• Home Page
  • The Importance Of Expectations Of Love In Fairy Tales

The Importance Of Expectations Of Love In Fairy Tales

Superior Essays
Show More
Throughout fairy tales, the expectations of beauty and romance that are woven into the story are absorbed by the children viewing them. Children pick up on these ideals and quite often try to translate them into reality. Fairy tales, such as the one’s produced by Disney, often contain a magical romance with characters as magically beautiful as their love. However, these high expectations of love, beauty and happiness are unobtainable in our everyday world and leave children disheartened that their expectations of their body-image and love have not attained these unreasonable standards as they grow older. These expectations of body image, love, and happiness stem from infeasible beauty standards, magical romance, and living happily ever after …show more content…
However, time and time again love is presented as an undying, pure, and true love. Children pick up on this attitude towards love and then presume love to be exactly how it is in the fairy tales, that they will have intense love at first sight in the most romantic of settings. However, this is far from the truth and children are presented with this faulty notion about love and take it for fact. This notion is shown by Alyssa Demorotski who stated, “After waiting for the day to meet her prince, the princess falls head over heels. This signals the girls that they will fall in love with a guy then presume to marry him when she is of age. When girls are older they want to find their true love then create their family,” which reinforces the fairy tale love stereotype that girls need to wait for their prince then fall immediately in love with him, with the reverse being true for boys(60). An example of this is seen in the story of Rapunzel, where she is locked in a tower and a romantic prince comes to rescue her, where they end up falling madly in love. An ideal of love passed through this story is that your dream prince will come find you or that if you are a male you should go find your princess idly waiting for you. The story of Rapunzel also adds to the idea that women should be passive and wait for their prince to come and take them far away and men have to go out and rescue their princess. Another inaccurate portrayal of love is true love at first sight, which is seen in the story of Sleeping Beauty, where Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip stumble upon each other and then fall madly in love at first sight. “This also sends the message that when a man and woman meet, they instantaneously fall in love. No time is needed to elapse and no other common factors need to be in place in order for love to form,” which is a misconception of love learned by

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Cinderella And The Princess Culture Analysis
    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cinderella And The Princess Culture Analysis

    Fairytales’, being around for several generations, have evolved through time and caught the attention of many folklorists, and demands an explanation of how feminism plays an essential role in today 's culture. Folklorist and author, James Poniewozik wrote, “The Princess Paradox” to raise an attempt to explain the “girls-kick-ass culture” (323). Peggy Orenstein published, “Cinderella and the Princess Culture” to examine and identify the belief of feminism within fairytales. Even though two different authors studied and evaluated the same topic, being feminism in fairytales, their approaches and conclusions on the topic tend to differentiate slightly, but also come to an agreeance in other areas.…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Forget Prince Charming By June Callwood Analysis
    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Forget Prince Charming By June Callwood Analysis

    Callwood’s essay tells of how she has taught her granddaughters from before they were of marriageable age what to look for within their partner, communicating both the realistic and unrealistic qualities of real-life relationships. In recent years, Disney movies and fairy tales have been depicting to children from a young age that love can be…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Cinderella's Mother
    • 1037 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Cinderella's Mother

    Almost all girls have either seen or have heard the “Cinderella” story before. Being a princess has been most girl 's dreams as a child, but little do they think about the theme and the message the “Cinderella” story creates. Elisabeth Panttaja, professor from Tufts University and author of the article “Cinderella: Not So Morally Superior,” explains a theme that people may find unsettling because she claims that Cinderella and the prince may not have been in love. She hints at the fact that Cinderella’s mother may have been the culprit in scheming and seducing the prince into marrying her.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    What's Wrong With Cinderella Analysis
    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What's Wrong With Cinderella Analysis

    These younger generations of girls/ladies have learned that not only can they be a princess and look beautiful both inside and out, but they are strong young ladies that have the world at their finger tip. This generation can become whatever their hearts desire as they increase their learning and social involvement. Parents should take it upon themselves to discuss with their children the visual display that is exposed by media such as Disney’s Princesses and today's modern idols; because their child might be going through the discovering phase or like Orenstein's daughter understands that, being a princess is a phase, but being a fireman is for…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Cinderella By Jack Zipes Essay
    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cinderella By Jack Zipes Essay

    Responding to the Critic’s idea: Young girls tend to imagine and dream of being whisked away by a charming and wealthy prince because of fairytales like Cinderella that show and encourage it. I agree with Jack Zipes’ analysis on the decisions that women in fairy tales make. This supports the fairytale Cinderella and the decision that Cinderella made. Jack Zipes says that “comic endings call upon young females to value communal stability over individual needs.” meaning that the women in fairy tales made the decision to chose communal stability which is marrying a wealthy and handsome prince instead of individual needs, which is being an independent woman who looks after herself, provides her herself and creates her own wealth instead of…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Summary Of What's Wrong With Cinderella
    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Summary Of What's Wrong With Cinderella

    With the involvement of Disney princesses, it often brings along physical features into reality. Society likes to state that women are supposed to look elegant and proper this often means dresses, jewelry, hairstyles, etc. It creates an ideal woman, and this damages girl’s self-esteem(Orenstein 103). It always also creates the stress of the ideal behavior and look for girls making them feel like they must be perfect. The study in 2009 discovered that girls repeatedly said that sometime in their life they had to feel perfect (Orenstein 103).…

