Fairytales: Fantasy, Myth, Realism…… and what else?
By Priyanjali Sharma (AIII-C) Monday, Oct 10, 2022
I feel that we're not giving children enough credit for distinguishing what's right and what's wrong. As a young girl, I devoured fairy tales. I certainly didn't believe that kissing frogs would lead me to a prince, that eating a mysterious apple would poison me, or that with the magical "Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo" I believe it's much better to engage in a dialogue with children to explain the difference between fantasy and reality. Then they are better equipped to deal with people who might have taken it too far.”― J. K. Rowling.
Fairy tales and bedtime stories like Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty, and the Beast are an integral part of almost everyone’s childhood. Generations and generations have memories of reading exactly these same stories as children. The imagery and the aura of the characters from these stories are almost profound and imperishable. They influence the mindset of young children and always stay with them.
The handsome prince saving the poor lady from her toxic environment, the envy of the witch towards the gorgeous and young princess leading her to harm the princess, and the stepmother’s thrust to be the most charming and witty woman in the kingdom is the basic framework around which most of these stories revolve. The stories have the same structure and characters with different villains wanting to harm the sweet innocent girl.
This makes us realize that even in the fantasy world, where subconscious minds are working at their best, there is a nearly asymmetrical pattern of depiction of gender. In most fairy tales, women work against each other or under the benignity of the male protagonist. Youthfulness and physical beauty are almost synonymous traits of women, just as strength, savior, and chivalry are the reflections of manhood.
"Once upon a time, there was a gorgeous princess. They forced her to do something against her will because of her vile stepmother or a family member's mistake, but, hey! The obvious plot twist is that a handsome young prince saved her life, and they lived a happy married life together.“
Fairy tales convey a message that is not set in reality, which leads to a false interpretation of one’s future by the children reading them. I wish some storytellers could portray reality rather than fantasy. The subtle messages of femininity being the weaker sex needing stronger external support may be replaced with able and dynamic women strategizing ways and means to come out of the adversities faced by them. I hope some writer would finally write a character whom I can relate with, a girl full of flaws and imperfections who fights for herself without waiting for someone to come save her.
