Genre Study: Fairy Tales

Unit Standards:RL.8.5, RL.8.7, RL.8.9

W.8.3, W.8.6

What do you know about fairy tales?

Examples?

We will learn…• What are fairy tales?

• Elements of fairy tales• Origins of fairy tales• Oral stories• The writing down of fairy tales• The Brothers Grimm & Hans Christian Andersen• Disney and modern versions

What are Fairy Tales?

Fairy tales are short stories that usually include some form of magic or enchantment and fantastical creatures such as fairies, elves, dwarves, or talking animals.

Even though they are called fairy tales, they don’t always have to have fairies in them; many don’t.

Common Elements of Fairy Tales• Do not have to include fairies.• Are set in the past, usually long ago (“Once

upon a time…”)• Include fantasy, supernatural, magical, or make-

believe aspects (not all realistic)• Usually have characters that are totally good

and totally evil. • Objects, people, or events in threes.• Conflict that resolves in a happy ending • Usually has a very obvious lesson or moral

Origins of Fairy Tales

Fairy tales and folktales exist in every culture across the world. Many of the fairy tales that you are familiar with have ancient or very old origins and have different versions across the world.

For example: Have you ever heard the story of

Cinderella? There are various versions of the story of Cinderella – story changes some throughout different cultures, but they probably have a similar origin from very old times.

Origins of Fairy Tales

• Just how old are fairy tales?? • If there are different versions across the

world of the most famous fairy tales, where did they begin in the first place?

Origins of Fairy Tales

1. Some fairy tales that have been attributed to different places in the world may not have originated there after all.

2. Fairy tales are difficult to trace.

3. It is not exactly clear when fairy tales began to be told. As far as we can tell, they have been told before language and stories were written down…

Oral Tradition of Fairy Tales

For a long time throughout history, stories were not written down. In ancient days, there may not have been a written language system, and when these did develop, only the richest or most educated people had access to writing tools and spelling/reading education.

So, for a great stretch of history, stories were not written down, but told and retold through word of mouth. Stories like these are called oral stories.

Oral Tradition of Fairy Tales

• Because these stories are retold again and again without any written record, stories often changed from one storyteller to the next.

• This is why the earliest forms of fairy tales may not be very similar to the ones that we know now, and why they are so different across different places.

When were fairy tales written down?

• It is unclear when fairy tales were first written down.

• However, when they were, it became obvious that there were many different versions of the same tale across the world.

• When these stories that had been traditionally told and retold through speech were finally written, it slowed the stories from changing so much and helped people tell the same versions of these stories.

The Brothers Grimm & Hans Christian Andersen

• The Brothers Grimm (Jacob and Wilhelm) and Hans Christian Andersen were both influential to the genre of fairy tales because they wrote them down. The writing of fairy tales and their popularity led to a more standardized version of each tale than previously, when the stories were only told orally.

The Brothers Grimm

• Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were brothers and German academics and researchers. Together, they collected popular folk stories and wrote them down. They invited storytellers into their home and transcribed the stories that they were told. They sometimes cleaned up the violence of some stories.

• Together, they produced a large collection of fairy tales called Children’s and Household Tales. Theirs became the most popular version of each fairy tale.

Stories You May Know from The Brothers Grimm

• Rapunzel• Cinderella• Rumpelstiltskin• Snow White• Sleeping Beauty

Hans Christian Andersen

• Andersen was a Danish author of novels, plays, and poetry, although he is most famous for his fairy tales. Unlike The Brothers Grimm, many of Andersen’s fairy tales were original, not retellings of fairy tales that already existed. Many of Andersen’s fairy tales sought to teach a moral or show how to overcome difficulties in life.

Stories You Many Know from Hans Christian Andersen

• The Little Mermaid• The Princess and the Pea• Thumbelina• The Emperor’s New Clothes• The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Modern Versions of Fairy Tales

As we have seen, fairy tales have been told to children and adults for centuries and centuries. Now, you might hear them from a parent or read them in a fairy tale collection book. Or, you might be familiar with fairy tales through more modern forms of entertainment as they have made their way into movies and television shows.

Disney

The Walt Disney Company has been responsible for turning various fairy tales into animated films. This tradition began with Walt Disney himself producing Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1937 and has continued through Frozen in 2013 (Frozen is loosely based on Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Snow Queen”). Disney’s versions of the tales are often cleaned up and given more details.

Fairy Tales in Disney Movies

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Pinocchio Alice in WonderlandThe Little MermaidBeauty and the BeastAladdin

Mulan Princess and the FrogTangledFrozen

*In 2016, Disney will put out a new movie based on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk

Fairy Tales on Television

• A number of recent television shows have also been based on fairy tales.

• Beauty and the Beast

• Grimm

• Once Upon a Time

• Once Upon a Time in Wonderland

• Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre

Fairy Tales’ Importance

• The persistence of fairy tales throughout time from ancient beginnings to modern adaptations shows just how valuable they are to our culture and storytelling traditions.

• Fairy tales continue to be popular because their morals continue to be valuable to whole cultures and they link different cultures together in their shared/similar stories.