Grimm's Fairy Tails, Day 1

When I think of "fairy tails", a beautiful princess is involved. In many of these stories, the females are described as very beautiful. For example, the miller's daughter in The Handless Maiden; the daughter in The Twelve Brothers. Even Rapunzel "grew up to be the most beautiful child under the sun" (page 67). At first we see the beautiful girls as innocent, while the evil women are portrayed as ugly, yet more powerful, such as the witch in Hansel and Grethel. In the end, however, the beautiful, innocent heroines show strength and wisdom. The heroines, while on the surface are sweet and delicate, are intelligent and strong. In Hansel and Grethel, Grethel tricks the witch and saves the two of them. In The Robber Bridegroom, the miller's daughter exposes the evil robber at her wedding by remaining calm and telling a story (which was the terrible experience she had witnessed on pages 143-144, and concluded with "and here is the finger with the ring!")

Even those female characters who were harmed ended up with positive outcomes, such as Rapunzel being stranded in the desert and still meeting her prince.

I think that the violence was extreme in some stories, such as in The Robber Bridegroom. In both that tale and in Hansel and Grethel, cannibalism was described and witnessed. I am not sure that that violence serves a purpose, or is even necessary to support the message of good overcoming evil. But on the other hand, it truly demonstrates evil. I think that it is just that era's version of a horror story.

In A Tale of One who Travelled to Learn what Shivering Meant, the simple son saw horrific sights that did not seem to frighten him, such as the dead man on the gallows and the haunted castle. While this story seems like there is a message (not to be cowardly), I think it is really more of an excuse to tell a good ghost story.