The Intrinsic Value of Fairy Tales
Fairy tales instill a positive psychological attitude in young people which
stays with them throughout their lives. The stories encourage the use of
creative wisdom when facing life's difficulties. Dr. Bruno Bettelheim, a
world-renowned psychologist, has made a detailed study which supports the
theory that there are many psychological benefits children gain from reading
fairy tales. Bettelheim discusses the many conflicting situations in the
various stories, including good versus evil, beautiful versus ugly, and
the hero--with whom the young reader identifies--versus the villain and
concludes:
Then the child has a basis for understanding that there are great differences
between people, and that therefore one has to make choices about who one
wants to he. This basic decision, on which all later personality development
will build, is facilitated by the polarizations of the fairy tale. (9)
Obviously, Bettelheim believes that children's perspectives can be sharpened
at the same time they are enjoying the tale. Thus he emphasizes that the
young reader's "Choices are based, not so much on right versus wrong,
as on who arouses his sympathy rather than his antipathy" (9).
I chose five fairy tales to analyze, and they were as enjoyable for me to
read now, as an adult, as they were when I initially read them years ago.
I consider such tales literature of a caliber equal to other colorful stories
with simple plots and beguiling characters. These stories, with such universal
appeal, have interested people of all ages through the centuries; otherwise,
they would not have been passed along by song, word of mouth, drama, and
print. In fact, Roger Sale, a professor of English Literature and an authority
on fairy tales, explains that the stories were originally meant for adults:
The crucial point about fairy tales is that they became children's literature
but were nothing of the sort for most of their long years of existence.
Indeed, fairy tales could not have been children's literature originally,
because, at least in our sense, children and childhood did not exist until
recent centuries. (183)
Despite Sale's hint that fairy tales were not intended for children, these
works of art have shown their adaptability and immortality, for all of us
(especially the children) have heard them read or have seen them dramatized.
The five tales I will discuss include "The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf"'
by Aesop, a Phrygian slave who lived in the sixth century before Christ;
"Henny Penny," a traditional English folk tale; and "The
Fisherman and His Wife" by the German brothers, Jacob Grimm (1785-1863)
and Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859), who are well-known as the collectors and
guardians of the tales' oral heritage. The last two works are by Hans Christian
Andersen (1805-1875), who was born in the Danish island of Fuen and who
was known as a creator, not a collector, because he made each story his
own by the influence of his sensitive personality. I have chosen to discuss
Andersen's "The Princess and the Pea" and "The Emperor's
New Clothes.
I enjoy reading all fairy tales because of the irony of the plots, the charm
of the quaint atmospheres, and the satisfaction of the conclusions. And,
although critics such as Sale have pointed out that the tales were really
aimed at adults, those that I have chosen are directed at both innocent
and experienced readers. There are, however, a few stories, such as the
notorious "Bluebeard," that are too macabre; and, even though
I would not prohibit children from reading such tales, I do not recommend
them for innocent readers. Fairy tale critic Jean P. Colby would agree with
me, for she says, "Unless (the young reader] is very well oriented,
fairy stories should be used carefully. Some of them are quite frightening"
(27).
When reading "The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf'," I am always impressed
at the emphasis Aesop places on the importance of being trustworthy. The
young boy in the story is bored with tending the sheep and protecting them
from the wolf. Craving excitement he calls for help from the wolf when he
does not need it. When the villagers rush to his rescue, he laughs at them.
After several fabricated calls for help, the people end up ignoring the
boy; and, when he really does need help, they scoff at his pleas (rpt. in
Dolch, Dolch, and Jackson 67). The story's moral is that deceitful people
end up being their own worst enemies. To find such a strong statement for
ethical conduct in a folk tale might surprise some people, but it is a facet
of such tales that is recognized by no less a scholar than G. K. Chesterton,
who wrote:
"If you really read the fairy-tales, you will observe that one
idea runs from one end of them to the other--the idea that peace and happiness
can only exist on some condition. This idea, which is the core of ethics,
is the core of the nursery-tales." (Qtd. in Opie and Opie 9)
I find an equally wise inference in the English folktale "Henny Penny."
After being struck on the head by an acorn, Henny Penny, not knowing what
has happened and assuming the worst, runs blindly through the countryside,
warning everyone that the sky is falling (rpt. in Rackham 60). As the story
ends, she is lucky to be alive as a result of her careless journey. Thus,
the reader is shown an excellent example of the futility of losing one!s
composure, especially from false assumptions.
"The Fisherman and His Wife" is the tale of a kind fisherman and
his greedy wife who live together on the seashore in an unkempt shack. One
day the man catches a magic flounder; and, because he is kind enough to
return it to the sea, the man can have any wish granted that he desires.
The man is contented with this good fortune, but his wife is dissatisfied.
First she asks for a better house, then a palatial house. Soon she asks
to be made king, then emperor. The flounder fulfills all the requests until
the wife demands to be made the Lord God. Disgusted with the wife, the flounder
returns the couple to their original circumstances (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm)
. Perhaps the wife is too proud to learn her lesson. But the reader realizes
that undeserved grandeur does not satisfy, and that one should not take
advantage of another's generosity.
"The Princess and the Pea" tells us of the plight of a Prince
who seeks to wed a Princess of noble lineage. He searches in vain throughout
the land and finally returns home. In the midst of a stormy night, a young
lady comes to the castle door. She is disheveled from the weather, but she
claims to be a real Princess. The Queen tests the girl's delicate nature
by placing a pea beneath the twenty mattresses that the girl is to sleep
upon. In the morning, the girl is bruised because "she had felt the
pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty feather-beds. Nobody
but a real Princess could have such tender skin as that" (Andersen
27-8). In this tale, we are reassured that our true worth will be recognized
and appreciated.
Touches of satire highlight "The Emperor's New Clothes." The Emperor
is an excessively vain ruler who is overly concerned about his attire. In
an attempt to be better dressed than anyone else, he becomes a pawn of two
swindlers who cunningly take advantage of his pride. The two men tell the
Emperor that they can weave cloth that is so special, it can only be seen
by superior people. They tell him that the cloth will be invisible to those
who are not fit for their posts or who are stupid. Unsure of his true worth,
the Emperor not only pays the men a great sum of money for clothes that
he cannot see, but he praises the beauty of the cloth that is not there.
A parade is planned so that all the villagers can admire the Emperor's new
outfit. Each person doubts his or her worth and assumes that the other person
can see the cloth. As the Emperor struts along the road, a youth is startled
to see the ruler's lack of attire and calls out that the Emperor has nothing
on. The vain and foolish ruler continues to parade along in the midst of
the murmuring villagers who have accepted the truth (Andersen 64-8). What
better example can we have than "The Emperor's New Clothes" to
realize that we should accept our true selves and to see things as they
are?
The importance of emphasizing the tales' positive attributes is cited by
Colby, who states, "The three-to-five-year-old needs books for wholesome
entertainment, reassurance, the widening of his world and the increase of
his knowledge" (27). The fact that there are such large numbers of
children and adults who enjoy reading fairy tales certainly suggests that
the stories influence our society. But some people think that this influence
is a negative one. In fact, according to some authorities, sex and death
permeate fairy tales. However, reviewer Margaret McDonald discusses such
analyses of fairy tales in an article entitled "Freud Meets Hansel
and Gretel" and states:
While we may find little to quarrel with in the interpretations themselves--they
are true to the classical analytic tradition--we may well object to the
cliches and stereotypes that are thrown in for good measure, which ignore
or (worse) deny the social changes of the last quarter-century. (76)
And many others are of the same opinion as John Leo, who wrote that "the
magic of the stories has withstood the centuries, and will survive analysis
too" (68).
The value of the positive factors prevalent in fairy tales has been brought
to the public's attention through the release of films that could be described
as fairy tales. We are all aware of recent releases, such as the Star
Wars series; like this summer's hit, the unique film The Neverending
Story, they are brilliant fairy tales. In The Neverending Story,
the young hero survives a troubled period in his life by relating to the
fairy characters in the books he reads. Michael Blowen, film critic, tells
us "The boy takes refuge from these daily difficulties by reading adventure
stories" ("From dark 'Das Boot'" B-1) Blowen sounds very
much like Bettelheim here, as he does in a second review when he states:
But [the boy] needs daydreams to keep at bay the reality of a pragmatic
father and the humiliating abuse heaped on him by school bullies. Imagination
is his weapon against the overwhelming depression that threatens him. ("A
Never-ending Delight" 23)
The film is being considered one of the best summer movies of 1984, and
it is being heralded for including an uplifting conclusion that seems to
inspire the audience. I include this brief discussion of The Neverending
Story to emphasize my point that more and more people are seeing the
value of fairy stories.
There are many good reasons why we should participate in fairy tales. Emphasizing
the intrinsic value of the positive psychological factors in the tales seems
unnecessary to convince anyone of the tales' worth. The timeless tales can
be appreciated for their own merits: they have value as works of literature
and as pieces of entertainment. Nevertheless, for even greater appreciation,
readers (and viewers) should be aware that the tales do instill positive
psychological values.
Works Cited
Aesop. "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." Rpt. in Aesop's Stories. Ed.
W. Edward Dolch, Marguerite P. Dolch, and Beulah F. Jackson. Champaign,
Ill: Garrard Publishing Co., 1951. 67.
Andersen, Hans Christian. "The Emperor's New Clothes." Rpt. in
Eighty Fairy Tales. Trans. Richard Prescott Keigwin. New York: Pantheon
Books, 1982. 64-8.
- - -. "The Princess and the Pea." Rpt. in Eighty Fairy Tales.
Trans. Richard Prescott Keigwin. New York: Pantheon Books, 1982. 27-8.
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. New York: Doubleday &
Co., Inc., 1978.
Blowen, Michael. "From dark 'Das Boot' to a Brilliant fairy tale."
The Boston Globe 15 June 1984: B-l.
- - - . "A Never-ending Delight." The Boston Globe 20 June
1984: 23. Colby, Jean Poindexter. Writing, IllustratingandEditingchildren's
Books. New York: Hastings House, 1967.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. The Fisherman and His Wife. Trans. Randall
Jarrell. New York: Eastern Press, Inc., 1980.
Leo, John. "Sex, Death and Red Riding Hood." Time 19 March
1984 68.
McDonald, Margaret. "Freud meets Hansel and Gretel." Psychology
Today June 1984: 76.
Opie, lona and Peter. The Classic Fairy Tales. London: Oxford University
Press, 1974.
Rackham, Arthur, ed. Fairy Book. New York: Weathervane Books, 1928.
Sale, Roger. "Fairy Tales Were Not Composed For Children."
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and
Leonard Rosen. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1982. 180-8.
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