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Comment
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sarah
Registered User
(9/28/04 11:46 am)
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Villians in Traditional Fairytales
Hi everyone, I've stumbled upon this website when doing research for my english essay based on villians in fairytales and I was just wondering what everyones opinions are on these questions that are the basis of my paper.
Do traditional tales present us with hereos and villians that are are completely clear in meaning, or are there shades of grey that have been exploited by modern authors of past works pressent in the originals?? Do villians have sympathetic characteristics? Can they be read as anything other then characters of 'good' and 'evil'? Do villians invite there own persecution?
Thanks for your help in advance.
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Helen
J Pilinovsky
Registered User
(9/28/04 12:10 pm)
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Re: Villians in Traditional Fairytales
Hm. I think that the answers to your questions might depend largely on the national origins of the tales in question. Many German tales are marked by a certain straightforwardness. For example, the witch in Hansel and Gretel isn't really a tremendously complex figure ... no mixed motivations, just hunger. However, her Russian counterpart - sorry for always bringing up the Russians! - Baba Yaga, is a very ambiguous figure, who helps or harms not only on the basis of her own predilections, but also in response to the actions taken by the protagonists. Consider the story of Vaslissa the Beautiful, which is frequently compared to the tale of Cinderella, but which could easily be paralleled to H&G: a woman resenting a child in her household places her into a dangerous situation involving a witch, hoping to be rid of her once and for all. Here, however, the witch isn't the main villain; the stepmother is. In fact, the witch acts the role of a helper figure when she is, a) impressed by the child's skills and manners, b) made aware of the protection afforded to the child by her innocence, and c) possessed of a certain fury at being so manipulated. Not only does she send Vasilissa home safe and uneaten, but she makes sure to exact retribution upon the unscrupulous mother-figure, partially out of pique at being used, and partially out of sympathy for our heroine.
BTW, your first question is phrased in a confusing manner - are you referring to contemporary authors writing retellings today, or to the then-modern authors who penned the "original" tales?
Edited by: Helen J Pilinovsky at: 9/28/04 12:12 pm
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redtriskell
Registered User
(9/30/04 12:43 am)
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good and evil
I have to agree with Helen. The complexity of various bad guys in fairy tales depends very much on where and when the tale is from. I think the Queen in Snow White is fairly clear-cut; but, in response to the second part of your question, I also think modern writers have enlarged her- made her more relatable. I think the good/evil characters need to be obvious for children. The in-between areas of human motivation that are neither good nor evil are the province of adults. Not to imply that kids can't understand subtlety, they can; but more to suggest that kids seem to prefer a clear villain who gets what they deserve-ie, a horrible fate- in the end. If you remember that fairy tales served the important purpose of passing on societal codes, it makes sense for the evildoers to be really evil and the hero/ines to be really good. I think the best part of fairy tales today is that modern authors have taken the bones of these stories and made them into new things. They've added complexities and motivations and backgrounds that make these tales work for a modern reader. I think it's pretty obvious, now, that not all parents are good, that evil can hide behind a beautiful face, that love comes in many guises; but when these stories were younger, these ideas were fairly radical. Current writers use our society as a backdrop for their retellings and they need to account for our sensibilities, so their creations are more ambiguous and interesting to us. As a side note, I also imagine our versions of these tales would not have been so popular with audiences then because of the ambiguity. Good luck on your paper.
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