Behind a Fairy Tale

Whenever we hear the word “fairy tales”, we always think of a story with a prince, a princess, and a happy ending. But is it really true that all the fairy tales have these happy endings?

We’re aware that princesses and princes came from stories popularize by Disney such as Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel or Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”. But have you ever read Anderson’s version of “The Little Mermaid”? If you read it, you will see the difference between the movie and the story. In my opinion, the story has a bad ending when Ariel – the protagonist – dies because she couldn’t poison the prince and turns into bubbles. When I read “The Little Mermaid”, I thought that the movie was better, because it had happy ending that I wouldn’t have any negative feelings about. However, if you think deeper into this, you might know why Andersen ended “The Little Mermaid” with a sad ending. And why some fairy tales like “Snow White” or “The Little Red Riding Hood” have some creepy details.

Courtesy of imdb.com

But are these fairy tales only for children when the books have violent endings? Maybe they shouldn’t be considered fairy tales anymore, but in my opinion, I think the original stories have more meaning than the stories we tell to the younger generation nowadays. For instance, in the original story of “The Little Red Riding Hood”, there is no hunter that goes around the forest but still Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandma were eaten by the wolf. This shows that not only children but also adults must be careful with strangers. Also in the original story of “The Little Mermaid”, Ariel dies because she isn’t able to show the prince that she loves him and she was the one rescue him. We can also learn some lessons from the original version of “The Little Mermaid”. One lesson is that if you don’t do things yourself, no one can do it for you. Another is that the way you do something can always lead to a consequence and no one can help you change that consequence.

Overall, I think that fairy tales always have mysterious elements. However, I firmly believe that the original fairytale versions make the tales more real and interesting. Also, there are a lot more lessons to learn from the original fairy tales for both children and adults. They might actually change your interpretations of each Disney fairy tale you’ve watched.