When we think of fairy tales and fairies, modern day readers probably think of pretty ladies dressed in pink, wielding a sparkly wand and granting wishes, a la Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. (The picture at left, by Sophie Anderson, is a pretty example of how fairies are viewed in modern times.)
But back when people really believed in fairies, they were just as likely to be viewed as nasty, spiteful little trouble makers who might steal a newborn baby or cause a cow to stop giving milk.
Among the many intriguing aspects of the fairy belief system was that they really were an alternate society, living right up against the rest of us. To encounter a fairy in person usually meant trouble. A man might find himself locked in a fairy world for one hundred years -- and to eat food while in the fairy realm could mean being stuck there forever.
23 comments:
When I read this post in class on Tuesday, it struck me as very interesting; especially considering the "Disney" image of fairies and fairy godmothers as graceful, wise, and almost always kind. Of course, as the Brothers Grimm's Snow White so vividly illustrates, the depiction of fairies as being susceptible to the simple clumsiness of stumbling, accidentally tripping and blurting out a curse instead of a blessing, (hey, it happens to the best of us). is one of the smaller things that have changed since the story was originally told.
As a child going up I always thought fairies was pretty and they would grant all wishes. I most stories fairies was shown to small in body weight and young. But when I read and seen the pictures in Cinderella, Cinderella's fairy was a older and heavier. Just from noticing those little details that tell you right there that all fairy don't have to be petite and they don't have to be young. Body image and beauty plays a big role to fairies not just the princesses of fairy tales.
JasmineHughey w131 tues & Thurs
I definitely believe that these "culturally-entrenched characters" do affect our own conceptions of body image. I have difficulty believing that these are preconceived ideals, subconscious rather than being propagated by fairy tales, magazines, Calvin Klein underwear models who have perfect six-packs, etc. One kind of reaches a chicken and the egg situation because, as you mentioned on the second day of class, ideals of beauty are nearly universal across the cultural board, differing little between time and place; but I'm really not prepared to present some metaphysical theory on the psychological origins of ideals (whatever all that means, by the way). At any rate though, it seems these stories become ingrained in the minds of children, probably due to some kind of Freudian concept of susceptibility. These stories have been coupled with illustrations since their advent, but today even more so, due to Disney and the popularity of children's books. These pictures portray the protagonists of the story as beautiful, albeit in a cartoonish way; I don't think it's too much of a stretch to assert that these drawings of idyllic Snow White, or Prince Charming, or Cinderella influence children, shaping their concepts of body image and beauty at a young age. I hope that wasn't too circumlocutory!
Shoot. That was supposed to be posted under yesterday's (Sept. 8) blog entry, by the way.
This is a very weird idea. I have always thought of fairies as pretty things. Never imagined that they would be considered as evil. One thing I have thought about was maybe as sexual references. The movie scene is where I have noticed this. The movie "Moulin Rouge" is where i recognize this the most. The fairy represented alcohol and the prostitutes. Deception maybe, but not nasty or evil. Also it was weird to learn that men have a special relationship with the nasty fairies. This to me sends a sexual reference too. Like men cheat with fairies or fool around with them. I kind of take this idea of evil fairies to be in line with when people thought magic or science was evil. Also the idea that magic was devil work. It would make sense if this was the case, but now I really only see the magic as fun fantasy. I think fairies stand for a get away. An escape from the craziness of life. They also make fun and movies for children. Courtney T
Many picures may view fairies as beautiful and graceful. That may not always be the case as someone else mentioned about the fairy in cinderella. After watching cinderella my view of fairies is that they are older and wiser, because of the magic they possess they do not need to be so beautiful. From the picture shown of how fairies were viewed in modern times, she looks like a goddess. It seems like they may have thought to bring gifts to the fairies to keep them happy. If not pleased I can see how they may have been viewed as nasty and spiteful. Helen F.
When I was little, I always thought fairies were what Disney made them to be. Now, according to this article, I see that's not true. But I agree with it completely. Fairies would be the perfect creature to cause mischief and trouble. They are small creatures who are rarely seen, making them the perfect little hoodlums. I think it is really neat the way something like fairies can be so different from what were told as children, to what we find out as adults.
Steven Murray w131 tues and thurs 1:00
Throughout time Disney's has changed our culture. When they tell a story it has a lot of glitz and glammer, with everyone living happily ever after. You never see fairy's as dirty and decieving in a Disney movie. In the "real" fairy tale world, fairy's meant trouble. This is very interesting to me becuase I have never looked at a fairy in such a way. Reading some fairy tales from centuries ago will better explain how people were actually scared of them. People from centuries ago were much darker in there story telling and the things that they believed. Death, despair and torture were all a big part of their stories. Deciept playing a major roll in most of the characters that fairys play, is what causes us to believe thats is why people thought so poorly of them. People in todays society believe the story is really told by Disney but in actuality they are telling it wrong. Believe what you want but fairies were dirty, decieving and very spiteful in the original stories.
Stefanie C
When I read this blog, I thought fairies were always viewed as beautiful. Anything but nasty. As a child, adults try to make everything seem "sugar-coated" and make everything try to be viewed as a "fairy tale" in a sesnse. Like everything is always going to have an up side and rarely a down side. Fairies images are viewed differently in every culture. I guess back then they weren't liked as much as they are today. In today's culture fairies symbolize good and magic. Like Tinkerbell in Peter Pan. The image given to her is wholesome, and everything but nasty. Fairies are viewed as small and harmless creatures, but I guess back then they were viewed differently. The picture of the fairy on the left doesn't describe how fairies are written about in the blog. In the picture the fairy doesn't look evil. More like an angel than anything. All in all, I think that the image of fairies have changed over the years. Different centuries, different cultures. I guess it depends on what your view is about the subject of fairies. Everyone's point of view is different.
Krysta M.
Isn't it amazing how much power Disney seems to have had over the minds of children and adults? Like many, I'm sure, when the word I read the word fairy my mind conjured up an image of Tinkerbell in Disney's version of "Peter Pan". Even though she was not particularly nice to Wendy, it is nearly impossible to shake the image of her as being a cute little pixie. Her mischief is overshadowed by her physical appearance. If our children were to behave in this mischievous manner, we certainly wouldn't call them fairies, now would we?
This makes sense since most fairy tales have a dark or twisted story line. The main charecters in the fairy tales are usually not depicted as very nice and there is always some plot to kill or steal. So it makes sense that people would have seen fairies as nasty creatures who are just out to get you.
Carrie W.
As a child growing up in a typical American home, fairy tales were often read to me just before bed. My favorite characters in these stories were the fairies. I feel that just about any other girl would feel the same at a young age, looking up to the beautiful fairies. It is very interesting to me that in fact fairies were nasty people who cast spells on people. This is not at all what was percieved of them to be in childrens books. In the books, they were always the most beautiful women, wearing the most beautiful clothes. I find it hard to believe that in fact they were very ugly people. It makes me wonder if how we percieve people to be beautiful is in fact true because we have two different visual discriptions to go along with fairies, but which is true? Are they in fact ugly or beautiful? Or is this all about personal opinions of beauty?
alee s.
When I think of fairies, I do not think of them as cute and lovely as most. I think of them as hardworking, little busy bodies like Tinker Bell. One who is always trying to help those who really needs them, for example like having you veryown fairy god mother. Tinker Bell is just a smaller version of an imaginary friend that a child may incorporate into his/her life due to loneliness. most children create their own fantasy life. Children often fantasize about being strong, beautiful, intellegent, rich and very, very successful. Is it really a fantasy or can we actually make these dreams come true. Most of the authors of these childhood folk tales came from some type of social economic background such as poverty and famine. They overcame thier disparity and became a hude success.
It is kind of hard to believe that fairies back then had a bad side to them. Considering how Disney portray them today. When i think of fairy I think of pretty women in a dress with a wand just as the blog said. I think how we view people like Stephanie said. They might be pretty. But people always have two sides to them. Like a fairy that might have been nasty. I do not agree with Disney. They make it seem as if all fairies must be pretty. Fact of the matter is back then fairies may have not been trusted as much as they seem to be in Disney fairy tales.
Carlos Delgado W131 mon-wed
When I was young I thought that fairies were good creatures. I also thought that they were in the human world for one reason to grant other's wishes. It is weird for me to think that fairies back in those days were considered nasty. But the way Disney portray fairies, someone must think that they are pretty, young, and graceful. But according to the blog, must people back then had in mind that fairies were trouble makers and evil creatures. I believe that if Disney portray fairies as the way they are portrayed in the original versions, it might cause a big impact on children's minds. For example, children would not see fairies anymore as good creatures granting other's wishes. Instead, they would see fairies as evil creatures trying to hurt or even kill someone.
