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Author
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Comment
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dagny
Unregistered User
(2/8/05 12:10 pm)
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looking for conflicted characters
hello, im working on getting together a thesis topic, around fairy tales, and am looking for characters that are neither good nor evil, but seem to be torn between the two..
as most fairy tales use archetypes of good and evil, it is no easy task. anyone have any suggestions? thanks
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gigi
Unregistered User
(2/8/05 1:11 pm)
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trickster
tricksters such as Anansi seem to be neither good nor evil and the fairies in Irish farytales seem to be not good but not evil either.
hope this helps
:)
gigi
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kristiw
Unregistered User
(2/8/05 1:41 pm)
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trickster
I agree, tricksters are definitively neither good nor evil. I always find it interesting how their ambiguous moral footing is incompatible with monotheistic religions that see things more starkly:
when pagan religions where the duality is one of order and chaos as equally necessary and balancing forces are overlaid with Christianity and its good-evil binary, the tricksters stay tricky, but we stop laughing at their jokes.
On the subject of conflicted characters, would reformed characters suit your purposes? There are a lot of stories about princes and princesses who, while not paragons of virtue, become better people through their adventures.
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Helen J Pilinovsky
Registered User
(2/8/05 7:37 pm)
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Re: trickster
You might also look at otherworld figures who are trapped between their homes and their captors ... figures such as Melusine, or more generally, selkies, swan-maidens, and the like.
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Erica Carlson
Registered User
(2/8/05 9:29 pm)
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Re: trickster
There are also several helper characters, such as the wife of the giant who hides Jack, who seem to be not quite good and not quite evil. I guess the problem with them is that they usually appear only briefly in tales.
Erica
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Crceres
Registered User
(2/9/05 9:16 am)
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Conflicted characters
While Evnissyen (Welsh myth cycle) is pretty evil most of the time, what with screwing up the lives of his siblings, you could look at him as being conflicted. It's one of those dual-nature examples, between good (Nissyen) and evil (Evnissyen).
In the Luck Child (Jim Henson's Storyteller has a nice version) there is a boatman and a robber, both 'morally ambiguous'--they are willing to take advantage of others, but help out the hero.
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Random
Registered User
(2/9/05 4:47 pm)
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Re: Conflicted Characters
The Grimms published the story <a href="http://www.4literature.net/Jacob_and_Wilhelm_Grimm/Devil_s_Sooty_Brother/" target="_new">"The Devil's Sooty Brother"</a> where the Devil is not portrayed in a particularly evil light (he helps the soldier and not only upholds his end of the bargain in giving the soldier wealth, but helps him regain the treasure that the innkeeper steals, which is really rather kind). Nothing bad happens to the main character as a result of the bargain - in fact, he marries a princess - though he himself is shown to be somewhat malicious, delighting in the torment of his former superior officers.
Baba Yaga is also a morally ambiguous character who is sometimes a villain, but sometimes helps the characters, as in <a href="http://www.geocities.com/igorbyz_rf5/vasilissa.html" target="_new">"Vasilissa the Fair"</a> (sorry about the geocities - that was the only online version I could find).
I personally have always disliked the soldier in Hans Cristian Andersen's <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/17/3/18.html" target="_new">"The Tinder-Box"</a>, who got what he wanted by murdering an old woman, kidnapping a princess and bullying the general populace who eventually support him out of fear. However, he is the main character who triumphs and is rewarded in the end - his actions are what I would call bad, but he is nonetheless a "good guy".
There is also <a href="http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/rumpelstiltskin/index.html" target="_new">Rumpelstiltskin</a>, who helped the miller's daughter three times, naming his terms clearly, then took pity on her when she refused to uphold her end of the bargain and allowed her a chance to get out of it. However, the nature of the bargain and the way that he is presented make him out to be more a villain than his actions indicate.
The witch in <a href="http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/rapunzel/index.html" target="_new">"Rapunzel"</a> seems less evil than misguided - she locks Rapunzel in the tower with the intention of keeping her safe from the world. In some versions, she forgives the couple after they find each other again.
I don't know if any of that was the sort of thing you wanted, but I hope it was useful.
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Random
Registered User
(2/9/05 4:50 pm)
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Re: Conflicted Characters
And oops, forgot to enable HTML on that. Those links ought to be:
"The Devil's Sooty Brother"
"Vasilissa the Fair"
"The Tinder-Box"
Rumpelstiltskin
and "Rapunzel".
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