ENGB03H3 Lecture Notes - Shared Experience, Antihero, Lightning
Document Summary
Traditional fairytales including rumpelstiltskin and hansel and gretel are passed down to children from preceding generations primarily as cautionary tales aimed at deterring bad behaviour. However, while a comparison of these two narratives will reveal that both belong to the fairytale genre, and thus are told mainly to children, a comparison will also reveal that within this genre exists a disparate range of complexity. To illustrate, rumpelstiltskin is overladen with dialectic allegory, the physical attributes of its characters are scarcely described, and its moral is not easily established. In contrast, the detailed yet simplistic narrative of hansel and gretel makes it an easy read, especially for children. In addition, as a result of its simplicity, unlike rumpelstiltskin , the moral hansel and gretel is very easily ascertained. The difference in the level of analysis required from each text suggests to me that fairytales are suitable not only for children but for older analytical minds as well.