Reply to comment

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.