Fairy Tales: History and Characteristics

• Madame d’Aulnoy, a French writer, created the word "fairy tale" in the late 17th century
• Charles Perrault's retellings of old fairy tales were more popular at the time
• The term "folklore" was first defined by English antiquarian William Thoms in 1846 in a letter to The Athenaeum magazine
• Welsh Mabinogion tales from the 14th century served a spiritual or religious function
• These folklores lack real people, places, or events, stories begin with "once upon a time..."
• Readers expect magic, reward, revenge, typical characters, and a happy ending
• Fairy tales employ plain styles and straightforward imagery, avoiding poetic or literary references and realism

Before Grimm's Fairy Tales:

• c. 1350-1410: Oral Welsh tales compiled in the Mobinogion, the earliest British prose literature
• 1697: Charles Perrault, a French author, created Tales of Mother Goose, a collection of rewritten and original stories
• 1782-87: Johann Karl August Musaus, a German author, published a satirical folk series

After Grimm's Fairy Tales:

• 1835-49: Finish folklore celebrated in the epic poem the Kalevala by Elias Lonnrot

• 1841: Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe published the Norwegian Folktales

• 1979: Angela Carter wrote The Bloody Chamber to challenge traditional folktale portrayals of women

• "Grimm's Fairytale" focuses on folklore collections written into one text

• These collections compile cultural traditions like oral history, fairy tales, and popular briefs from the Middle Ages

• The Brothers Grimm aimed to identify and preserve the spirit of the people by recording fairy tales across their culture

• Their collection was inspired by a rise in nationalism and cultural pride, which was a common interest among European scholars

• The Grimms' work, reflected in their Children's and Household Tales, is the most significant body of stories collected in Europe

• W H Auden considered Grimms' tales as a foundation of Western culture

• The Grimms' sources generally came to them, and some stories were already written down

• The Grimms initially wrote for adults

• Edgar Taylor's successful English translation in 1823 led them to sanitize the German stories for children

• The first version of “Rapunzel” referred to her pregnancy, which was later changed to her simply fattening in the revised version

• The French Cinderella, Cendrillon, forgives her stepsisters, while in the Grimms' version, Cinderella's helper-birds blind them

• Despite violence, the tales remain popular and have been reinterpreted across various media

• The romantic "Once upon a time" continues to appeal with happy endings

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm:

• The Brothers Grimm were German academics, cultural researchers, linguists, and lexicographers
• Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859)
• They were raised in Hanau, Hesse
• They were educated at the University of Marburg, with the help of an aunt
• The Grimms established an early methodology for collecting folk stories, now the basis of folklore studies
• They were philologists and worked on a 32-volume German dictionary, unfinished in their lifetimes

Pride and Prejudice:

• The early to mid-18th century saw the rise of the novel and Romanticism in literature
• The novel of manners emerged in England, emphasizing beliefs, manners, and social structures over emotions
• Jane Austen's novels satirize the social mores of the English country gentry and the overindulgent drama of Gothic Romanticism
• Austen highlights the vulgarities and folies of the English upper classes, such as the importance of rank and the system of patronage

Before Pride and Prejudice:

• 1740: Samuel Richardson's Pamela, about a servant girl climbing social ranks, considered an early novel of manners

After Pride and Prejudice:

• 1847: Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre critiques Victorian class divisions and prejudice

• 1847-48: William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair satirizes social life's duplicity through Becky Sharp

• 1905: Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth reflects social-economic and moral constraints on women

• Pride and Prejudice follows the Bennet sisters seeking eligible bachelors

• Marriage was crucial for women to maintain or improve social status

• The novel is told through Elizabeth Bennet's eyes, who finds Fitzwilliam Darcy arrogant

• Bingley likes Elizabeth's older sister, Jane

• Lydia elopes with George Wickham, Darcy helps

• Elizabeth and Darcy grow as characters and overcome pride and prejudice

• Good breeding doesn't equate to good manners

• Jane Austen was born in 1775 in Stevenson rectory, Hampshire, England

• She read voraciously and began writing early, producing First Impressions (early Pride and Prejudice) from 1796-1797

• She moved to Chawton, Hampshire, in 1809 and wrote daily, observing genteel life

• She never married, despite writing about marriage, and died in 1817 at 41

Ashputtel vs. Cinderella:

• Ella's nickname is Ashputtel in Grimms' version due to sleeping near the hearth, while Disney's version doesn't specify
• Grimms' version details Cinderella's mother's death, while Disney's only mentions her father being a widow
• In Grimms', the father is alive and allows the stepmother to be cruel; in Disney's, the father dies
• The King in Disney wants a grandchild, so a ball is held for his son to find a wife; the Prince in Grimms' holds a royal celebration to find his bride
• Cinderella gains the ability to go to the ball if chores are completed; Ashputtel is the same
• In Disney, mice friends transform her dress using stolen materials; no mice friends in Grimms'
• In Grimms', Ashputtel's bird friends help her complete tasks.
• Disney: pumpkin becomes a coach, mice become horses, etc.; dress is blue and white.
• Grimm: Hazel tree above mother's grace grants gold/silver dress and golden slippers.
• In Disney, protective figures include mice, birds, a dog, and a fairy godmother; in Grimms', it's only a bird nested above the mother's grave
• Cinderella leaves because it nears midnight, or when her makeup wears off
• Ashputtel escapes into the pigeon house and up a pear tree
• In Disney, stepsisters can't fit their feet; in Grimms', they cut off their heels and toes
• The Prince is alerted to the stepsisters lying due to two carrier pigeons who peck their eyes out, where they will live their lives as blind beggers

Similarities between both versions:

• Ella remains the name in both versions(with different nicknames)
• Stepmother/stepsisters treat Cinderella poorly
• Loses her slipper
• Prince marries slipper owner
• Slipper fits perfectly.

Pride and Prejudice Adaptations:

• This book has 10 Film/Series Adaptations
  • Pride and Prejudice (1940, 1952, 1958, 1967, 1980, 1995, 2005)
  • Bride & Prejudice (2004)
  • The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012-2013)
  • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
• The 1995 BBC Mini-Series is the Definite Adaption to many british fans.