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GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS, LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD and JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
"A famous fairy tale analyzed by Propp's taxonomy"
Hace 17 años
jueves, 3 de septiembre de 2009
jueves, 27 de agosto de 2009
WIERD VERSIONS OF CINDERELLA
Classical versions, the stereotype’s construction:
The story is told in many cultures, which points out the universality of the themes found in the tale. In modern times the meaning of the story has focused on romantic love. All the same, in class societies the prince recognizing Cinderella’s beauty would have implication of social position.
Bibliography:
1634-1636 Basile, "Cendrillon"G. In Dundes 1988.
1696-1697 Madame D’Aulnoy “Finita Cenicienta”. In Aulnoy 1991.
1697 Perrault, C. “Cinderella, or The Glass Slipper” In Dundes 1988.
1812 Grimm, J y W. “Ash Girl”. In Dundes 1988.
1817 Rossini, G. “La Cenerentola”. In Rossini 1971.
1884 Gregor, W. “The Red Calf” (« Rashin Coatie »). In Philip 1995.
1950 Disney, Walt, “Cinderella”. In Disney 1950.
This very famous tale is one of the most popular, and it is considered the best-known story as well as one of the oldest in times.
Cinderella, the young woman oppressed and mistreated by the rivalry of her ugly stepmother and evil stepsisters who have a negative power over her, but at the end of the story she manages to be happy by getting married to the charming prince, has a large number of variations according to the social and cultural backgrounds where they take place, throughout the five continents and different time.
Certain groups have been identified in those versions:
• The protagonist of the story is the suffering heroine, though at the end she is recognized through a shoe and there is a turning point in her life.
• Incest also appeared in the story: the father wishes to marry her daughter and leads her to run away and be trapped in such a dreadful situation.
• King Lear’s theme: the daughter is exiled by her father because he considers her love insufficient.
• Male characters star in some versions.
Cinderella may have originated in classical antiquity:
In the 1st Century BC the Greek historian Strabo recorded what is considered the oldest well- known version of the story: the tale of a Greco-Egyptian girl called Rhodopis: One day her fellow servants left Rhodopis washing clothes in a stream while they all went to a function sponsored by the Pharaoh Amasis. An eagle took the girl's rose-gilded sandal and dropped it at the feet of the Pharaoh in the city of Memphis. Then he asked the women of the kingdom to try that sandal on in order to see which one fitted. Rhodopis succeded and the Pharaoh fell in love with her and they finally got married.
The story later appeared again showing that Cinderella theme remainded popular throughout time. perhaps the origin of the fairy tale figure can be traced back as far as the 6th Century B.C. (Ancient story-teller Aesop).
During the Middle Ages, another version of the story appeared, about in 890 in the famous “One Thousand and One Nights”: stories which dealt with the theme of a younger sibling hated by two jealous elders. In some tales the characters are female and in others they are males. One of the stories has a tragic ending since the younger brother dies after having been poisoned by his elder brothers.
There is another version originated in Japan, which tells the story of a girl who escapes from her evil stepmother with the help of Buddhist nuns and joins their convent.
The earliest European tale “The Cat Cinderella” (“La Gatta Cenerontola”) appeared in the book by the Italian collector Giambattista Basile. in 1635. The story laid the foundations for the future versions published by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.
In 1697 the most popular version of Cinderella was written by the French Charles Perrault: “Cinderella” or “The Little Glass Slipper”. Although the author added many elements to the original story, like a fairy godmother, a pumpkin, mice and a glass slipper, it became popular everywhere. It is thought that in Perrault’s original version Cinderella wore a pair of fur (pantoufle en vair), but when the story was translated into English vair was mistaken for verre (glass) resulting in glass slipper and the story has remained like that ever since.
Whenever the girl finished the housework , she sat in the cinders which caused her to be called Cinderella.
In 1812 another version of the story was written by the German Brothers Grimm. It was called “Ash Girl”, though this time there is not a fairy godmother but a hazelnut tree that grows on her mother’s grave and granted Cinderella’s wishes.
Apart from that, there is also a Chinese version, “Ye Xian”, in which the fairy Godmother is personified by a fish (instead of the pigeons of the Brothers Grimm story). The fish is the reincarnation of the dead mother who had been killed by the stepmother. In this culture people feel admiration towards little feet.
In the Scottish Celtic myth, there is a story about Gean , Donn and Critheanach. The first ones are the stepsisters and Critheanach is Cinderella.
The following is a brief revision of the patriarchal versions written by Basile, Perrault and Brothers Grimm.
lll“The Cat Cinderella” by G. Basile.
