Document Type
Research Paper
Publication Date
Fall 11-15-2023
Abstract
This essay examines traditional fairy tales, symbolized by Perrault’s “Blue Beard,” and contemporary ones, illustrated by Disney’s animated film Brave (2012), with the implementation of ideas from theorists Marcia Lieberman and Hans Robert Jauss, to demonstrate that dated conceptions of womanhood prevail in these stories and continue to be received and acculturate children today. Although it is reasonable to assume social changes brought on by feminism would echo in twenty-first-century fairy tales, an investigation of Disney's animated fairy tale films, the modern storyteller aimed at acculturating children, reveals that these stories subversively persist in presenting traditional ideas of womanhood, depicting regressive gender ideologies concerning the consequences of exiting stereotypical feminine roles. The change has only occurred on a superficial level, and these contemporary fairy tales assert to children that a female who expresses choice and attempts to break the shackles of gender will face the consequences.
Recommended Citation
Whitby, Dalton C., "'Poor unfortunate souls': Acculturation and Reception of Womanhood in Fairy Tales" (2023). Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry. 186.
https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/rci_fall/186
Included in
Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons
