History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends How to Write A Good Fairy Tale | Page 4

THE THREE FAIRY TALE FACTORS
Fairy tales can be distinguished from other mythologies by three
outstanding factors.
1. Fairy tales embody the values of the common people, not the upper or ruling classes.
2. Religion takes a distinct sideline to the main story, if it is indeed mentioned at all.
3. No single person can be called responsible for a fairy tale. Someone may be credited
by virtue of being the first to write a story down, but the chances are they did not
create it from scratch. Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Anderson, and the Grimm
Brothers are examples of this phenomenon.
Common Themes
Fairy tales contain similar themes across so many cultures that they embody some hidden
part of the human psyche.
In more languages than we can count, female servants marry the prince, starving children
find new homes, and young low-class boys discover they are actually the heirs to a large
kingdom. In fact, the most popular theme is that of the low-class or common person rising
above his or her station. No doubt this is a form of escapism and wishful thinking.
Also popular is the theme of the trickster. Some wily character, often overlooked by his peers,
is followed through his victories and follies. Some cultures embody the trickster as a single
figure, such as the Fox or Wolf in Native American tales or Brother Rabbit in the Southern
US. Other cultures simply designate a different trickster for each story. Trickster stories
provide good-natured humour, and are sometimes used to explain natural phenomenon such
as why the sky is blue, why the leopard is spotted, and why mother feels cranky a few days
out of each month.
Another very common theme is that of the cautionary tale. Such stories serve as a warning to
each new generation, often exaggerating the consequences of social or other faux pas.
Some cautionary tales espouse the values of hospitality or good manners. Others are blatant
attempts to convince wives to obey their husbands or children to obey their parents. Beauty
and the Beast can be seen as a cautionary tale to women who would judge potential
husbands on their looks alone.
Written vs. Spoken Tales
Fairy tales that have been written down generally differ from their oral counterparts. Scribes
are usually pressured to remove graphic descriptions from within the stories. Ironically, much
of this censorship takes place because the upper-class editors viewed the prurient interests
of the common people's fairy tales to be, well, distastefully common.
The Arabian tales originally contained many graphic depictions of sexual acts, but these
escaped translation. The Grimm Brothers were pressured to remove many gory descriptions
of murder, maiming, and torture. Even today, a series of books about campfire myths called
Scary Stories is on many censored book lists for its honest account of tales like 'The Ghost
with the Bloody Fingers'.
Uncensored tales are frequently as eerie as nursery rhymes are. For instance, Little Red
Riding Hood was originally tricked into eating her dead grandmother's flesh. The original
Sleeping Beauty (Talia) was raped and gave birth to twins while she continued sleeping. And