Week 2 - Fairy Tales

Upon reading the fairytales, I considered what made them fairytales...what was the fairytale model? There is frequently a trial of some kind; the human spirit is tested for what it can endure.  Cinderella endures sensless abuse at the hands of her tormenters, her stepsisters and their ring leader, Cinderella's stepmother.  Evil Stepmother emptily promises Cinderella that if she succeeds in recovering, first one dish and then two more dishes of lentils, from a pile of ash, that Cinderella may attend the King's festival.  Cinderella's efforts are buttressed by "tame pigeons" and "turtle doves." In the story of Cinderella, the number three is deliberately employed: "thrice a day," Cinderella weeps at the hazel-bush she plants atop her mother's grave, three times, Cinderella dances with the prince, three dishes of lentils is she challenged to retrieve, and again...it takes the prince three tries of the golden slipper to find his true maiden. 

Tranformation is another element of a fairytale.  Yeh-Shen aided by the spirit of her fish friend, undergoes a change from rags to a blue silk gown and golden sandals. Then, the title of this African tale does explaining enough, "A Boarhog for a Husband." 

Along with trials, transformations, and the significance of numbers, there is the element of a riddle/chant/spell/prayer (call it what you will).  Remember,  "Scoops, scops, scambalay" and "the good into the pot, the bad into the crop."? This may simply be the lyricism evocative of an oral tradition. 

It was interesting to read fairy tales passed on by different cultures and ethnic groups. I was convinced that most fairy tales talk about marriage.  The power of fairy tales is strong because regardless of their origins, they all contain universal issues of humans.  Also, fairy tales delicately deliver women’s emotion upon obstacles and relationship with nature such as fish, and pigeons.  My favorite tale is Yeh-Shen mainly because her relationship with a lovely golden orange fish is so genuine

What I liked most about this assignment was seeing the cross-cultural similarities between these stories. For example, in the European and Chinese fairytales, the heroines were always beautiful, quiet, and willing/ eager to marry the handsome monarch without getting to know him first. Interesting how these qualities were valued in both cultures despite their geographical distance. The African American tale of the boarhog, however, shows the clever/ tricky boy in a more flattering light than the beautiful daughter. Also, that same daughter was given a choice in her future husband, unlike the maidens in the other stories. Spirituality/ religious faith were valued in the Grimm's fairytales, "Yeh-Shen", and "Buddha". Most of the stories included magical and/ or anthropomorphized animals. Throughout the fairytales, music also has magical properties: Cinderella sings to the tree to get her dress; the boarhog sings to change forms.

Another interesting pattern I noticed between the stories had to do with the relationships each heroine/ hero had with each of her/ his parents. In the German Cinderella, the stepmother was much closer to her own daughter than Cinderella’s father was to her. In “Buddha”, the father represents an evil perspective by taking protectiveness to an incredibly detrimental level. In the original Briar Rose, neither of the parents seemed closer to the girl than the other, but in Anne Sexton’s retelling, she explicitly assigns simultaneously protective and traumatic parental actions similar to those in “Buddha” to the father; she hardly mentions the mother. The African American tales often have a similarly overprotective father.

I loved the story of the Buddha, perhaps because it emphasizes the need to overcome all delusions. The other ones I could not relate to as well. In the story of the Buddha, I find it interesting that the gods are needing Siddhartha to be a teacher to them; they are not a higher power that provides guidance in that sense. It is a case of all of them being in the dark, but the gods realize that there is a light, even though they can't see it, and they work as a team, the gods helping to push Siddhartha through and believing in him whereas maybe he wouldn't believe in himself. It's a case of faith at work, and a time when the true beauty is allowed to come from the human condition. The Buddha story seems to speak to me more.

     In the other fairy tales, the protagonists do not have character flaws or deep struggles. They behave naturally, with pure hearts. And as such, their destiny unfolds before them. But of course it's impossible to live happily ever after, so maybe in some sense fairy tales are delusional psychological projections. I wondered where Anne Sexton got the idea for Briar Rose's experience at the end. I also wonder what causes Grimm's taste for the macabre.

