Questions, Intuitions, Revisions: Telling and Re-Telling Stories About Ourselves in the World A College Seminar Course at Bryn Mawr College

Friedrich Schiller wrote

Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life.

What do you think of fairy tales? of the "truth that is taught by life", as it has been for the last days? Off the top of your head, in a few sentences/phrases ... for you and others to mull over.

There is an new forum, 11 September 2001 which you might want to read, contribute to. Any time you're inclined.

I think the 'told and re-told' fairy tales we've read represent a sort of continuity, an on-going cultural dialogue. Maybe their 'deeper meaning' comes from that sense of continuity? From those aspects of the stories we, as a culture, agree remains relevant, agree to hold on to???

When first introduced, the villains in these (Disney) versions are often depicted larger (and louder) than life, and are quite frightening. By the end of the story, however, these "monsters" are deflated and reduced to slapstick clowns, or otherwise neutralized. Justice is seldom part of the plot.

Grimm's tales, on the other hand, are brutally frank and justice is usually harsh and swift -- if uneven.

In Grimm's version, when Cinderella's step-sisters cut their heels off, the only feeling one has is whatever the reader is experiencing, because these characters exhibit no physical response to such an act. When the step-mother and step-father are cruel and unkind to Cinderella, the reader may feel their coldness, but again the character Cinderella doesn't notice.

In the end of the story, the birds pluck out the sisters' eyes. Is this an act of loyalty on the part of nature to Cinderella? Revenge? Or does Cinderella have a dark side and these birds are acting on her subconscious wishes? It disturbs me that the parents aren't held to the same authority. The father had denied his daughter's very existence to the prince, and the step-mother treated her harshly. Where was justice?

When we write our own fairy tales, we can acknowledge our feelings about events and other people who played important roles in our lives, we can have them do very bad things, much worse than what actually happened--the the wicked mother, the father who is stuck in his "red" period as Robert Bly describes--and we can come away saying "yes some bad things happened to me but now I've worked through those feelings by greatly exaggerating them so that I could feel the real truth about those feelings I had as a child, but now I've been rescued and can move forward". (Wow, Anne, that's not my usual edited-down-to-the-bare-bones sentence!)

In our stories, we can punish those who mistreated us. We can't do that in our real lives because violence just begets more violence.

I'm looking forward to re-writing my story as a fairy tale this weekend.

Best to all,

Carol

I loved the feeling of imagining what each of the characters were feeling as they walked through scary situations, but also having the sense that I was safe and removed from any real danger. That is why; I think it is so hard for me, to accept what happened to our country this past Tuesday. The word "safe" keeps jumping out at me. I am still pondering over it... What it really means??

As a child, Disney gave me a false sense of security, about bad things happening to people. The terrorist attack on NY has shaken that childish way of thinking. For me this terrible event --was a reality check, and it seemed to tie into our class assignment...surprise, surprise... more self-discovery.

Fairry Tails

Puffer's butt has a fairry tail.
His fairry tail tells me
wiggle, waggle, sprinkle, tou-tou,
It'll all be o.k., my love.
When the darkness
takes the tower down.
Come see my wiggle tale.
Ferry away on my softie nose.
Wiggle, waggle, sprinkle, tou-tou,
My fairry tail is here for you.

For you, fare you, fair-y, foo;
It's all o. k. if I love you.
Even death cannot scare you,
When you see my tale in you.
The tale's inside
It comes to you
Wiggle, waggle, sprinkle, tou-tou.

Before the boom
Before the crash
The tale is fast
It gets to you.
The tale my love
will come to you.
So fast it moves, so fast
It flies
Across the space,
Before the angry
Hits your face.

Behind your eyes
It comforts you
Beatle, Battle, Buggle, Boo;
My furry tale will comfort you.

Beating tail, beating tale,
Will come for you.

*******
The news
hear.
Here
the news.

The sound
Not the words.

Hear the Big
See the Small.
The sounding words,
The sounding worlds,
the tickle In,
the Trickling.

Grab the Reel,
Grab the Real.
Take the Feel
from the Real.

Take the Sound,
Make it drowned.

What is lost?
What is cost?
Can you tell
the news of hell?

Since freedom of speech was not welcomed in Schiller's day (or even sometimes these days, particularly under suppressive regimes), and it could be dangerous to speak openly about a politically or socially sensitive issue, the fairy tale was a very useful medium to get one's point across without offending those in power. While being truthful in real life may not have been socially acceptable, the fairy tale could disguise "truths" or "reality" by using symbolism which did not always have an obvious interpretation. Thus, it could safely explore a wide range of taboo subjects - from politics to sexuality to psychology.

As a child, up until the age of about ten, Grimm's Book of Fairy Tales enchanted me. At that age, I didn't seem to take much notice of the violence inherent in many of the stories. My child's imagination was captivated with the magic of far away places, impossible feats such as climbing glass mountains, and the beautiful, virtuous or mysterious characters that peopled these stories. I wasn't mature enough to understand all of the symbolism and shades of gray. Even so, these fairy tales left an undeniable influence: moral lessons such as being good, compassionate, and true especially under trying circumstances, instilled in me a life-long love for "higher values" (perhaps for lack of any religious training during my early years!).

Getting back to Schiller, I find it inspiring that although affected by the social injustices of his time, he remained an idealist and could write with utter conviction that "alle menschen werden bruder" (all men will become brothers) - which, despite the tragedy of the past week, and even though it could take many generations, may yet be realized one day.