Grimm's Fairytales Day 1, Question 1

1. I grew up on Grimm’s Fairytales, there are several themes and reasons as to why these stories have been “internationalized:”
a. Children are the center of conflict in the fairytales
b. Each story has a moral
c. Life lessons that include: truth, deceit, faithfulness, duty, beauty, nature and family.
d. Imagination/fantasy as a key ingredient to stories

The Frog Prince and Hansel & Grethel are two tales I was familiar with prior to this assignment. When I was younger, my interpretation of the Frog Prince was “don’t judge a book by its cover.” When I read Hansel and Grethel, I remember that the story provoked fear of the woods and of strangers who appeared to be nice.

Even though these stories are for children, they are full of real-life situations and moral dilemmas:
1. Good vs. evil
2. Beauty vs. ugliness
3. External appearance vs. Internal reality
4. Truth vs. lie
5. Life vs. death

In The Princess Frog, the princess is described as beautiful, youthful, and materialistic. When the frog says he will go fetch her golden ball from the depths of the water she says “What will you have dear Frog” said she, “My dresses, my pearls and jewels, or the golden crown which I wear?”(Page 15) But the Frog did not want these materialistic things, instead, he wanted the Princess to love him and be his companion and playfellow. But the princess couldn’t imagine this and deceived the frog by blindly agreeing to his desires then going back on her promises. Instead of supporting her daughter in her decisions, the King said that she had to follow through on her duties and make the frog her companion. Then, after the princess began fulfilling her duties, the ugly frog turned into a handsome prince. His trusty servant Henry had put bands around his heart so that it would not break from sorrow when the Prince had been turned into a frog; these bands broke and Henry was happy and free when his master was transformed back into a Prince because of the Princess’ companionship.

Basically, these ideas of “love conquers all” and “don’t judge a book by its cover” ring true most strongly. Even though the Prince was disguised as an ugly frog because of an Evil Witch, the “wise King” urged his daughter to become its companion and stay true to her promises, since the frog had stayed true to his. This is a good life lesson, one of the 10 Commandments; we should treat others and others as we wish to be treated. Also the idea that everything is not always as it appears to be; the ugly frog was actually a handsome, rich prince. These ideals are important for young children to learn; morals and life lessons to live by – in fairytale form which is very appealing.