This is the story of a young woman called Zenolla who kills her wicked stepmother following the instructions given by her nursemaid, Carmosine and gets her father gets married to this woman. After reaching her objective Carmosine becomes as an evil woman as her predecessor. That is the moment when she introduces her own daughters who catch all her love and attention. Up to this time the protagonist is called Cat Cinderella. One day her
father goes on a trip and asks his daughters what they want him to bring them . The girls ask for expensive and luxury presents, except for Cat Cinderella who wants him to pray the fairies’ dove to send her something special that she does not name. However he forgets so and it is the captain of the ship who reminds him her daughter’s wish. When coming back he meets the fairies and they give him a date for her to be planted and taken care by the girl. T hat is what she does and after four days it has the size of a woman. A fairy appears from the tree and teaches Cat Cinderella a poem to be said whenever she feels sad bur warms her to do so without been discovered by her stepsisters.
A few days later a ball is organized in the kingdom. Cat Cinderella’s stepsisters get ready to go though they don’t allow her to attend there, so that she asks the fairies to help her. When she arrives at the palace the king fell in surrender at her feet. One of the servants wants to know who that gorgeous woman is, so she drops some coins and runs away. The following night something similar happens, she prevents the servant from making questions to her by throwing jewels and precious stones at him. The third night she leaves a slipper on the stairs. The king organizes a new ball where all women attending the party have to try it on. This shoe-test allows the king to meet Zenolla again. They get married and her stepsisters die of envy.
In this version the narrator insists on the protagonist’s beauty which causes passion in the king but envy in her stepsisters.
lll“Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper” by C. Perrault.
There was a widower who had a beautiful and sweet tempered daughter . After some time he married a vain and naughty woman who also had two evil daughters. These girls and her mother forced the pretty girl to work hard all day long. While doing the housework she sat on the cinders which caused her to be called Cinderella. She suffered her stepmother and stepsisters’ jealousness and envy, but she couldn’t tell anything to his father about such a cruel situation because the woman had entire control over her husband.
One day the Prince organized a ball at his kingdom and invited all the young ladies so that he could choose his future wife. When the two stepsisters got the invitation they immediately made Cinderella to prepare them. The poor girl also dreamt of going to the party but her wicked stepsisters told her that a servant never attended a ball.
When everybody left to the royal palace Cinderella started to cry desperately in the kitchen. A fairy Godmother appeared and decided to help her by turning a pumpkin into a coach, a rat into a coachman, lizard into footmen and mice into horses. Though the most important thing was the change she caused on the girl for she turned her rags into a unbelievably beautiful dress which matched with a pair of glass slippers. The Godmother told Cinderella to have fun but she warmed her to come back before midnight since the spell would disappear.
At the ball, the complete audience were fascinated at Cinderella’s beauty, especially the prince who kept by her side during the whole night, even her sisters were not able to recognize her at all. Before the clock stroke twelve, she left the ball and came back home. There she thanked her Godmother for her help.
The next evening there was another ball and Cinderella again managed to go because of her fairy Godmother’s help. When the prince saw him he became even more interested in her. That night she did not take into account her godmother’s advice for she left the palace at the final stroke of midnight. While running she lost one of her glass slippers on the stairs. Outside the palace, the prince asked his guards about that woman, they answered they had only seen a simple country girl passing by. The prince picked up the slipper and kept it but he promised to find the owner of that glass shoe and marry her. In the meantime Cinderella hid the other slipped which remained in a perfect way even after the spell had gone.
The prince himself tried the shoe on all the young women in the land. When he arrived at Cinderella’s her stepsisters tried it on in vain. Then the beautiful girl asked if she could also try, and in spite of her stepsisters taunted her, she did that and of course, it fitted her perfectly well. After that, Cinderella decided to show them the other slipper.
Her stepmother and stepsisters begged Cinderella to forgive them for all their cruelties and this noble woman did so. She got married to the prince and her stepsisters married two lords. They all lived happily ever after.
key elements:
As in Basile’s story, marriage is the most valuable aim for women.
There is a moral and physical contrast between Cinderella and her stepsisters. Beauty is a treasure but goodness is priceless and without this value nothing is possible.
The story is told in many cultures, which points out the universality of the themes found in the tale. In modern times the meaning of the story has focused on romantic love. All the same, in class societies the prince recognizing Cinderella’s beauty would have implication of social position.
Bibliography:
1634-1636 Basile, "Cendrillon"G. In Dundes 1988.
1696-1697 Madame D’Aulnoy “Finita Cenicienta”. In Aulnoy 1991.
1697 Perrault, C. “Cinderella, or The Glass Slipper” In Dundes 1988.
1812 Grimm, J y W. “Ash Girl”. In Dundes 1988.
1817 Rossini, G. “La Cenerentola”. In Rossini 1971.
1884 Gregor, W. “The Red Calf” (« Rashin Coatie »). In Philip 1995.
1950 Disney, Walt, “Cinderella”. In Disney 1950.
This very famous tale is one of the most popular, and it is considered the best-known story as well as one of the oldest in times.
Cinderella, the young woman oppressed and mistreated by the rivalry of her ugly stepmother and evil stepsisters who have a negative power over her, but at the end of the story she manages to be happy by getting married to the charming prince, has a large number of variations according to the social and cultural backgrounds where they take place, throughout the five continents and different time.
Certain groups have been identified in those versions:
• The protagonist of the story is the suffering heroine, though at the end she is recognized through a shoe and there is a turning point in her life.
• Incest also appeared in the story: the father wishes to marry her daughter and leads her to run away and be trapped in such a dreadful situation.
• King Lear’s theme: the daughter is exiled by her father because he considers her love insufficient.
• Male characters star in some versions.
Cinderella may have originated in classical antiquity:
In the 1st Century BC the Greek historian Strabo recorded what is considered the oldest well- known version of the story: the tale of a Greco-Egyptian girl called Rhodopis: One day her fellow servants left Rhodopis washing clothes in a stream while they all went to a function sponsored by the Pharaoh Amasis. An eagle took the girl's rose-gilded sandal and dropped it at the feet of the Pharaoh in the city of Memphis. Then he asked the women of the kingdom to try that sandal on in order to see which one fitted. Rhodopis succeded and the Pharaoh fell in love with her and they finally got married.
The story later appeared again showing that Cinderella theme remainded popular throughout time. perhaps the origin of the fairy tale figure can be traced back as far as the 6th Century B.C. (Ancient story-teller Aesop).
During the Middle Ages, another version of the story appeared, about in 890 in the famous “One Thousand and One Nights”: stories which dealt with the theme of a younger sibling hated by two jealous elders. In some tales the characters are female and in others they are males. One of the stories has a tragic ending since the younger brother dies after having been poisoned by his elder brothers.
There is another version originated in Japan, which tells the story of a girl who escapes from her evil stepmother with the help of Buddhist nuns and joins their convent.
The earliest European tale “The Cat Cinderella” (“La Gatta Cenerontola”) appeared in the book by the Italian collector Giambattista Basile. in 1635. The story laid the foundations for the future versions published by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.
In 1697 the most popular version of Cinderella was written by the French Charles Perrault: “Cinderella” or “The Little Glass Slipper”. Although the author added many elements to the original story, like a fairy godmother, a pumpkin, mice and a glass slipper, it became popular everywhere. It is thought that in Perrault’s original version Cinderella wore a pair of fur (pantoufle en vair), but when the story was translated into English vair was mistaken for verre (glass) resulting in glass slipper and the story has remained like that ever since.
Whenever the girl finished the housework , she sat in the cinders which caused her to be called Cinderella.
In 1812 another version of the story was written by the German Brothers Grimm. It was called “Ash Girl”, though this time there is not a fairy godmother but a hazelnut tree that grows on her mother’s grave and granted Cinderella’s wishes.
Apart from that, there is also a Chinese version, “Ye Xian”, in which the fairy Godmother is personified by a fish (instead of the pigeons of the Brothers Grimm story). The fish is the reincarnation of the dead mother who had been killed by the stepmother. In this culture people feel admiration towards little feet.
In the Scottish Celtic myth, there is a story about Gean , Donn and Critheanach. The first ones are the stepsisters and Critheanach is Cinderella.
The following is a brief revision of the patriarchal versions written by Basile, Perrault and Brothers Grimm.
lll“The Cat Cinderella” by G. Basile.
This is the story of a young woman called Zenolla who kills her wicked stepmother following the instructions given by her nursemaid, Carmosine and gets her father gets married to this woman. After reaching her objective Carmosine becomes as an evil woman as her predecessor. That is the moment when she introduces her own daughters who catch all her love and attention. Up to this time the protagonist is called Cat Cinderella. One day her
father goes on a trip and asks his daughters what they want him to bring them . The girls ask for expensive and luxury presents, except for Cat Cinderella who wants him to pray the fairies’ dove to send her something special that she does not name. However he forgets so and it is the captain of the ship who reminds him her daughter’s wish. When coming back he meets the fairies and they give him a date for her to be planted and taken care by the girl. T hat is what she does and after four days it has the size of a woman. A fairy appears from the tree and teaches Cat Cinderella a poem to be said whenever she feels sad bur warms her to do so without been discovered by her stepsisters.A few days later a ball is organized in the kingdom. Cat Cinderella’s stepsisters get ready to go though they don’t allow her to attend there, so that she asks the fairies to help her. When she arrives at the palace the king fell in surrender at her feet. One of the servants wants to know who that gorgeous woman is, so she drops some coins and runs away. The following night something similar happens, she prevents the servant from making questions to her by throwing jewels and precious stones at him. The third night she leaves a slipper on the stairs. The king organizes a new ball where all women attending the party have to try it on. This shoe-test allows the king to meet Zenolla again. They get married and her stepsisters die of envy.
In this version the narrator insists on the protagonist’s beauty which causes passion in the king but envy in her stepsisters.
lll“Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper” by C. Perrault.
