Final Blog

Over the duration of this class, I have written 9 blogs. Many of the prompts were enjoyable to write about and allowed me to analyze the tales given for a second or third time and find symbolism, hidden meanings, and more. However, there were a few blogs that were poorer in quality because I did not enjoy the prompts. The prompts did not require me to analyze the actual text and I felt like they were pointless. Blog Entry 7 and 10 are examples of the types of blogs that I did not enjoy. I was ready to complete blog 10 and had more than enough time to, but I disliked the prompt so much that I skipped it entirely. I was not a fan of the cartoon related prompts at all. 

Throughout this course, I have grown to love reading the tales written by the Grimm brothers and have even read fairy tales outside of class just for fun. Which is a lot from someone who doesn’t like reading. The second essay was my favorite part of the entire course because I got the freedom to incorporate fairy tales into something I already knew a lot about- psychology. The difference between my first blog and my later produced ones is very noticeable. The first one had no images at all which makes it boring. Overall, it was boring. I think my later blogs are more enjoyable because they include images and are less formal than my academic writing. Overall, I really enjoyed the blog assignments because they were laid back and allowed me to reanalyze the text on my own. Sadly, I have to resort to my old ways and not include any pictures because I didn't want to use anything irrelevant.

Blog Entry 9

There were many adaptations of “Bluebeard” by Charles Perrault, each following a similar theme revolving around curiosity and disobedience. In his tale, Bluebeard gives a set of keys to his wife and tells her specifically not to go into a certain room while he is gone. This sparked curiosity in her. She went into the chamber and discovered many female bodies, then got into trouble with Bluebeard and almost got killed when she confronted him about it. This plot line carries with “Fitcher’s Bird” and “The Robber Bridegroom.” There was a test given to each wife by the husband. In “The Robber Bridegroom” and “Bluebeard,” they were told not to enter a room while in the other story, she was given an egg, not a key. Each also ends with a male figure saving the woman.

In all three stories, a male character arrives at the end to save the heroine. For “Bluebeard,” it was the brothers; for “Fitcher’s Bird,” it was the male helpers; and for “The Robber Bridegroom,” the bride’s father killed her fiancé.

Photo credits: Brittanica

Each story has unique characteristics. The egg and key being covered in blood symbolize sexual maturity and the loss of innocence in “Fitcher’s Bird” and “Bluebeard.” 

I personally didn’t enjoy and of these tales very much. They’re all centered around the idea that women should not be curious and should not question the actions of her husband. If you don’t want to get snooped on, don’t hide anything from the start. It’s really that simple.

Blog Entry 8

In the movie “Hansel and Gretel” by MGM based on the story of Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, there are a few differences between the original fairy tale and the film depiction. Almost all of the differences found in the film can be explained the need to be modernized. A movie about the

original story would be appreciated less in the eyes of producers in Hollywood and by a modern audience. In the original fairy tale, the stepmother  convinces the father that, in order to survive, they had to get rid of the children. The father doesn’t want to do it, but he sides with her decision anyway. The father agrees to lead his children into the woods both times, but feels guilty after each attempt. They led the children into the forest twice as an attempt to get rid of them for good. However, in the movie, the mother gets mad at the kids for leaving the donkey inside of the house. After sending them to collect berries, the children got lost and

the mother figure became concerned, but she was relieved when they found their way home. The father attempts to look for the children in this version and helps save them from the witch before taking them home again. Both stories follow a similar plot line, but they are very different because of character actions and their intended audience. In both versions, the witch was an evil character, just like the stepmother in the fairy tale. However, in the movie, I would not consider the mother to be an evil character because she does not attempt to abandon the children and she feels extreme guilt when they don’t return home after she sent them to pick berries.

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Blog Entry 7

Wolf Blitzer from CNN

Wolf Blitzer is a German-American CNN reporter, journalist, and anchor. He has won many awards for journalism including “the 2004 Journalist Pillar of Justice Award from the Respect for Law Alliance, and the 2003 Daniel Pearl Award from the Chicago Press Veterans Association. His news team was among those awarded a George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of Hurricane Katrina, an Alfred I. DuPont Award for coverage of the 1999 Southeast Asian tsunami, and an Edward R. Murrow Award for CNN's coverage of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.” (Wikipedia, para. 18). Blitzer currently lives in Bethesda, Maryland. He is known for hosting political debates and asking REALLY long and detailed questions. In this political cartoon, Little Red Riding Hood entered what should have been her grandmother’s cabin and asked the popular question of “my what big ___…” 

In this cartoon, she emphasized that the ‘grandmother’ was asking big questions as the character took notes in a notebook. Typical journalist depiction. The grandmother is replaced by Wolf Blitzer and Little Red Riding Hood immediately notices the difference between him and her grandmother, but not her grandmother and a wolf. 

