Fairy Tale Conventions

When the little mermaid went to the sea witch to be changed into a human, she told her, “How stupid of you! Still, you shall have your way, and it’ll bring you into misfortune, my lovely Princess” (Anderson 226). The sea witch had already warned the little mermaid even before she made the potion that it would not go as she planned. The little mermaid, being young and foolish about love, did what she believed was right. The tone here spoken by the sea witch gives caution towards the mermaid. Anderson uses the witch as a way to portray to the reader how it is easy to make mistakes in the matter of love. This example is given when the witch informs her that, “… and if you don’t win the Prince’s love, so that he forgets father and mother for you and always has you in his thoughts and lets the priest join your hands together to be man and wife, they you won’t get an immortal soul” (Anderson 226). The author uses a reproving tone to demonstrate to the reader how the little mermaid is foolish, carried away in her childish dreams. Anderson characterizes the sea witch in such a way that her dialogues warn women to be careful when it comes to sacrificing themselves for anyone.

In “Brave” Merida and her mother both demonstrate the transcendental characteristic that real self is found in nature. Merida especially demonstrates this characteristic. Although many of her days are spent training to be princess, on the few days Merida has off, she goes out into the woods to pursue her true passion of archery. Merida appears happier in the woods, and only in the woods is she really allowed to pursue archery. This behavior demonstrates that Merida can only be herself in nature. Merida also demonstrates real self found in nature after fighting with her mother about being a princess. Merida and her mother have a fight about Merida finding a suitor, and to process the fight, Merida leaves and heads to the forest to contemplate. Only in the woods is she able to truly able to be happy, and the forest is her only source of clear thinking. Again, Merida demonstrates that her real self is found in nature. While Merida most strongly represents this trait, Merida’s mother does represent it as well. During the time that Merida’s mother is a bear, she spends time in the woods with her daughter, and begins fully

Disney directly exposes the idea that young girls should make their main goal in life to find their prince charming, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Making young girls’ aspiration in life revolve around finding a man of their dreams “transfix[es the] audience and divert[s] their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images [Disney] cast[s] upon the screen” (22). Disney tells the audience that women need a man to be happy. Disney presents the idea that women are dependent on me. Just like in The Little Mermaid, Ariel goes as far as surrendering her voice, to a witch named Ursula, and abandoning her family in order to be with her prince. Ariel also trades in her life as a mermaid, drastically changes her body, and sacrifices her greatest talent all in order to win her prince. Disney sends the message that girls need to give up their talents and lives in order to be with a man. Disney suggests that a woman’s main priority is her lover, no one or nothing else. Disney effectively portrays women in a negative way, depicting them as weak and needy. No attempt to break the stereotypical gender roles of women are evident however, these stereotypes are growing as Disney instills this image of women in the minds of viewers.

Brave on the other hand, is all about Merida and her living life on her own terms. She refuses to marry just because it’s her responsibility as a princess. She wasn’t ready so she asked her own hand in marriage.

Unlike any other form of literature or entertainment, Fairy Tales help children to discover their identity and suggest experiences needed to develop their character. In Bruno Bettelheim’s “Life Divined from the Inside” Bettelheim states that “Fairy Tales intimate that a rewarding, good life is within one’s reach despite adversity-but only if one does not shy away from the hazardous struggles without which one can never achieve true identity (Bettelheim 106). Anne Sexton’s “Cinderella” is a perfect example of Bettelheim’s definition of a Fairy Tale.

In Westland’s article, she discusses the study she conducted amongst a group of schoolchildren to determine if the feminist hypothesis in which traditional fairy tales reinforce the traditional values of women and the patriarchy vitality to society. She then conducts the experiment consisting of children hearing traditional fairy tales and depicting their favorite character, stating if they would want to be a princess or prince, and lastly writing their own fairytales. She unveils the results of the children responses in the first stage of the experiment the boys and girls had different responses; majority of the girls portrayed a beautiful princess, on the other hand, majority of boys depicted a masculine figure. Concluding the first stage of the experiment Westland states “feminist fears of the harmful influence of fairy tales would be vindicated” (Westland 241). This conclusion, however, develops a different perspective when she hears the children's responses when they answer the question if they would be a prince or princess; the majority of girls state they would not due to the lack of independence while the boys would be princes due to the wealth and power. When the children wrote their stories majority of girls developed a tomboy independent protagonist, however, there were still girls who preferred the more feminine protagonist, and on the other hand, the boys

Tiana (The Princess and the Frog), Rapunzel (Tangled), Merida (Brave) Anna and Elsa (Frozen). The first thing to take note is that none of these characters’ story lines were the objectives to fall in love. Tiana worked very hard to become a successful business owner, Rapunzel wanted to see the outside world, Merida wanted to avoid being married off in the name of tradition (Koman, 2016). This era of Disney was about the relationships between women for the first time. In Brave, the main relationship evolves between Merida and her mother. Most Disney movies have explored romance but this movie had everyone’s attention experiencing new things by girls and changing the landscape of mother daughter dynamics. (Parker,

In Brave, the daughter Merida is a strong-willed young girl, determined to make it on her own. Running wild in the forest surround her castle with her bow and arrow, Merida does not want to grow up and receive responsibility, but she just happens to be a princess. The Queen, Elinor, is caring, loving, and only wants what is best for her family. She is

This can teach young girls that they need approval from males to know they are doing the right thing. It is important girls do not begin to believe that they, like many of the Disney princesses, are ‘damsels in distress’ and that they need a prince to come and save them. They need to learn that they are capable of saving themselves. Unfortunately, many Disney films have the princesses relying heavily on male characters to save them from unsavoury situations, although recent Disney movies such as Brave have begun to move away from this

Obviously the first stop on their tour around Diagon Alley was Flourish and Blotts Bookstore. As soon as they got there the group split up and headed towards sections of books they thought looked interesting. Annabeth headed for the Ancient Runes and Arithmancy section, trying not squeal as she browsed through the area. She also decided to pick up several books on wards. Thalia instantly drifted toward the area dedicated to Astronomy and surprisingly, she also took a liking to books on the history of magic, especially ones with battle and strategy tips. Meanwhile Piper and Leanne drifted through the sections on Magical flora and fauna and together the two oh'd and ah'd over the pictures of adorable critters.

Main Point 2: “Be kind and have courage” is a quote from Cinderella (2015). However, it is something that applies to all Disney Princess.

The film Brave, which was released in 2012 is a non-conventional animated film set in the Scottish highlands in the 10th century. Fairy-tales were traditionally passed down orally before being written down by scribes such as the Grimm brothers. they were generally used to teach young girls how to behave in order to do well in life. The majority of fairy tales show obedient young girls who grow up with hardship but live to marry royalty and live 'happily ever after' because they are beautiful and kind. Many modern fairy tales today are inspired by these but do not completely adhere to the tradition. Brave is a good example of this. It had modernised the usual conventions of fairy-tales. This is through the protagonist, Merida, the lessons and

In the movie Brave directed by Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews from Pixar shared a similar storyline as The Little Mermaid which was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker from Disney, is that they both brought up the cultural and societal expectations on gender roles. Similarly, in between the two movies Brave and The Little Mermaid, the director focussed on the feminine aspects of how society perceives a women and expects females to fulfill their roles. Furthermore, the overall message of both movies is that parents and children need to listen and try to understand each other before the situation gets out of hand. Although, Princess Merida and Princess Ariel grew up with a certain gender role expectations, however, they have prove society’s perception of how feminine should be perceived is wrong by showing how Ariel change for men or how Merida declare war for independence.

Then in Pixar’s Brave, the princess Merida does what Jeremy Adam Smith calls “the storytelling miracle…as the cortisol that feeds attention mixes with the oxytocin of care, we experience a phenomenon called ‘transportation’” (Smith, sec. 3). Twenty-three years after The Little Mermaid, in 2012 we’re introduced to Merida another red haired princess, but Merida represents a far greater shift in our perception of women and their place in society than in The Little Mermaid. As the narrative of Brave unfolds, we see that Merida like Ariel is also seeking freedom from the expectations of a parent, specifically her mother who acts as a partial representation of our conformity to the expectation of the social role of women in society. While Ariel and Merida share some commonalities, Merida self-determination isn’t intertwined in finding love in the arms of a prince, but in herself and her relationship with her

In Sleeping Beauty, the Prince is portrayed a strong and courageous person, he can be seen as a great character because he overcomes many obstacles to be able to help the Princess survive. Although Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale and is stereotypically more admired by girls, the masculine tale might be liked by the male population because they aspire to be the male hero. Maleficent shows the feminine tale and warns the girls that not men cannot be trusted in some cases, and that there is no need to have a man by your side. A woman can survive on their own using her own intelligence and courage to overcome any obstacle that she might face. For the female population, this change is very important because this “hero” story helps us relate to the character and our desire to do great and special acts (Seger 387). This film proved that a woman is capable of defeating evil, and brings a new perspective into Disney