Have you ever thought that children fairytales might not be as innocent as what they appear to be???

Question

Maybe a deeper, twisted meaning??

Answer 1

Oh yes, most are really quite macabre when you think about it - Hansel & Gretel, for example, are taken into the woods to starve by their parents, and lose their way. They then find a gingerbread house, but get trapped and fattened to be eaten by a witch - it's really quite gruesome, with Hansel trying desperately to make the witch think he's thin so that she doesn't eat him yet.

Little Red Riding Hood - people get eaten by a wolf!

Even the fairytales that have become very romanticised often had a slightly more gruesome twist to them to start with, for example Cinderella. In the original, the the first ugly sister cuts off her toes to fit into the glass slipper, so the prince takes her back to the caste but is warned by a bird that her shoe is dripping blood, so he takes her back to her home, only to be tricked by the second sister who has cut off her heel, and is again betrayed by the blood in the shoe.

I think there's a lot of old magic in fairytales - the number three appears over and over again (tasks are completed three times, or over three nights - like the three trips with the glass slipper in Cinderella, the three nights guessing names with Rumplestiltskin, three trips into the forest for Hansel and Gretel), blood is also prevalent (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rose Red and Rose White) - there are some old meanings behind these tales!

The version of the Little Mermaid above (written by Hans Christian Anderson) is very sad - as is the snow queen (about a boy whose heart is turned to ice by an evil snow queen).

I find it interesting that some people above think that fairytales were originally innocent and have become violent - it is very much the other way around - these are dark little tales that have been given the Victorian moral treatment and then been Disneyed (and I love Disney, I do, but I think they should leave our fairytales alone!!).

I also had a giggle about 'you have to remember some of these are written by non-religious people' - these stories are OLD!! They have been told and retold by the fire for ages past since the druids, most of them - all the older ones are non-religious, and thank God for that.

Answer 2

I know they have a deeper meaning. Even children's nursery rhymes have scary beginnings. Remember the innocent "Ring around the Rosie"? It dates back to the Black Plague. "Ring around the rosie" referred to the red circular marks that appeared on the victims' skin. A pocket full of posies was believed to help ward off the disease. So many people died, they no longer had room to bury the bodies, so they were burned ("ashes, ashes"). So many people died, that some believed it was truly the end of the world ("all fall down). How's that for a "deeper, twisted meaning?"

Answer 3

In my opinion most of today "children's" stories have an adult undertone. I don't think this is devience of the author or writers, but a marketing tool. If a parent is going to choose between two things to read or watch with their children, they are going to pick the one that they can stand watching for the 100th time. When these stories contain something mildly entertaining for adults, the adults prefer it to another more 'G' rated catagory.

As far as old fables (Like Aesop, etc) these fairytales were originally told to frighten children and are often based on true events. (Like Mary Mary quite contrary was based on a woman's beheading) They were meant to scare children into discipline, and there for were harsh in tone and content.

Answer 4

I think the fairy tales that any author wrote are just fine for children. I read to my nieces almost every night and it's always a different fairy tale. Claire, I want to know what proof you have about the little red riding hood story, because as an English major, I have never analyzed it as being about prostitution or any kind of sexual behaviors!

Answer 5

Naturally. Snow White was poisoned by her stepmother, who sent a woodsman to bring her Snow Whites heart. Hansel and Gretel, where she burns the witch alive. The tales of old have always been a bit gruesome, but the real meaning lies in the archetype. Snow White, the fair young maiden, triumphs over the evil older woman. One forgets that many of these tales where brought to us from the Germanic states by the Grimm brothers. They tend not to gloss over things.

Answer 6

yes i have, but thats because they really are. look up on some of the original faerietales and youll see. try brothers grimm.
all faerietales started off sick. they were never really ment for children. they werent like this untill disney bought them all and came up with "happily ever after" lol but its true. did you know that in the real "the little mermaid" she dies in the end? its soooo sad lol. like the last couple sentences of the book are " and as she plunges the knife ment for her prince into her own heart, her body is seen floating away." its something like that its beeen a while since i read it.

well my point is there not all happy endings, well actually i dont think any of them are. a lot of them deal with rape and illnesses. you should check them out if your intrested.

Answer 7

Oh, yes, indeed. The original Little Red Riding Hood got eaten. The wood-cutter did kill the wolf, gut him, and found her eaten body inside. It's actually a little more insidious than that. Wolf, disguised as Grandma, bade Red to jump into bed with him. For each item of clothing Red asked 'grandma' if she should take it off. For each item 'grandma' responded 'take it off and throw it in the fire, you wont need it anymore'. Freaky sh!t, huh?
What with
Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub
Is that about public bathing, or something kinky?

Answer 8

in the starting up, i understand i'm not a guy yet i'm gonna answer anyhow. It truly relies upon on the type of guy. yet yeah various adult males like probability free ladies, and some like dumb ladies who pretend the have a mind of a 5 year old. yet maximum adult males are not often interested in the type of woman who "pretends" to be dumb and probability free for a precise courting considering i might want to maintain in mind that they'd surely get uninterested in that type of woman considering she acts like she would not understand a few thing. And the adult males ur conversing about likely in straightforward words provide her that type of interest at the same time as she's round becuz they understand they could surely use her and then promote off her. Sooo yeah

Answer 9

Have you ever read the original versions of the Brother's Grimm?...No need to think that it might be deeper or twisted...they really are.

Answer 10

Yes