location. The wolf manipulates Little Red Cap into going off the path and picking flowers, while he rushes to her grandmothers house and gobbles her up. He eventually gobbles Little Red Cap up,n as well, shortly after she arrives, but they are later rescued by a huntsman who cuts them out of the wolf’s stomach. After pulling them out, the huntsman sews rocks up in the wolf’s stomach, killing him.

This comic strip takes an interesting approach to the original fairy tale. Yes, the wolf eats Little Red’s grandmother, but she is completely unaware (which emphasizes her naive-ness). Little Red places her “grandmother” (the wolf) in a nursing home once she sees how messy her house is, acknowledging the fact that she is not capable of taking care of herself. My favorite past of this cartoon was the wolf’s reaction once he is in the nursing home and realizes that his plan has gone downhill.

Blog #6

Cupid and Psyche and The Frog King or Iron Heinrich have very distinct differences, but they both share one key similarity; a princess falls in love with a “beast”.

https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1366&bih=625&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=0eu1Xaf4GYLL_Qb27biACA&q=cupid+and+psyche&oq=cupid+and&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.156242.167712..169615…9.0..6.155.1915.24j2……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0..0i67j0i131.INE0OIUKwdo#imgrc=0EV0Jk3sZ-aPaM:

Cupid and Psyche is an old Greek tale about a princess named Psych who’s beauty was so great that she made the Greek goddess, Venus, jealous. Filled with envy, Venus instructs her son, Cupid, to make Psyche fall in love with a repulsive monster. He is starstruck at the sight of her, and mistakenly wounds himself with his own arrow, falling in love with the beautiful princess instead. Cupid then becomes Psyche’s “invisible” husband, whom only visits her at night when it is dark. Her sisters convince her to take a peek to see what her mysterious husband looks like and in doing so, she was distracted by his beauty and spilled hot wax, burning him. Cupid flies away and Psyche goes on a journey, instructed to complete tasks by Venus after asking for her forgiveness.

https://www.google.com/search?q=the+frog+king&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjrtP-qkr3lAhUEnlkKHb7lCIMQ_AUIEigB&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=8_F8_gZ3Mua6nM:

The Frog King is a Grimm fairy tale about a princess who makes a deal with a frog to assist her in exchange for love companionship. The frog hears the princess crying one day after she drops her favorite golden ball down a well. She agrees to let the frog eat and sleep with her if he gets the ball back. After she receives the ball from the frog, she breaks the deal and scurries home but to her dismay, he follows her and demands for her to hold up her end of the bargain. The king instructs the princess to follow through with the deal and as she is preparing to rest for the evening she throws the frog against the wall, transforming him into a handsome prince.

Both tales contain a “beast” that the princess ends up marrying, but the difference is there was no visible transformation, only deception, in Cupid and Psyche yet there was in The Frog King.

Blog #5

https://www.google.com/search?q=snow+white&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMvIvqkPfkAhWrd98KHXvwDoEQ_AUIEigB&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=PAmW0tmjdIMG-M:

The Disney interpretation of Snow White is a more “child friendly” version of the more gruesome, original tale by the Grimm Brothers. The key aspects and principles of the tale were left unchanged but many of the smaller details were altered.

https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1366&bih=625&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=zDeRXduNPImk_QazyIaYBQ&q=snow+white+&oq=snow+white+&gs_l=img.3..0i67l5j0j0i67l4.67965.68837..69398…0.0..0.81.366.5……0….1..gws-wiz-img.lOntbJkGAhM&ved=0ahUKEwjbo87NkffkAhUJUt8KHTOkAVMQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=wAL9OjTdK2kjjM:

Similarities between the Grimm Fairytale and the Disney movie include Snow White’s mother dying, absence of her father, the evil queen plotting to kill her, Snow White staying with the seven dwarves, and the queen poisoning her. In both versions, Snow Whites mother died in the very beginning of the story, and her father, the king, instantly remarried to the evil queen. He is not mentioned again for the rest of both stories. The evil queen tells the huntsman to take Snow White into the woods and kill her because of her jealousy, the huntsman sets her free and she stumbles across the cottage of the seven dwarves who allow her to take shelter with them. The queen discovers she is still alive and attempts to kill Snow White with a poisoned apple, her eating the white half and Snow White eating the red half.

The differences can first be shown in the beginning of the movie where Snow White was forced to be a chambermaid, while in the book this was not the case. Once Snow White was of age, she sent the huntsman off to kill her in the woods and told him to bring back her lungs and liver, and ate them. In the movie the evil queen told the huntsman to bring back Snow Whites heart. In the Grimm version, once Snow White meets the dwarves, she makes an agreement with them to cook, clean, and sew in exchange for a place to stay. The evil queen makes three attempts to end Snow Whites life with a comb, a corset, and an apple. In the movie, when Snow White meets the dwarves, they get excited when they find out they get to help the princess and she offers her services as thanks. The evil queen only makes one attempt to kill her with a poisoned apple.

https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1366&bih=625&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=_jaRXYbKHaGw_QaOg52oDA&q=+snow+white+apple&oq=+snow+white+apple&gs_l=img.3..0l10.200889.204346..204842…0.0..0.131.1296.15j2……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0..0i67.tZnjVvcoHjA&ved=0ahUKEwiGwZLrkPfkAhUhWN8KHY5BB8UQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=r0z6z01lX45GaM:

Blog #4

https://www.google.com/search?q=rags+to+riches&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQ-737meXkAhUhn-AKHbV-DREQ_AUIEygC&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=20hJHcUKNqRg-M:

I do believe it is possible for one to reach success or riches, realistically, with marriage, but not magic. If this were just the case with a fairy tale story then it is absolutely possible to reach success with marriage. Now as far as “reaching success” goes, sure, one will be seen as successful to the outside world because they will have these disposable resources in order to reach that point, but will they truly be successful at heart? Not so much. Why, you ask? Because they have received this unfair advantage over other people attempting to reach this level of success.

https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1366&bih=625&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=qdCHXb7xBaKl_QaFgarIDA&q=cinderella+rags+to+riches&oq=cinde&gs_l=img.1.1.0i67l2j0j0i67l2j0j0i67l4.123278.125834..131021…0.0..3.178.1333.1j9……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0.e5V1R_FCYSU#imgrc=qzM7C73XYd1NMM:

 In certain cases, like Cinderella, for example, an exception can be made. Even though she reached riches through the advantage of magic and marriage, it was well deserved, there is no arguing against the fact that she legitimately earned it. Even though she was mentally abused and forced to work as a maid for her despicable stepmother and stepsisters, she remained calm, kind, and pious, never doing anything to harm them out of spite and hatred. Because she endured this torture for all these years she was rewarded with the magic of her fairy godmother, or the birds, getting to go to the ball and meet her true love, the prince. In the end the stepsisters wanted to share Cinderella’s success, which is why they showed up to the castle during the wedding to “make amends” for all they have put her through her entire life but the birds, which was a key part of the magical aspects of the story took Cinderella’s revenge out for her, by plucking the sisters eyes out and blinding them.

Blog #3

https://www.google.com/search?q=fairy+tale&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiN1Y_bxNPkAhUNd6wKHRF5DH4Q_AUIEigB#imgrc=b8y0howQ03CFKM:

There are many important aspects that are common in fairy tales, from terminology, to language, all the way to the specific details. All of these details tie together to create a story with fantasy-like imaging and plot. 

https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=dI5-XZ1Dhdr6BOzUg1g&q=dragon+slayer&oq=dragon+slayer&gs_l=img.3..0l10.3990.41499..41804…1.0..3.285.3602.1j13j7……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0..0i30j0i10i24j0i24.qbcPrglrGPo&ved=0ahUKEwidzabJxdPkAhUFrZ4KHWzqAAsQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=MPxyGRkG4pC4cM:

There are a few different descriptive words when it comes to fairy tales, all of them aren’t exactly the same but they all have one thing in common, they are some type of story. Some of the terminology words include fairy tale, novella, anecdote, fable, folktale, and chronicle, but myth and legend are what split these stories down the middle, differentiating between the two. A myth usually involves gods or supernatural creatures and from these stories, there is some sort of moral lesson the reader can draw from and apply to real life. A legend involves a human hero, who comes in contact with a supernatural being, derived typically from reality to give credit to them for their extraordinary accomplishments. 

https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=No9-XYbQJIPI5gLW1JigCQ&q=brier+rose+grimm&oq=brier+rose+grimm&gs_l=img.3..0i24.2205.5353..5610…0.0..0.158.819.0j6……0….1..gws-wiz-img…….0j0i30j0i5i30j0i10i24.CVZEKCAatbQ&ved=0ahUKEwiGw4umxtPkAhUDpFkKHVYqBpQQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=-rRywytGlAQ2NM:

Language is another important aspect of fairy tales, as well as motifs. Repetition is extremely common in most of these stories. For example, in The Dragon Slayer, the way Silberweiss is described saving each of the princesses is the exact same every single time, from the specific language, to the battle the repetition is inevitable in these sorts of tales as Luthi explains. Another thing that is inescapable is the appearance of four numbers; three, seven, twelve, and one hundred. So far in class, we have seen these numbers in Brier Rose. The first instance in which this has appeared was in the beginning of the story with the thirteen wise women, but only twelve were invited because the king only had twelve gold plates. This is what sets the scene for the story because the wise woman that wasn’t invited grew angry and cursed Brier Rose. The second instance where the number as appeared was for the length of time in which Brier Rose was asleep. She was in this trance for one hundred years until the young prince kissed her and woke her up. Other than the numbers, a few other motifs are opening and closing lines. “Once upon a time” and “there once was” are common introductions to these tales, and “they lived happily ever after” is a common closing. 

Blog #2

https://www.google.com/search?q=the+brothers+grimm+cast&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG3Y3b5cHkAhWFtlkKHeZYCIsQ_AUIEigB&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=Lc4dALPI0HJSdM:

The way the Brothers Grimm are portrayed in the movie versus the book by Jack Zipes is completely different, the film butchers many of the events that happened in the brother’s life in order to appeal to the fictional aspects. In the first chapter of the book, the brother’s lived in a large house before their father died of pneumonia, then they moved to Kassel where they began to dive headfirst into their studies. They wanted to prove themselves the best, so they went as far as studying for twelve hours a day, although Jacob could handle the extreme workload, Wilhelm grew sick and developed scarlet fever and asthma. They were portrayed as hardworking scholars who wanted to reconstruct German culture, while in the movie they were portrayed as “heroes” who were meant to swoop in and save the day because of their knowledge of the supernatural, while in reality they were just scamming with the sole purpose of making money

https://www.google.com/search?q=the+brothers+grimm+cast&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG3Y3b5cHkAhWFtlkKHeZYCIsQ_AUIEigB&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=MkYYplvyo0PTUM:

In the movie the brothers often had frequent petty arguments while in real life they were closer than ever, sleeping in the same bed, and writing very intimate letters to each other. One other misinterpretation about the brothers that was shown in the movie was their “social life”. They usually kept to themselves, being more reserved and attending social events if they strictly had to, but in the movie, they were found drinking and partying with other men at the bar. Wilhelm was also shown as a womanizer, going to brothels and seducing young woman.