A question about fairy tales?

Question

I have started a study of fairy tales written in the post-medieval up to pre-industrial ages. As part of this I have seen that in many cases the hero or heroine is often classed as beautiful or hansom, so much more so than the fray.

My question is, Do the writers of these stories use a description of physical beauty as a literary cheat to describe their personality?
For example only, Belle from Beauty and the Beast (De Beaumont version) is described as physically beautiful but the story indicates that she is a very kind and caring person as well, holding a lot of passion and loyalty for her friends and family.

So, are the writers of these stories using a visual image to convey character traits?

Please explain.

I thank you in advance.

Answer 1

This is an interesting question. The short answer, I think, is yes. I think this has something to do with spirituality and an "inner good" -- the Christian ideal that goodness is rewarded with beauty, or that the goodness of the soul radiates out to physical beauty.

I think it is also a literary device. Fairy tales are derived from folktales that were originally oral. The bare bones of the tales were remembered from person to person, but each individual storyteller add his or (usually) her own details. No one wants to root for an ugly heroine (unless she is really a beautiful princess, ugly through an unfair curse, etc.). These tales were also meant to impart a moral message. The teller wanted her audience to get the moral message, and, since we all desire to be beautiful, we will want to be like the heroine, hence the heroine is beautiful (or the hero handsome).

It is also easier for the listener if everyone good is pretty and everyone bad is ugly. You don't have to remember who is who. Remember, in a mostly illiterate society, these tales weren't read -- they weren't really written down until the Grimm's did it in the 1830's -- so they were deliberatly easy.

There are exceptions. Snow White's stepmother was "the fairest in the land" until Snow White hit puberty. She was evil and beautiful.

Also, I don't think the heroine in deBeaumont's BATB was called Belle. I think the only Beauty called Belle was the Disney version. People serious about fairy tales usually hate Disney.

Answer 2

I fell you are right. but also I fell that in that time (Re the women of that time where very into there looks and where told how to act and how not to) Also some of the fairy tales where warnings or lessons to the younger generation, RE: Cinderella if you work hard and look pretty you can have the prince so girls would strive to be like them so yes they so want to indicate inner beauty with outer beauty... But also they are trying to shape the next generation to there image (you'll be beautiful and the out sided if you are on the inside)

this is all just a opinion but thats how i fell about it ^^

Answer 3

In a way, I guess they do. Fairy tale heroines are always blonde, pretty, lithe etc. and we were raised to kind of associate kindness, and goodness with those kind of women. Why don't you take fairy tales just a bit farther and read Angela Carter's collection called The Bloody Tower? She wrote some very amazing versions of some of our favorite fairy tales in the 1960's. Very interesting. My favorite is Lady in the House of Love - her vampire fairy tale with the female vampire. Enjoy C.

Answer 4

I would think the answer to your question is Yes, poets and story-writers use the physical beauty as a cheat for the character of a person. You know the saying about how someone character makes them more beautiful then surface appearance.

I am no expert, but that is my opinion.

Answer 5

Yep, rather i think of it became into the Brothers Grimm who collaborated in a chain of marvellous fairy thoughts that have persevered over the years, and that i'm hoping will final perpetually LOL. Grimm did not write each and every of the fairy thoughts accessible, yet a super kind of them, and thanks to this those are talked approximately as Grimm's Fairy thoughts. Get a e book of them and enjoy. you're in no way too previous.

Answer 6

Fary tales are not real.