Female Book Characters

Kay Stone ● Not many people surveyed: 40 women ● Fairytales have been ignored by scholars ● Selecting Passive, Prosecuted Heroines from Grimm’s tales: Cinderella ● “But if the Grimm heroines are, for the most part, uninspiring, those of Walt Disney seem barely alive. In fact, two of them hardly manage to stay awake.” ● She does not differentiate well between the Grimms and Disney ● Not true that not many protagonists ● Gretel = only heroine with real agency ● Cinderella’s freedom does not end at midnight ● Her interpretation of Freud: metaphors for penetration (ex: every time the shoe is tried on) Bettelheim “The Struggle for Meaning” 1. Believes that in order for children to master the psychological problems of growing up, they need to understand what is going on with his unconscious self so that he can understand what is going on in his unconscious a. The only way they can become familiar with their conscious mind is “through spinning out daydreams– ruminating, rearranging, and fantasizing about suitable story elements in response to unconscious pressures i. This is why he believes fairytales are valuable 2. Fairytales show that the struggle against “severe difficulties in life is unavoidable but if one does not show away…. At the end emerges victorious” a. The child identifies with the hero in fairy tales 3. Mentions the polarization of characters in fairy tales which allows children to easily see the differences between the two characters 4. “The more simple and straightforward a good character is, the easier it is for a child to identify with it and reject the bad other. The child identifies not because of his goodness, but because of the hero’s condition to make a deep positive appeal to him” Bettelheim “the snow white & myth of Oedipus” ● Period where child falls in love with parent from opposite sex. Jealousy. ● In snow white, the mother does not resolve the complex, stays jealous. The daughter also does not resolve it, falling for the queen’s trick because she is still attached. ● Cinderella ● Hansel and Gretel ● Beauty and the Beast is successful. She transfers her love for her father to the beastly groom, resolving the complex. ● 3 is a subconscious number connected to sexuality???? ● Narcissism is a healthy stage in human development. The Queen asked the mirror who is the fairest of them all. ● Lasting hatred of the mother is a result of the father’s ambivalence…””” Jealousy emerges from a lack in the relationship. ● Child’s dependency on the parents is good for their narcissism. When they become independent that creates a conflict ● Unhealthy: ○ in love with child or ○ jealous of the child ● To escape his inner turmoil he dreams of being the child of better parents…… (run away in search of the ideal home).... turns out to be far from satisfying (in fairy tales) ● red and white, compartmentalization of things Cashan Intro to LRRH ● First written by Perault: became a moral tale for well-behaved children ○ LRRH: fallen woman ○ Wolf: metaphoric stand-in for seducers of young women (with sexual innuendo already present in folk-tales) ● Grimms’ “Little Red Cap” ○ Erased erotic playfulness ○ Good behavior (manners) as told by mother: don’t stray from the path, say good morning, don’t go peeping ○ Why was LRRH never told that wolves were dangerous? ● Gallic Folktale “The Story of Grandmother”: heroine becomes trickster. Eats grandmother and gets into bed with the wolf and escapes by wits alone. ● “LRRH’s failure to fight back or resist in any way led the psychoanalytically oriented Bruno Bettelheim to declare the girl must be “stupid or she wants to be seduced’” ● “Both Perrault and the Brothers Grimm remained intent on sending a moral message, and they did so by making the heroine responsible for the violence to which she is subjected. By speaking to strangers (Perrault has it) or by disobeying her mother and straying from the path (as the Grimms have it), Red Riding Hood courts her own downfall.” ● “...frightening punishment for a relatively minor infraction” and such rewritings were predominant in the 19th century… Industrial revolution much? ● reframings of the story turn LRRH into a clever, resourceful heroine ● LRRH as an eternal battle of the sexes: ○ Fromm: “expression of deep antagonism against men and sex” - wolf eating living humans is usurping preganant woman’s role (womb envy). Defeated by rocks in his belly: symbol of sterility ○ Brownmiller: parable of rape of helpless females. Male protection saves them at the end. ● Glutton-type story: Child’s anxieties about being devoured. Intergenerational rivalry. From nags to witches (Maria Tartar) - Maternal evil makes women act in a way opposite of maternal mothers. Cannibalist tendency. Opposite of nurturing - Woman jealous of younger females - Types of ogres: beast and monsters (wolves bears and giants), social deviants (robbers and highwaymen) and women (witches, stepmothers, cookers- cannibalistic tendencies) - Fathers not blamed (absent), the only fault they have is picking the wrong women to marry or or passive - The witch (female character) must die for the vicious cycle to be arrested. Discussion Board Questions 1. What is the wolf an allegory for in LRRH? -pedophile, creepy guy 2. What is Kay Stone's main critique of Disney princesses? Provide examples They are passive, obedient and has no mind of their own How does the abuse of the stepmother compare to the abuse endured by fathers in the Grimm's tales? -father gets free easily -oedipal complex 3. What is the oedipus and electra complex Oedipus- son to mother or daughter to father Electra: only applies to girls (daughter with father What deal did Bearskin make with the devil? 1. Cannot shave, cut his nails for 7 years Name two tales where a female character's curiosity has consequences. Virgin mary child’s Blue beard What is the difference and similarity between "Cat skin" and "Cinderella" type tales? -They are related because they both come back to the oedipus concept Differences- Catskin Tales = sexual desire of fathers drives daughter from home a) heroine is persecuted by father b) she turns into Cinderella figure/ domestic servitude under supervision of a despotic cook or queen 103 Cinderella stories = Mother/Stepmother jealousy = domestic drudgery What does dress/appearance tell us in fairytales? Tell us about social class -2 dimensional characters - Pretty privilege ) Name at least two fairy tales that discuss Tartar's theories on the evil stepmother? Magic orange tree All the versions of cinderella 1. Why would "The Indian Cinderella" be considered more as a legend rather than a fairy tale? Because it has the location, and based on a certain time 2. Which fairy tales contains dangerous bridegrooms? Bluebeard Robert Bridegroom 1) Which fairy tale exhibits abuse and abandonment and how? Hansel and gretel Beauty and the beast (abuse) Bluebeard (abuse) Brother and sister (abuse)