Bettelheim Fairy Tales

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Research Based Analysis The thrill and excitement created in fairy tales is ideal for entertaining young children. Important life lessons may seem subtle in fairy tales, but if one pays attention closely there are obvious messages the story is sending to the reader. In the article “Fairy Tales and Modern Stories” by Bruno Bettelheim, Bettelheim provides a series of examples of the effect fairy tales have on a reader. The effect is solely based upon the current life the reader has and which tale the reader reads. Another article, “An Introduction to Fairy Tales” by Maria Tatar, introduces the basic principles and themes brought across from fairy tales. Tatar also explains how the plot of the stories is teaching young children to follow in …show more content…
Childhood is a one time opportunity where a person may dream without facing the facts of reality. Uno states in her article, “This stage of life is perhaps the only stage, in which one is not afraid to dream and dream unabashedly, with no thought for the possible or impossible.” There is no person disclaiming the imagination of a developing child. The imagination provoked in a fairy provides the reader with the ability to think out of the box. Bettelheim provides an example of young girl who utilizes the story “The Swiss Family Robinson” in her time of distress. The story is about a shipwrecked family who manage to survive together on a deserted island. The little girl who repeatedly read this story imagined her family and herself on that island together. “The happy hours she spent with the Family Robinson in that fantasy land permitted her not to be defeated by the difficulties that reality presented her” (304-305). The little girl was being shuttled between institutions away from her mentally ill mother and distant father. Without the fairy tale providing her the escape from reality she needed, she would have lived a very different life. Tatar claims in her article, “Some of us once read ‘as if for life,’ using books not merely as consolation but as a way of navigating reality, of figuring out how to survive in a world ruled by adults” (306). Children need relief after a long day of being commanded by adults and use …show more content…
Many readers believe they should be rescued from their problems instead of searching for solutions themselves. Bettelheim provides an example of a motherless daughter who receives enormous amount of freedom. When her father remarries she is given a somewhat strict mother who does not allow her to have complete freedom like she used to. The little girl reflects back to the story of “Rapunzel” which is a story about an adolescent girl being locked away in a tower awaiting the rescue by a prince. “The girl felt imprisoned in her new home, in contrast to her life of freedom” (305). Although the mother was being a concerned parent the daughter felt she was being treated unfairly. Instead of talking to her mother about the issue she was “convinced … that a prince (her father) would come someday and rescue her” (305). The story of “Rapunzel” put unrealistic expectations in her mind, and because of her delusional expectations she did not resolve her issues with her step mother. Marriage is another key example for why fairy tales are unrealistic. “Many women end up waiting out for their man that fits the image of 'Prince Charming' and who will ride in on a steed and rescue them – whereas the reality is often a beer-guzzling sports fan” (Danish). The ‘Prince Charming’ of men is expected to approach the woman and replicate a polite, handsome prince. This shows young girls
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