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Wicked Stepmother's Tale Analysis
    • 2228 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Wicked Stepmother's Tale Analysis

    Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Cinderella who lived with her wicked stepmother and two cruel stepsisters. Jealous of Cinderella’s beauty, they forced her to dress in rags and put her in charge of all the housework. She suffers silently until one night her fairy godmother helps her get to the royal ball. When at the ball, the prince falls in love with her and she has the opportunity to live “happily ever after.” At least that’s the version most young girls have been told.…

    • 2228 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Trouble With Disney's Teeny, Tiny Princesses Analysis
    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Trouble With Disney's Teeny, Tiny Princesses Analysis

    The Problem With Disney Disney films have had a significant impact in most of our lives. Whether it was “Pinnochio” or “Cinderella”, many of these Disney classics were shown to us during our childhood years. At such a young age, the majority of kids who watch these films will remember specific images that catch their attention; these images will be ingrained into their minds and help impact the way the kids view the world. For instance, while I was in elementary school, I would never lie because I thought that if I did, my nose would grow just like how Pinocchio 's nose did when he lied. Something as small as an animation movie can play an immense role in shaping one’s outlook.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Symbolism In Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid'
    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Symbolism In Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid'

    This fairy tale teaches society that even though someone may have achieved a heroic feat, such as the little mermaid saving the prince, they may not be renowned for it. This is evident when the little mermaid is rejected by the prince who thinks the young woman from the convent is his rescuer. The prince tells her, “The youngest of them found me on the shore, and saved my life. I saw her but twice, and she is the only one in the world whom I could love; but you are like her, and you have almost driven her image out of my mind”, showing that he truly loves his supposed rescuer (Andersen). That lesson of an unknown hero was lost as the tale was adapted into modern society.…

    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Use Of Love And Magic In A Midsummer Night's Dream
    • 1819 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Use Of Love And Magic In A Midsummer Night's Dream

    Two of the main themes discussed in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream are love and magic, and one must reflect on how the two correlate between the main characters. Lysander, Hermia, Helen, Demetrius, and Titania are all greatly affected by the use of magic in this story. They seem to already struggle with developing relationships, and the tricky, unpredictable use of magic is of no help to them. In this essay, I will prove that magic undeniably has a negative effect on love and relationships.…

    • 1819 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Beauty And The Beast By Beaumont's Beauty And The Beast
    • 1360 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Beauty And The Beast By Beaumont's Beauty And The Beast

    In the eighteenth century, when Beauty and the Beast was written gender roles existed thus, the stories adhere to standards of life. The women can be seen as the less dominant figure, the one who tends to the home and the needs of their “master”. During the time period the stereotypes made “The result is that boys are identified and identify themselves as subjects and girls as objects, especially in the central psychoanalytic model of development” (Zipes 35). The idea that men viewed themselves as the more dominant and controlling figure, is seen in fairy tales. The men in most fairy tales want any beautiful woman that is willing to come…

    • 1360 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Irrationality Of Love In A Midsummer Night's Dream
    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Irrationality Of Love In A Midsummer Night's Dream

    “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind” (1.1234-35). Love is an irrational emotion, able to change as quickly and suddenly of the wind. People, in the name of love, are willing to overlook much in order to rationalize the actions and words of the subject of their affection. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare uses wild pansies, night, and dynamic relationships to portray differing definitions of romantic love as a passionate, sometimes, irrational force able to blind lovers to the reality of the world. The first definition of love given is love is the the conquered surrendering to the conqueror.…

    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Compare And Contrast Two Versions Of A Cinderella Story
    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Compare And Contrast Two Versions Of A Cinderella Story

    In some instances as in both movies, some people meet their soul mate early in their lives but somehow get disconnected from them until later on in life. Perhaps the most essential elements in finding true love and happiness are hope and persistency. We must all be like Cinderella and Sam and hope that one day we will overcome life challenges that prevent us from being happy and successful. We must also embody the characters of Prince Christopher and Austin in that we should be persistent and never give up on finding our soul mate. Both movies of the Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella and A Cinderella Story depict different versions of the story of Cinderella but they both share the same concepts and themes: mistreatment of a young girl by her step mother and step sisters, the importance of father figures in a young girl’s life and the hope of finding true love and living happily ever after.…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Snow White: The Development Of Gender Stereotypes
    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Snow White: The Development Of Gender Stereotypes

    During an individual’s childhood, everyone must have heard of numerous fairy tales such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan and etc. A number of fairy tales have a particular message to the audience, such as Hansel and Gretel taught children not wander around, yet we listened to the stories we were told and never questioned them. As we got older and read the stories again, we can perceive that certain fairy tales can illustrate negative messages. One of the pessimistic influences of fairy tales is the portrayal of the women, particularly of the princesses. In this essay, I will examine the Brothers Grimm’s “Snow White and discuss the role of women and how they are portrayed in fairy tales.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    A Comparison Of Cinderella And Rapunzel
    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A Comparison Of Cinderella And Rapunzel

    Young girls watching these films should aspire to be like Rapunzel who is strong and capable and not like Cinderella who is affected by others but rarely makes her own way in the…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  Cookie Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings