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Author
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Comment
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jadee
Unregistered User
(10/26/03 8:29 am)
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Use of Personification in Fairy Tales
I am trying to find out how personification is used in fairy tales..
more specifically in Little Red Cap, White Snake, PUss in Boots,
The Three Little Pigs, and Bremen Town Musicians. I haven't really
been able to find many resources for research.. i've tried using
Bettleheim's The Uses of Enchantment and Maria Tatar's The Hard
Facts of the Grimm Fairy Tales. If anyone has any insight or any
suggestions please let me know thanks!!
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ARTSFAN
Registered User
(10/26/03 11:18 am)
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Personification in Fairy Tales
Personification is when an animal, inanimate object, etc. is given
human characteristics. The Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood (Little
Red Cap), The cat in Puss in Boots, the Three Little Pigs, and the
Bremen Town Musicians all have the ability to speak, a characteristic
supposedly not possible to animals in reality. The Wicked Queen's
mirror not only has the ability to speak, but also has infinite
knowledge. There are many, many uses of personification in fairy
tales, but I hope this is a helpful start.
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Jess
Unregistered User
(10/28/03 10:04 am)
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Interesting article on the Wolf
In Ruth Bottigheimer's "Illusion, Allusion and Paradigm" , there is a fascinating article about the Criminology of Grimms' Fairy Tales by, I believe, Carl Moueller. Within this article he suggests that "Wolf" is really an outlaw or exile as defined in medival law. He draws analogies and studies the etymology of the German/Latin "vargus" and notes that the term means both outlaw and wolf. Thus, he suggests that the Wolf in Grimms' is figuratively, literally and legally a wolf/outlaw. One could then argue that the predator in Red Cap is using both the animal and the human characteristics of the wolf.
One should note that the author has acknowledged that this analysis has gotten little attention and/or been debunked by those studying fairy tales in the psychoanalytic area. Nevertheless, he sticks with his theory.
The book is a little difficult to get a hold of, but probably well worth your time.
Jess
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