I think this semi-political cartoon is relevant because Blitzer is German-American and he lives in Maryland. The cartoon is also comical because the child was able to depict that it was Wolf Blitzer but she had to interrogate the wolf a handful of times before becoming suspicious of his identity in the original Grimm tale.

Cartoon Credits: “Mother Goose and Grimm” 06/07/2006 by Mike Peters.

Blog Entry 6

Lucius Apuleis depiction from Wikipedia

The story of “Cupid and Psyche” by Lucius Apuleis was told long before the Brothers Grimm version was published in 1812. There are many differences that can be found between the two, but some similarities are present. In both stories, the opening paragraph starts by describing a beautiful daughter figure who was the youngest of the family. In the Brothers Grimm version, the youngest daughter was described to be as beautiful as the sun and in the version by Apuleis, “the beauty of the youngest was so wonderful that the poverty of language is unable to express its due praise.” 

The Frog Prince

Both of the female characters then showed violence within themselves, which can be compared to their inner beast. This is displayed when the princess threw the frog against the wall out of anger because he was promised love and companionship even though the princess really was not willing to give it, she just wanted her ball. In ‘Cupid and Psyche,” she begins to put a knife to his throat. Both women, the princess and Psyche, came to a moment of realization when there were transformations. The “Beauty and the Beast” idea is the biggest similarity between the two stories.

Some differences between the two are that Psyche was frightened to begin with, but that changes quickly. The princess from the Grimm tale despised the frog. She hated that he had so many demands and wanted to sleep beside her so much that she threw the frog against a wall. She despised him from the start and made it very clear that she thought that the frog was nasty. 

Painting of Cupid and Psyche by Orazio Gentileschi

Another very obvious difference is that ‘Cupid and Psyche’ is a Greek myth based around the gods while ‘The Frog King’ is a fairytale. It has no real setting, but there are mentions of royalty and a very limited number of characters since there’s no ‘outer world’ or things happening outside of the plot.

Blog Entry 5

In “Snow White” written by the Brothers Grimm, the first paragraph describes a queen who longs for a child who was white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of the window frame. In the next paragraph, the king and queen have Snow White- but the mother does not live. This is already contrary to Disney’s interpretation because Snow White is portrayed to be an orphan. Walt Disney’s release of this movie occurred in 1937- during the Great Depression. 

Although the stories partially shared a similar message against narcissism and vanity, Disney’s version had some hidden messages as well. The Prince was made to represent him while the dwarfs represented his workers and animators. Another similarity between the two is the themes. Both versions had sexist views of women along with their domestication. Men were shown as hardworking while the princess cooked and cleaned and could not help herself when presented with an obstacle. 

A huge difference between the two depictions of Snow White was the amount of murder attempts made by the Evil Queen and how they were executed. In the original story, there are three attempts to get rid of Snow White. One by suffocating her with a stay-lace, another by combing her hair with a poisonous comb, and finally, giving her a poisonous apple. “Once inside she made a deadly poisonous apple. On the outside it looked beautiful-- white with red cheeks.” However, in the film, the apple is all red and it is the only attempt made by the Evil Queen. 

In the movie, Evil Queen tries to get rid of the dwarfs so that they can’t shelter Snow White and protect her. She uses a boulder to try and crush them, but it just kills her instead. This is different than the original because the Evil Queen died at the wedding while wearing hot iron slippers.

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Photo 2 (Drawing By Walter Crane)

Blog Entry 4

In “Cinderella,” all of her problems in life are solved when she is found by Prince Charming and marries him. Cinderella’s life mainly consisting doing chores and making sure that she handled everything for her family so that they were content. 

Her one request from her mother that is told in “Cinderella” as told by the Brothers Grimm (translated by Jack Zipes) was “[to] be good and pious.” (Grimm and Grimm, Zipes, pg 79). The narrative arc “rags to riches through magic and marriage” is very common in fairy tales. This same arc is shown in “Brier Rose” when the curse takes place. In order to lift the spell, the prince kisses her and she regains consciousness as if nothing happened. Magic. But the story cannot end without marriage. The final sentence in the Brothers Grimm’s version is about their wedding. “The wedding of the prince with Brier Rose was celebrated in great splendor, and they lived happily to the end of their days” (Grimm and Grimm, Zipes, pg 174). According to the narrative arc, the damsel in distress’ problem isn’t completely solved until she marries the male character, usually a prince, who saves her. 

This expectation of all issues going away if you have fortune or marriage is completely unrealistic. Money can do a lot of things, but it can’t grant permanent happiness. It’s likely temporary. Marrying someone doesn’t solve all of your problems either or else marriage could have prevented wars. This narrative arc only functions in fairy tales because this is normalized in these stories. The use of magic is not questioned, neither is the theory that riches and marriage will solve any issues that you have. 

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