F.S Diaz
Reading this post made me think of the movie Hellboy 2. In it the tooth fairies actually eat teeth and other bones. I think it is funny how far we have progressed and how things change with time. It’s true when I think of fairies I think of Tinkerbelle from Disney’s Peter Pan. The people probably blamed fairies for things because they wanted to blame someone for their hardships. Today we are just as likely to blame our upbringing or other people. I doubt most people really believed in fairies anymore than people believe in aliens today. People will always want there to be a different race, alien, or fairy that is only seen at certain times or by special individuals—just hard to find. Reading this post made me think of the movie "Hellboy 2". In it the tooth fairies actually eat teeth and other bones. I think it is funny how far we have progressed and how things change with time. It’s true when I think of fairies I think of Tinkerbelle from Disney’s "Peter Pan". The people probably blamed fairies for things because they wanted to blame someone for their hardships. Today we are just as likely to blame our upbringing or other people. I doubt most people really believed in fairies anymore than people believe in aliens today. People will always want there to be a different race, alien, or fairy that is only seen at certain times or by special individuals—just hard to find.
Isaiah Counsellor
I don't find it that surprising that people would blame fairies rather than admitting the truth about their wrong doings. Many members of my family are very supersticious and constantly find something other than themselves to blame when things go wrong. In a way it is understandable for a child to create some kind of a scapegoat to avoid getting into trouble, but it is a rather sad thing when adults who cannot take responsibility for their actions have to resort to such extremes to avoid getting into trouble.
Kascha H.
I think that fairies gave people another option to use when they could not think of an excuse of their own to explain an event. It is actually pretty clever because it gets people to behave. For instance, the Tooth Fairy, she was great to use as a tool to get your child to sleep when they had lost their tooth. We always tell children that, "If you are bad the tooth fairy won't come." Fairyies provide people with a reason that does not need explaining. I personally always thought fairies were cute, whimsical little creatures instead of mischeivous little pests. My favorite fairy is probably tinkerbell because she provides both mischief and beauty to "Peter Pan." Where would we be without our fairies? In trouble, there isn't anyone else to blame things on.
Allison W.
I would have to agree with what most people are saying as far as always imagining fairies as being good hearted creatures. They are usually portrayed as beautiful, mysterious, little creatures, mainly female. Now that I think of it, wherever there is good, evil is lurking right around the corner and that is the name of the game. If there are good fairies, then life would not be life if there were no evil fairies.
When I think of a fairy, I do not usually picture one to look like the fairy in the image. The one's I have seen are dainty, petite, with pointy elf-like ears, sexy looking and long, wavy hair. The one in the image looks like it is not capable of harming a fly and is not how I would imagine a fairy to look like.
D.Giles
Reading this post really shocked me, because most of us do believe that fairies are pretty and have the sparkling wand to give others what they want. I myself believe that's how fairies are portrayed, especially when I was younger because that is what I was taught; that they are friendly and have the ability to grant others wishes. But as I read this post I learn that in reality many think fairies are evil and bad trouble. I believe that Disney would be to blame for this transition because that’s how they portray the fairies. Now if the friendlier tales would entail this part then maybe fairies would be viewed differently by children, and many of us wouldn't think they are as nice as we all believe. So by giving fairies the ability to grant wishes just makes younger children see them in a different light and admire them. But in reality they really can’t do all of that, and are just out looking for trouble. ~Lisa C.
Before taking T390 I knew very little about fairy tales and fairies. It actually makes me embarrassed to admit that the only fairies I was familiar with were the tooth fairy and the fairy God mother from Cinderella. Even though I knew very little about these topics I always thought fairies were nice tiny creatures that made an individuals wishes true, I guess I can say I was only familiar with the Disney versions of fairy tale's. I also thought fairy tales were simply children bed time stories, it never crossed my mind that they were actually meant for adults. Now I realize that I was completely wrong. Now I realize that when I am reading the original version of a fairy tale I am actually expecting to find out that the fairies are dirty and deceiving. The truth is that Disney sugar-coats their movies to sell. I don't agree with what Disney does because I think they are fooling children and hiding the reality.
I just wanted to confirm that I posted this last entry under anonymous on October 26 at 7:14 pm.
Yesenia C.
I admit that the main image that I have held of fairies is that of the fairy godmother in Disney’s “Cinderella” up until recently. I never watched the Disney version of “Sleeping Beauty” or read the fairy tale as a child, but was familiar with the story line. When I read the fairy tale recently, I was shocked that a fairy was the one who cast the spell on the princess. Up until that point, I thought that a witch had cast the spell. When considering the time period in which fairy tales were written and the knowledge held, it is no wonder that people who believed in fairies thought that fairies could just as easily be spiteful, causing damage to human lives. Without knowing the real reason as to why a perfectly fine milk cow stops producing milk, I’m sure that it was easy to blame the occurrence on a spiteful fairy in a bad mood. While it is nice to think of all fairies as being the Cinderella fairy godmother type, it is also fun to think of fairies as being menacing little creatures – someone to blame daily struggles on.
Karen W.
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