A Comfortable Silence Fell As The Tall Grass Essay

As little girls, women may imagine themselves as the princesses that they hear and see in movies and books. These princess often defeat the villain, meet the love of their life, the prince, and live “happily ever after”. Sadly, life is far from the things we see in these movies and books. The Princess bride, by William Goldman is a fantasy novel about a beauiful girl, named Buttercup, who is forced to marry the Prince Humperdinck after the love of her life, Westley dies. She is later kidnapped by three men, and two of those men, named Inigo and Fezzik, come together with the undead Westley to avenge an important death

Disney’s Cinderella demonstrates that, whatever the intention of its makers, modern day fairy tales function in our society as hidden instructions for morals and behaviors that we give children. On the surface, it seems to be a simple story about a young woman whose wishes come true. However, the story also reflects cultural expectations of women’s behaviors and goals and defines expectations of “goodness” for women. Power belongs to men in “Cinderella”, and it is depicted as a female ambition and goal. The storyline describes the rise of the submissive haracter to becoming a Princess; she is portrayed as a passive character who waits for the Prince to come for her. While waiting for her Prince Charming she also bears the mistreatment from her stepmother and stepsisters. While masculine power is taken for granted in the figure of the Prince, becoming his wife is the only way women have to share this power. The

In the familiar more traditional version, Cinderella is a poor maid girl that, with the help of fairy godmother, gets a chance to meet prince charming. They fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after, and then what? What is a happily ever after? Is this even a realistic thought? In the dark comedic poem Cinderella, Anne Sexton forces the reader to examine this question. Utilizing literary devices such as tone, imagery, and style, Sexton encourages the reader to think about how silly and unlikely a fairy tale ending actually is.

Once upon a time, there was a literary genre commonly know as fairy tales. They were mystical and wonderful and a child’s fantasy. These fairy tales were drastically misunderstood throughout many centuries, however. They endured a hard life of constant changing and editing to fit what the people of that time wanted. People of our own time are responsible for some of the radical changes endured by this undeserved genre. Now, these fairy tales had a young friend named Belle. Belle thought she knew fairy tales very well, but one day she found out just how wrong she was.

The Prince stereotypes the role of women being in need of a destined lover. He is the one that identifies Cinderella as the one in the dress, though excluding behavior, her appearance dazzles him for two nights at the ball. Most importantly, he’s not the hero of the fairytale, but readers can interpret the fairy godmother as the savior of Cinderella’s demise. The role of magic comes in part with the acceptance of achieving the imagery of an elegant woman, impressing the Prince who gains interest in her. The

The bright moon, not yet full, shined overhead, casting the forest in a cool silvery blue. Choruses of crickets and other nocturnal critters filled the air and almost drowned out the roar of the engine.

Cinderella’s story is undoubtedly the most popular fairy tale all over the world. Her fairy tale is one of the best read and emotion filled story that we all enjoyed as young and adults. In Elizabeth Pantajja’s analysis, Cinderella’s story still continues to evoke emotions but not as a love story but a contradiction of what we some of us believe. Pantajja chose Cinderella’s story to enlighten the readers that being good and piety are not the reason for Cinderella’s envious fairy tale. The author’s criticism and forthright analysis through her use of pathos, ethos, and logos made the readers doubt Cinderella’s character and question the real reason behind her marrying the prince. Pantajja claims that

While reading Roxanne Gays essay “The trouble with Prince Charming or he who trespassed against us”; I learned that she had her own definition of the common fairytale or at least what she thinks as one. “There is a man and a woman – who must overcome some obstacle to reach happily ever after.” Which is true in some cases, but depending on what side of the story your reading you can make it out, happily ever after or not. They’re plenty of real tales that don’t end very happy. You probably know Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which side do you know? Not to ruin your childhood, but the original tale wasn’t so happy after all. In Hans Christian Anderson's original story the prince marries someone else and the little mermaid throws herself into the

Every little girl wants to be a Disney princess at some point in their life, I was not different. There’s something about the good heart a princess has and the love she garners, that was special to me. Through the Arteisa Pageant, I have found my chance. I didn't realize that being a princess really did mean you were serving the community, and I wasn’t just a figure. I went out and did many things that have involved serving my community such as painting a house for a resident, handing out candy to kids for Halloween and encouraging literature to be read to children by reading to them at the Artesia library.