There was a widower who had a beautiful and sweet tempered daughter . After some time he married a vain and naughty woman who also had two evil daughters. These girls and her mother forced the pretty girl to work hard all day long. While doing the housework she sat on the cinders which caused her to be called Cinderella. She suffered her stepmother and stepsisters’ jealousness and envy, but she couldn’t tell anything to his father about such a cruel situation because the woman had entire control over her husband.
One day the Prince organized a ball at his kingdom and invited all the young ladies so that he could choose his future wife. When the two stepsisters got the invitation they immediately made Cinderella to prepare them. The poor girl also dreamt of going to the party but her wicked stepsisters told her that a servant never attended a ball.
When everybody left to the royal palace Cinderella started to cry desperately in the kitchen. A fairy Godmother appeared and decided to help her by turning a pumpkin into a coach, a rat into a coachman, lizard into footmen and mice into horses. Though the most important thing was the change she caused on the girl for she turned her rags into a unbelievably beautiful dress which matched with a pair of glass slippers. The Godmother told Cinderella to have fun but she warmed her to come back before midnight since the spell would disappear.
At the ball, the complete audience were fascinated at Cinderella’s beauty, especially the prince who kept by her side during the whole night, even her sisters were not able to recognize her at all. Before the clock stroke twelve, she left the ball and came back home. There she thanked her Godmother for her help.
The next evening there was another ball and Cinderella again managed to go because of her fairy Godmother’s help. When the prince saw him he became even more interested in her. That night she did not take into account her godmother’s advice for she left the palace at the final stroke of midnight. While running she lost one of her glass slippers on the stairs. Outside the palace, the prince asked his guards about that woman, they answered they had only seen a simple country girl passing by. The prince picked up the slipper and kept it but he promised to find the owner of that glass shoe and marry her. In the meantime Cinderella hid the other slipped which remained in a perfect way even after the spell had gone.
The prince himself tried the shoe on all the young women in the land. When he arrived at Cinderella’s her stepsisters tried it on in vain. Then the beautiful girl asked if she could also try, and in spite of her stepsisters taunted her, she did that and of course, it fitted her perfectly well. After that, Cinderella decided to show them the other slipper.
Her stepmother and stepsisters begged Cinderella to forgive them for all their cruelties and this noble woman did so. She got married to the prince and her stepsisters married two lords. They all lived happily ever after.
key elements:
As in Basile’s story, marriage is the most valuable aim for women.
There is a moral and physical contrast between Cinderella and her stepsisters. Beauty is a treasure but goodness is priceless and without this value nothing is possible.
lll"Ash Girl” by the Brothers Grimm. 
The story also starts with the suffering heroine whose father had to go on a trip and asked his daughters to choose a present. The stepsisters wanted dresses, pearls and jewels, but Cinderella only asked for something his father touched with his hat when coming back home. That object was a branch of a hazelnut tree. Cinderella thanked her father, planted it on her mother’s grave and watered it with her own tears. After a few days it became a tall tree. Every day Cinderella sat under the hazel nut tree , wept and prayed. There was a little bird which always came there, too and sat on the tallest branches. Whenever the girl expressed a wish the bird threw down to her.
One day the king organized a festival and invited all the beautiful young women to it, he wanted his son to choose a bride. As soon as the stepsisters learned about it they made Cinderella to help them to get dressed and comb their hair. Cinderella did so but she asked her stepmother if she could also attend to the ball. The wicked woman told the suffering girl that she would let her go only if she was able to pick up a dish of lentils she had emptied into the ashes for her in two hours.
Cinderella went to the garden and asked the pigeon and all the birds and doves to help her with that difficult task and in less than one hour the kitchen was clean and bright and the birds disappeared. Later the girl took the dish to her stepmother, but she told Cinderella that she couldn’t go because she didn’t have anything to wear and everybody would laugh at her. The poor girl started to cry so the woman emptied two dishes of lentils amongst the ashes again and told her to pick them up if she really wanted her stepmother to help her with the clothes. The evil woman was sure the girl couldn’t do that again.
While weeping Cinderella begged the pigeons, the doves and the birds to help her and hardly had half an hour passed before they had finished and all flew out. Now Cinderella hoped to go to the festival with her stepsisters. However her
stepmother did not allow her go to for she couldn’t even dance. After that the stepsisters and the stepmother left proudly to the ball.
Alone Cinderella went to her mother’s grave and began to weep under the hazel tree, and prayed for a gold and silver dress. Immediately the bird came to her and gave her a gold and silver dress matching with a pair of slippers. She put on the dress and hurried to the festival.
When she arrived there nobody recognized her and everybody thought she was a foreign princess. The prince walked to her, took her hand and danced with her all night long.
Late in the evening she wanted to go home but the prince said he would go with her. The beautiful girl escaped from him and sprang into the pigeon-house. When the prince told his father what had happened, the king decided to hew the pigeon-house into pieces with an axe, but there was no one inside it. When they went home they found Cinderella sitting in the ashes since one more time the bird had helped her.
The next day when everybody had left home to attend to the festival again, Cinderella came back to the tree and repeated her wish. The bird threw down and gave her a more beautiful dress than on the previous day, and when she appeared in the royal palace everybody was even more astonished at her beauty and the prince took her hand and spent the whole evening dancing with her.
When she got ready to leave the prince told her he wanted to go with her, but again she managed to escaped by climbing a tree from which magnificent pears hung. The prince tried to follow her but he couldn’t. He told his father that he thought she had climbed up the pear-tree and the king thought of Cinderella, took an axe and cut down the tree, though nobody was there. When they got into the house the girl lay among the ashes wearing her grey dress as usual.
On the third day Cinderella was able to go to the ball again after being given a more splendid dress and golden slippers. And again the people at the festival was amazed at her unequalled beauty. The prince danced with no one else but her. When it was time to leave Cinderella escaped so quickly that the prince couldn’t follow her, but this time he had smeared the stairs with pitch so when she ran down one of her shoe got stuck on the steps. The king’s son picked it up and the following day both the king and the prince decided to knock at all the young women’s houses to find the owner of the golden slipper.
One of the two stepsisters wanted to try it on but her toe was so big that she couldn’t put it on. Her stepmother gave her a knife and told her to cut the toe off. She did so and forced her foot into the shoe and came back to the prince who took her as his bride and went away with her. On their way to the kingdom they had to pass the grave and they found two pigeons sitting on the branches of the hazelnut tree. They told the prince that there was blood falling from the shoe, since it was too small to belong to that woman, and that the true bride was still waiting for him. The prince looked at her foot and saw the blood so he decided to come back to the house.
He said that was not the right girl and there should be her sister. Now the second stepsister appeared but as her heel was too large her mother gave her a knife and made her to cut a bit off her heel, the girl obeyed her, put on the shoe swallowing the pain and went to the prince. He took her on his horse as a bride and rode away with her. When they passed by the hazelnut tree they saw the two pigeons crying and saying that there was blood running out of the shoe because it was too small for her, and that the right bride was still waiting for him.
The prince took the false woman home again and asked the father if she had another daughter, but he denied it. Then he added that he had another daughter but it was impossible that she had been to the festival. The prince asked the man to call her and although his wife said she was too dirty to be shown, the king’s son insisted on and Cinderella was called.
The prince gave her the slipper to try it on and it fitted like a glove. When she look into the king’s son’s eyes and he looked at her face, he recognized her and said that she was the right bride. He took Cinderella on his horse and left with her. The stepmother and the stepsisters were horrified with hatred.
When they passed by the tree, the two pigeons flew down and placed on Cinderella’s shoulders.
On the wedding day the stepsisters went to see Cinderella, but the pigeons pecked out their eyes from each so they became blind as a punishment for their behaviour.
Highlighted elements:
Suffering heroine.
Father’s trip and presents: Greed in contrast with unselfishness. Beauty in contrast with ugliness.
Simplicity compensated with the hazel branch.
Heroine tested twice.
Bride-show: different hiding places: the pigeon-tree, the pear-tree and the loss of the golden slipper during the third evening.
Shoe-test : Self mutilation. Heroine’s natural beauty.
Wedding day: punished stepsisters: blood and self mutilation. The pigeons symbolize Cinderella’s mother. The birds’ revenge stresses women rivalry. There is no reconciliation in this tale.
The story also starts with the suffering heroine whose father had to go on a trip and asked his daughters to choose a present. The stepsisters wanted dresses, pearls and jewels, but Cinderella only asked for something his father touched with his hat when coming back home. That object was a branch of a hazelnut tree. Cinderella thanked her father, planted it on her mother’s grave and watered it with her own tears. After a few days it became a tall tree. Every day Cinderella sat under the hazel nut tree , wept and prayed. There was a little bird which always came there, too and sat on the tallest branches. Whenever the girl expressed a wish the bird threw down to her.
One day the king organized a festival and invited all the beautiful young women to it, he wanted his son to choose a bride. As soon as the stepsisters learned about it they made Cinderella to help them to get dressed and comb their hair. Cinderella did so but she asked her stepmother if she could also attend to the ball. The wicked woman told the suffering girl that she would let her go only if she was able to pick up a dish of lentils she had emptied into the ashes for her in two hours.
Cinderella went to the garden and asked the pigeon and all the birds and doves to help her with that difficult task and in less than one hour the kitchen was clean and bright and the birds disappeared. Later the girl took the dish to her stepmother, but she told Cinderella that she couldn’t go because she didn’t have anything to wear and everybody would laugh at her. The poor girl started to cry so the woman emptied two dishes of lentils amongst the ashes again and told her to pick them up if she really wanted her stepmother to help her with the clothes. The evil woman was sure the girl couldn’t do that again.
While weeping Cinderella begged the pigeons, the doves and the birds to help her and hardly had half an hour passed before they had finished and all flew out. Now Cinderella hoped to go to the festival with her stepsisters. However her
stepmother did not allow her go to for she couldn’t even dance. After that the stepsisters and the stepmother left proudly to the ball.
Alone Cinderella went to her mother’s grave and began to weep under the hazel tree, and prayed for a gold and silver dress. Immediately the bird came to her and gave her a gold and silver dress matching with a pair of slippers. She put on the dress and hurried to the festival.
When she arrived there nobody recognized her and everybody thought she was a foreign princess. The prince walked to her, took her hand and danced with her all night long.
Late in the evening she wanted to go home but the prince said he would go with her. The beautiful girl escaped from him and sprang into the pigeon-house. When the prince told his father what had happened, the king decided to hew the pigeon-house into pieces with an axe, but there was no one inside it. When they went home they found Cinderella sitting in the ashes since one more time the bird had helped her.
The next day when everybody had left home to attend to the festival again, Cinderella came back to the tree and repeated her wish. The bird threw down and gave her a more beautiful dress than on the previous day, and when she appeared in the royal palace everybody was even more astonished at her beauty and the prince took her hand and spent the whole evening dancing with her.
When she got ready to leave the prince told her he wanted to go with her, but again she managed to escaped by climbing a tree from which magnificent pears hung. The prince tried to follow her but he couldn’t. He told his father that he thought she had climbed up the pear-tree and the king thought of Cinderella, took an axe and cut down the tree, though nobody was there. When they got into the house the girl lay among the ashes wearing her grey dress as usual.
On the third day Cinderella was able to go to the ball again after being given a more splendid dress and golden slippers. And again the people at the festival was amazed at her unequalled beauty. The prince danced with no one else but her. When it was time to leave Cinderella escaped so quickly that the prince couldn’t follow her, but this time he had smeared the stairs with pitch so when she ran down one of her shoe got stuck on the steps. The king’s son picked it up and the following day both the king and the prince decided to knock at all the young women’s houses to find the owner of the golden slipper.
One of the two stepsisters wanted to try it on but her toe was so big that she couldn’t put it on. Her stepmother gave her a knife and told her to cut the toe off. She did so and forced her foot into the shoe and came back to the prince who took her as his bride and went away with her. On their way to the kingdom they had to pass the grave and they found two pigeons sitting on the branches of the hazelnut tree. They told the prince that there was blood falling from the shoe, since it was too small to belong to that woman, and that the true bride was still waiting for him. The prince looked at her foot and saw the blood so he decided to come back to the house.
He said that was not the right girl and there should be her sister. Now the second stepsister appeared but as her heel was too large her mother gave her a knife and made her to cut a bit off her heel, the girl obeyed her, put on the shoe swallowing the pain and went to the prince. He took her on his horse as a bride and rode away with her. When they passed by the hazelnut tree they saw the two pigeons crying and saying that there was blood running out of the shoe because it was too small for her, and that the right bride was still waiting for him.
The prince took the false woman home again and asked the father if she had another daughter, but he denied it. Then he added that he had another daughter but it was impossible that she had been to the festival. The prince asked the man to call her and although his wife said she was too dirty to be shown, the king’s son insisted on and Cinderella was called.
The prince gave her the slipper to try it on and it fitted like a glove. When she look into the king’s son’s eyes and he looked at her face, he recognized her and said that she was the right bride. He took Cinderella on his horse and left with her. The stepmother and the stepsisters were horrified with hatred.
When they passed by the tree, the two pigeons flew down and placed on Cinderella’s shoulders.
On the wedding day the stepsisters went to see Cinderella, but the pigeons pecked out their eyes from each so they became blind as a punishment for their behaviour.
Highlighted elements:
Suffering heroine.
Father’s trip and presents: Greed in contrast with unselfishness. Beauty in contrast with ugliness.
Simplicity compensated with the hazel branch.
Heroine tested twice.
Bride-show: different hiding places: the pigeon-tree, the pear-tree and the loss of the golden slipper during the third evening.
Shoe-test : Self mutilation. Heroine’s natural beauty.
Wedding day: punished stepsisters: blood and self mutilation. The pigeons symbolize Cinderella’s mother. The birds’ revenge stresses women rivalry. There is no reconciliation in this tale.
jueves, 20 de agosto de 2009
Cinderella analysed by Bruno BettelheimCinderella has been considered the one of the simplest but most interesting and complete fairy tales of all times. The Austrian philosopher, Bruno Bettelheim, considers this known story has a deep meaning to bare in mind.
In his book The Uses of Enchantment, Bettelheim offers an extended Freudian's analysis of the characters, themes and different objects readers can find in the tale.
The key conflict of the story is sibling rivalry which is one of the humanity oldest problems, involves hostility between brothers and sisters and may turn itself into situations of different stages ranging from simple and common children's fights to a continuous hatred between adult siblings. Bettelheim uses Cain and Able from the Bible to support this idea of rivalry.
Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters make her work hard all the time while they just rest and see her working and go on demanding her more things to do: cleaning, sweeping, sewing, any homework they want. Consequently, she also has to deal with the oppression from who have power over her and do not appreciate her effort at all. On top of that, her stepsisters make fun of her when she wants to go to the ball. Bruno Bettelheim connects this issue to jealously, a form of sibling rivalry: he explains that a child's mind may cope with this when feeling jealous of his more talent brother or sister and especially because of his lack of confidence in himself and low self-esteem.
Bettelheim also mentions how devastated a child can be by these human miseries. For this author, Cinderella is a way children use to be able to face conscious and unconscious unpleasant feelings towards the members of their families. Cinderella helps them to deal with these issues and gives them the opportunity of splitting the two parts of a parent's role into a nurturing person, like the dead mother and a frightening evil person, the respurceful stepmother. Moreover, kids find hope in this tale for one day they will be rescued from their sad background as it happens to Cinderella. However, he claims that children reject those versions of the story in which the stepsisters are forgiven after all, as it offends children's sense of justice.
It is important to highlight that Bettelheim also points out different elements that have a special connotation:
* Ashes are considered as a trope in German folklore, the insecurities and aggessions between siblings, a child's masochistic desires to be treated like Cinderella and his dreadful feelings of worthlessness. The nest of ashes where Cinderella sits also embodies human misery and hopeless: she is a suffering young woman who serves cruel and wicked mistresses. Apart from this, ashes involve other negative symbols: pain, dirtyness and pollution. One of the central themes in the tale is bereavement, and this is evident in the symbolism of ashes since they reflect loss, death and grieving. Besides, Bettelheim also finds a positive meaning for the same element: purification: grey substance without is impurity. Cinderella gets her name from her role of hearth-keeper: while taking care of the fireplace, gets soots and cinders over her.
* Cinderella sitting by the fire is related to Vestal Virgins' duties who took care of the Holly fire serving godness Hera.
* The branch is a symbol of motherhood and godness. Oedipal conflict to be overcome, and it also counts as a falic symbol.
* Hard tasks are obstacles and previous steps necessary to reach happiness.
* Her escaping from the ball represents the young woman's desire not to be appreciated only by her physic appearance. Besides, it is sexually ambivalent: it shows her fear to lose virginity and it is also a way to protect herself. In spite of that, her going to the ball several times before giving herself to the prince reflects her desires to commit herself personally and sexually.
* Cinderella's father destroying her hides embodies a sexual attack: he does not want the prince to take her daughter. On the contrary, it also has a positive meaning: there are no more hides for her, from now on she has to face adult sexuality.
* The trap on the stairs has the aim to rob her virginity.
* The slipper and the foot are both fetishistic elements: the former is a symbol of the vagina, while the latter symbolizes the penis. He also finds echoes of menstruation in toes and heels cut off, and purity in the slipper.
* The mutilation of the stepsisters' feet involves forms of castration. Furthermore, their blindness made them think autocastration would bring them sexual happiness.
* The ball lasting three days is connected to a Christian number: three days passed before Christ's resuscitation.
* The fairy godmother in Pierrot's version is the sustitute mother, she appears to compensate the mothering absence.
jueves, 13 de agosto de 2009
Once upon a time in a far away kingdom... if you want to go on reading these marvellous fairy tales, just choose one and click:
* Little Red Riding Hood.
* Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper
* Sleeping Beauty
* The Master Cat or Puss in Boots.
* The Fairies
* Bluebeard.
Maria Tatar is a Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures. She teaches Literature for children, Folklore and German Studies at Harward University where she also chairs the Program in Folklore and Mythodology. In her books, including The Hard Facts of the Grimm's Fairy Tales (1987), Off With Their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood (1992) , The Artificial-Silk Girl (2002), The Classic Fairy Tales (1999), she analyses fairy tales from a sociological point of view for she explores their historical and social origins and the different forms these tales have had over time, their evolution, especially in Anglo-European popular culture, as well as she questions about their psychological dynamics with issues of national identity and gender.The author of The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales (2002), Secrets Beyond the Door: "Bluebeard" in Folklore, Fiction and Film (2006), The Annotated 
Brothers Grimm (2004) and The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen (published in 2007), also takes into account the harsher aspects of these stories originally written for adults: incest, murder, infanticide, cannibalism and multilation, and that had been removed or excised after their authors noticed that parents were reading those books to their children.
Brothers Grimm (2004) and The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen (published in 2007), also takes into account the harsher aspects of these stories originally written for adults: incest, murder, infanticide, cannibalism and multilation, and that had been removed or excised after their authors noticed that parents were reading those books to their children.Furthermore, this leading expert in the field of Literature for Children and Folklore takes examples from some of the best-known fairy tales archetypes and compares them to similar tales from around the world pointing out common topics and themes. In addition, Maria Tatar has analysed skillfully the different versions of a same story at different historical moments and geographical places, and highlighted how the characters have evolutionated according to the different cultures, different societies and eras. On top of that, she has presented unknown versions of the tales from a feminist point of view.