Fairy tales never fascinated me as a child. I found them fraught with lies and absurdities. Why does the beautiful girl always win the prince in the end? I did not understand. What if she wanted a princess and she was not beautiful but shy, homely, and thick in the middle? It was not until my adult life did I begin to understand the meaning of a good fairy tale. And still, I do not even think I really understand the meaning of most. And then finally, I came across Anne Sexton’s versions of Grimm’s fairy tales and became enamored. When reading these tales, Anne’s twists of sarcasm along with her outright anger at times, allowed me to understand why I thoroughly enjoy, understand, and relate to her writing style in a more logical, realistic manner. I feel she relates to the reader her understanding of patriarchy in her life and the different levels of pain she experienced in her life, all of which she was able to voice through her writing. For me, writing is an intensely personal experience. I have not learned the art of writing a paper that separates my emotions from my writing and find Anne Sexton’s works to be unbelievable inspirational because she used her own unique voice, whether it be controversial or not.   

The story that most intrigued me in these readings was Ann Sexton's interpretation of Briar Rose. I found the way she used modern terms and objects -- such as cigarettes and saftey pins -- to be a very subtle way to bring the story of Briar Rose a time closer to the present day.

What I found to be most interesting about Ann Sexton's poem was the line, "each night the king/ bit the hem of her gown /to keep her safe" along with the explainations of Briar Rose's insomnia. I feel like there is something strange in the way her father is so over protective in the begining of the poem, so much to the extent of pining the moon so she will always be in the light...then, at the end after she has awakened from her sleep, she refuses to sleep in the presence of the prince, and has so many issues with sleep in general. After describing these fears and feelings of imprisonment, Ann Sexton, in the second to last stanza, speaks of theft, loss of control, and Briar Rose's father bent drunkenly over her bed in the night.

I feel like Ann Sexton puts so much between the lines of this poem, that I find it hard to sort out what truely the story she is trying to tell -- is it about a naive young girl whos father tries to protect her, yet still she falls alseep, only to be saved by a prince? or, Is it about a little girl who escaped into this story of a valiant prince to save her from her seemingly enternal darkness that she feels when her father visits her in the night?

"Thats another kind of prison

Its not the prince at all,

but my father

drunkenly bent over my bed,

circling the abyss like a shark,

my father thick upon me

like some sleeping jellyfish."

Once upon a time there was a little girl who liked to read. No siblings to bother and a bedroom like an isolated planet. She would arrange her stuffed animals in order of ranking. Everyday the ranking would change in order to be fair. Sometimes Tridium the Cat would be feeling a little sad, so he got an extra hug and a kiss. Black Bear, Raddy, Christie, Tigger, Tridium and Spot would line up next to her in anticipation of a story. They would wonder to themselves is who was it going to be today? Dr. Seuss? Shel Silverstein? Grimm's? They were always excited to see what she picked out, even if it was a repeat.

She loved the stories: the excitement of a character striving to reach their achievement, a princess finding her true love, and good conquering over evil. Although bad things happened to the truest of characters, she knew it would end up all right. When the Goose Girl's horse was murdered, its head was nailed to the door and was able to talk her through her troubles. When an evil stepmother made her do chores, the animals would help her. See! It helped out to be good, true and loyal!

Even when she got home from school, or was captured in her own little world, there were lessons to be learned. No matter what tale was told, a common theme would arise: good vs. evil. At least it did in her mind.

Maybe the stories were to keep her occupied. Or they could have been excuses to imagine a more magical life. And there's a chance the stories were guides, like elaborate treasure maps, to direct her path. Take a right at the tower and take 143 paces north. Watch out, Evil Fairy ahead!

I do not beleive that fairy tales were ever originally meant for children. Disney's own watered down versions clearly resemble little of the True fairy stories written by the brothers Grimm. In other tales such as the Little Mermaid there is nothing resembling a happy ending and the story itself is certainly not G-rated. 

In terms of which fairy tale I liked best I would have to agree with Anne Kauth. The story of Yeh Shen, in my opinion, was certainly the most interesting. This is mainly because it showed how the concept of the beautiful 'underdog' trancends all cultures.

I also find it interesting that the small foot is a symbol of beauty in both western and asian cultures- although undoubtedly the small foot played a greater aesthetic role in china.    

The concept of female beauty and piety is one and the same in almost all corners of the world.