I am sure it would only take the teeniest weeniest bit of magic to make my dream come true.” “I would swim carefully if I were you,” warned Tim’s mum, “She doesn’t look to me like the sort who does favours.” But Liaundra was undaunted. She swam over to the fountain and the queen’s palace, curtsied a little in the water, and said, “Your majesty. I have come to you with a humble petition. May it be your pleasure, your greatness, to turn me into a human princess?” The queen looked across from the balcony straight at the swan’s red beak and said simply, “Why?” “Because, Your Majesty, I have always felt that I was born to be royal.” “My dear, dream on,” replied the queen with great contempt. Prince Jesus was just inside the palace, but he had heard this exchange and he hopped out to give the queen his opinion. “I know her,” he said. “She’s just a silly stuck up swan. I’ve seen her many a time, swanning around the pond like she’s a princess, but in fact anyone can tell that she’s as common as muck.” Sadie was indignant. She pointed her beak at Boris and hissed quite

In a society unbridled with double standards and set views about women, one may wonder the origins of such beliefs. It might come as a surprise that these ideals and standards are embedded and have been for centuries in the beloved fairy tales we enjoyed reading as kids. In her analytical essay, “To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tales”, Karen Rowe argues that fairy tales present “cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice as a female’s cardinal virtues.” Rowe presents an excellent point, which can be supported by versions of the cult classics, “Cinderella” and “Snow White”. Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper” and the Brothers Grimm’s “ Snow White” exemplify the beliefs that

Some things about fairy tales we know to be true. They begin with "once upon a time." They end with "happily ever after." And somewhere in between the prince rescues the damsel in distress. Of course, this is not actually the case. Many fairytales omit these essential words. But few fairytales in the Western tradition indeed fail to have a beautiful, passive maiden rescued by a vibrant man, usually her superior in either social rank or in moral standing. Indeed, it is precisely the passivity of the women in fairy tales that has led so many progressive parents to wonder whether their children should be exposed to them. Can any girl ever really believe that she can grow up to be president or CEO or an

Once upon a time in a land not so far away, the society of man created the idea that it was a woman’s job to conform to the ideologies generated in fairy tales. From women depending on their prince charmings all the way to romanticized sexual abuse and lack of consent, stories like Cinderella and Snow White radiate sexism within an array of scenes of the stories and films. Not only does this affect the way that men view women, but it has had a relatively negative effect on the ways that many women view themselves. Many fairy tales have made their way into mainstream culture, and today many young girls and boys grow up hearing and seeing the subliminal messages in fairy tales. As more and more fairy tales make their way onto the big screen, it can be seen that all princesses seem to share a common feature other than their crowns and lack of self worth without a man by their side; their tiny waists. In recent years during the 21st century more and more people in the media have been calling out fairy tales for their anti-feminist attitudes with sexism, body standards as well as societal comments about women being dependent on men.

To speak specifically, Sara, you have an unlimited and unfettered visions wherever you are; also, you always keep your sunny, positive outlooks whatever you are. And, I love all your imaginations whenever I am. Without a princess suit, or the crown, you are a special one in the school. More than a so-called princess, you are a real princess cause you have a powerful heart. You knew the hardship, or exclusion from the peer, but you never thought they are the most relentless enemies in your life; you even felt the sorrow of losing your dear papa, however you never considered that would beat you; then you suffered the falling difference from a popular girl at school to a unfed worker, however you never forgot you were a princess. I love your speaking: “Whatever comes cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed

Fairy tales are full of tropes and stereotypes that exist from story to story, one of the main ones being the “happily ever after” ending. Most fairy tales, especially the traditional Perrault or Grimm versions, fall prey to this trope where the main goal is for the princess to find her prince, get married, and live happily ever after. Many critics, particularly feminist critics, find this trope to be problematic because of the extreme emphasis placed on marriage as women’s main, if not only, objective in life. Karen Rowe, for example, states in her essay “Feminism and Fairy Tales”, that “fairy tales perpetuate the patriarchal status quo by making female subordination seem a romantically desirable, indeed an inescapable fate” (342). In other words, Rowe relates the “romanticizations of marriage” portrayed in fairy tales with promotions of “passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice” expected of women in their everyday lives (342). However, it can be dangerous to assume that every fairy tale conforms to the singular promotion of marriage as women’s only option. While early fairy tales such as “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty” tend to glorify the romantic ideal of marriage, and in turn female subordination, contemporary tales and adaptations such as Brave and Frozen, are working to give women a more powerful position.