Maria Tatar argues that telling frightening stories with hostiles characters and dark aspects (like death, loss of one parent, anxiety, kids dying at the end of the tales, cruelty and fears) to young children is a way adults use to mistreat and discipline them. She claims that is time to stop casting children as villans, but to help them to understand how to live in a world ruled by adults. For this reason, she explains classics should play a key role in the lives of young readers who definitely love stimulation and visuals and really enjoy fairy tales.
domingo, 26 de julio de 2009
Kieran Egan was born in Ireland in 1942, but educated in England. He is an educational philosopher who has written about Education and Child's development. He is the director of the Imaginative Educational Research Group and currently works at Simon Fraser University. He graduated at the University of London in 1966, worked in secondary schools for two years and during a year at the Institute for Comparative Studies in Kingston-upon-Thames. After that he moved to the USA where he started his career of Philosophy of Education at Stanford University. In 1991 he was granted the Grawemeyer Award in Education and two years later was elected as the first person in Education to the Royal Society of Canada. From that moment onwards he received many other prizes because of his work.He wrote more than twenty books including: Imagination in Teaching and Learning and Children's Minds, Talking Rabbits and clockwork Oranges. In 1997 he published his major work, The Educated Mind: How Cognitive tools shape our understanding; Getting It Wrong from the Beginning: our progressivist inheritance from Herbert Spencer, John Dewey and Jean Piaget (2002) and Teaching literacy: engaging the imagination of new readers and writers (2006).
Kieran Egan created the Imaginative Pedagogy, an extremely new approach about education in which he points out the importance of imagination and fantansy as two essential elements to make learning meanful.
He tries to change the traditional focus on education according to which children learn if they undergo from the concret thinking to the abstract one. It is assumed that children's thinking is concrete, simple and engaged with their local experience, and that children's learning starts from what is known by them. He wonders how if that is so and children's minds are restricted to the everyday details of their social lives, why they are plenty of talking animanls, monsters and emotions. For this reason, Egan explains it cannot be justified that children are not taught History on their first forms at school because they lack the necessary abstract knowledge to understand it. All the contrary, this author indicates that children own the tools they need to give sense to History, learn about the past, understand the struggle for freedom and that they may use those concepts to learn about aspects of the world and experience.
For Egan, the traditional educational theory does not take into account the most valuable tools young learners have and use to give meaning to their experience and to the new information they are exposed to: these tools are imagination and fantasy.
He claims educational institutions should be less political and pay more attention to children's emotions. Consequently, he insists on the development of knowledge according to the level of comprehension of the world every child has.
The author of Teaching as Story Telling describes three stages of cognitive development: oral language, literacy tools and abstract thinking. The first one includes cognitive tools like tales, rhythm, jokes, plays, humour, fears, passions, metaphors, mystery and hopes. The second stage involves a sense of wonder and reality, idealism, revolt and leterate eye; and finally, a search for authority and truth, a sense of abstract reality and a sense of agency form part of the theoretical thinking. The acquisition of these tools leads students to their educational development.
Moreover, his theory promotes creativity in the classroom. His main purpose is to engage, stimulate and develope children's imagination and cope with the connection between the latter, emotion and learning. To get this goal he encourages teachers to use different strategies to activate students' fantasy and emotions.
Egan is convinced that children's imagination may become the basis for a successful learning and drive them to increase creativity and flexibility. However, this issue is a difficult stuff to deal with. According to him, generating images from words is relevant to imaginative development. In spite of that, traditional education almost prevents students from doing that by providing them with stereotypical features and images all the time interrupting their fantansy.
He draws on the curriculum content as a whole emphasising that the different areas of the curriculum (language, social studies, maths, science, art) should be shaped to help achieve this aim and supply what he notices as lacking: an educational theory that stresses imagination. He says it is necessary to incorporate learning activities which outline prominent characteristics of students'creativity in order to awaken imagination and intelligence in the classroom.
His approach puts meaning-centre stage. He focuses on children's fantasy stories: Egan considers crucial to know how to use the power of the story form (that is cultural universal) to teach any content in a meanful and clear way. Kieran Egan explains that story reflects an elemental and mightful form through which people make sense of the world and experience. Knowing that children are enthusiastically engaged by stories he has designed a model that highlights the power of the story form itself and employs that power in teaching. In his studies he describes some elements of stories like the binary opposites (good/bad; brave/cowardy; truth/lie; peace/violence) which are present in nearly all fairy tales and are powerful tools for acquiring, organizing and categorizing complex forms of knowledge. He considers these elements vital since they allow kids understand fairy tales in which animals and innanimate beings talk although through their experience they know that is not real, as well as to prove the significant power those tales have on children very early in life in all cultures with no time.
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