I've just spent about three hours reading the required readings for my Children's Literature course which focused exclusively on many of the fairy tales that I grew up either reading or hearing, with one major difference: they were not the Disney version. So my initial reaction was 'Wow! was this stuff really for children?' They only fairy tale that didn't seem to be modernized or Disneyfied was that of Perrault's Little Red Riding Hood. However, reading a fairy tale as an adult with the wisdom and maturity age affords, is a very different experience than having read it a young child or even adolesant. For example, when the wolf invites Little Red Riding Hood to come get in the bed, my mind could not help but to conjure images of a sexual predator inviting a young and unsuspecting youth to join him in the bed. Moreover, the wolf, like many modern day predators, seemed to have a rapid response for all the objections raised by Riding Hood. The wolf assures her that everything is okay and her valid concerns are unneccessary. What was even more alarming was how sly and cunning the wolf was in getting Riding Hood to share private information and so this fairy tale for me seems to be the most timeless of those considered in this week's unit. I believe Little Red Riding Hood goes a long way in warning naive youngster of the very real dangers lurking about.
Stories such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, on the otherhand, seemed to espose lessons of what the ideal women looks like, sounds like, and behaves like, essentially, to win/gain/attract your own Prince Charming you must be quite, beautiful, and have a fairy godmother looking out for you. Unrealistic certainly for our time period, but these fairy tales are still popular today and therefore impact the way young girls conceptualize 'beauty' and indeed their own selfworth. Fairy tales definetly have a place in children's literature and I find I rather appreciate the graphic lessons that highlight that while you might 'live happily ever after', getting there is not going to be a breeze.
I like what you said about the little red riding hood stories. When I read them initially the sexuality aspect of it did not even cross my mind. I think it was because I couldn't believe she was unknowingly devouring her grandmother and drinking her blood. It is a good point to think about and one that is still relevant for young girls in todays society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about the Little Red Riding Hood tales. I can see why the wolf might be looked at as a sexual predator. My initial reaction to the stories was also that of surprise. I can't imagine young children reading such stories. Then again, given the time period and issues of that time, tales like these probably weren't shocking at all. Little Red Riding Hood, like you said, would have been looked at as an effective way to warn young children, especially young girls, about sexual predators and other dangers.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to analyze/reflect on things that we read as children and are now re-reading or reading different versions of (that I never new existed) as adults. I think reading Little Red Riding Hood as a child made me afaid of woolves or forests; I am not sure if I learned a "lesson" from it. Now, I see where the moral lies and the lessons that could be learned although a bit scewed with the sexual undertones and other odd implications.
ReplyDeleteThe version of LRRH that I am accustomed to seemed, to me, to be a basic "stranger danger" lesson - children shouldn't walk in the forest by themselves, and definitely shouldn't talk to shady characters like the Big Bad Wolf. It is interesting to consider the implications of the story in different places and times. The very explicit threat of a sexual predator emphasized in the version Darnton gives us was surprising to me. In many ways LRRH is like Peter and the Wolf, and it might be interesting to analyze how the stories operate differently with male and female protagonists, and how different readers respond to different versions.
ReplyDeleteI never used to think that the wolf could be a sexual predator, but it makes sense since the moral is don't talk to strangers, or go off the designated path. After reading your blog I don't think I can read Little Red Riding Hood in the same way. Especially the since the version with the ogar is the one that represents the human aspect of perversion more than the ones that involve a wolf.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird to think of Sleeping Beauty as presenting an idealized vision of what a woman should be, because she spends most of it sleeping. That's like, the ultimate in feminine passivity! Cinderella is a little more complicated, because it has so many different types of female characters -- Cinderella herself, the pure and innocent heroine, her evil stepmother & stepsisters, the benevolent fairies who engineer her liberation from her oppressive circumstances. Too bad the form that liberation takes is the prince, who probably isn't a modern enlightened dude.
ReplyDeleteLooking back at the fairy tales with the advantage (or disadvantage) of retrospect was definitely more unnerving than I thought it would be. The stories seem to lose their splendor at times and I become disenchanted of their magic. However, to further destabilize my analyze, there are certain tales I am enjoying now more than ever because of the informed reading experience and age brings. Note that earlier I said the "disadvantage" of retrospect and humor me by thinking of the innocence you might have still harbored in the fairy tales. Re-reading years later extinguishes, or at least diminishes, the roe-colored glasses POV. Whether this is an asset or a tragedy is debatable. I, for one, believe it can be both and the dualism should exist to better shape an individual.
ReplyDelete