What is a Fairy Tale?

A Fairy Tale, is a narrative of magic and fantasy understood to be fictional. The most important part of a fairy tale, that separates it from a myth or a legend, is the magic. For example, in the fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, the fox impersonates the grandma. Nobody questions that part of the story, because it is magic. Animals don’t have the ability to talk or sing, and people don’t have the ability to “curse” someone. Yet its not questioned. Magic is very important in the makeup of a fairy tale. Fairy tales can either be mono-genesis, or poly-genesis. Mono-genesis means that the tale originated from a specific place and spread from there, while poly-genesis means different tales were created in different parts of the world all at the same time. Fairy tales must include a sequence, or a pattern that all tales must abide by. According to the definition, fairy tales must include magic, but also most tales parallel a miniature utopian world. Meaning that the good, or hero, must defeat the bad, or evil, in the end. In most fairy tales, especially Brothers Grimm, the hero must adventure out on a quest to “find himself”. This usually means the hero must get lost in a forest, dangerous encounters with animals or supernatural creatures. In Fairy tales, the hero must save the damsel in distress, or in original tales, will win the girl as a reward. Motifs of style, usually found in fairy tales, include the use of numbers, opening and closing lines, chante fables, and happy endings. These are again, included in the sequence of a common fairy tale. Another common trait in fairy tales, is the zeitgeist, meaning whatever is in fashion at the time. The Brothers Grimm used zeitgeist when including romanticism in their tales. The brothers wanted the bourgeois, or middle class, to enjoy their stories, so they added in more description and happier details, while taking out the sexual aspects of their tales. According to Sigmund Freud, Id is the pleasure principle, the ego is the self control principal, and the superego is the moral principle. In terms of a fairy tale, id is the helping or dangerous animals, the ego is the hero or heroine completing tasks, and superego is the parental authority.