Is a Fairy Tale ending really a happy ending?

I’ve always enjoyed stories and fables about magic, monsters, and fairies.   I like everything from the classic Children’s and Household Tales (for you German-philes following this blog Kinder- und Hausmärchen) by the Grimm brothers (Jacob & Wilhelm) to newer books like Raymond Feist’s Faerie Tale.  Okay, I’m showing my age a bit by calling Feist’s 1988 book new, but in the scheme of fables and fairy tales that stretches back hundreds if not thousands of years, twenty-five years qualifies as new to me.

I’m not alone in my love of fairy tales.  Based on the proliferation of television, movies, and even theme park rides, fairy tales remain a mainstay of popular culture.  Think no further than the continuing popularity of Disney’s Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White, or the multiple re-imaginations of each in various media.  For better or worse, many of these stories have been softened and sweetened to appease the various censors and make the stories more palatable for younger audiences, or at least their parents and likely sponsors.  Indeed our use of the term ‘fairy tale’ ending to denote a warm and fuzzy conclusion is at odds with many of the classic stories.

Each of the original princess fairy tales noted above were much more sinister than the current versions.  The earliest Cinderella killed her first stepmother.  Sleeping beauty wakes with the birth of her twins, fathered by a married prince while she was unconscious.  She does marry her prince ‘charming’, but only after his wife attempts to kill her and the children.  Admittedly these are very early versions of the tales that were harsher than the published Grimm versions.  However, the Grimms, were not all smiles and cheers either.  In their version of Snow White the evil queen is sentenced to death by dancing – she must dance in red-hot iron shoes until she drops.

One of the biggest controversies in ‘modern fairy tales’ is the ‘happy ending’ of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid.  After drinking the potion and giving up her aquatic life for a chance to be with her love, the mermaid discovers that he’s already married.  Unable to kill his bride, the mermaid throws herself into the ocean where she dissolves into nothingness.  That’s where the original version ends.  Anderson later modified the story, adding that she joined the daughters of the air, spirits who after doing good deeds will earn their immortal souls.  While he defended this modification as being his original intent, many scholars continue to debate the validity of his ‘happy ending.’

Is the creation of the ‘happy ending’ a function of the times?  When the original darker versions were popular, life was more difficult with death, disease, and despairing poverty much more common than in today’s wealthy western world.  Part of the Grimm’s intent in publishing their stories was to create a common culture for their fellow Germans.  What does today’s popularity of paranormal themes and darker stories imply about our times?  Are our lives so secure that we need more gripping thrills from our stories, or is our fascination a reflection of our fears and worries?

I don’t pretend to know the answer, but I still like fairy tales.  As such I decided to integrate them, albeit in a somewhat softer and mangled form, into my Misaligned series (Misaligned Info).

 

Fairy Tale Excerpt from Misaligned:  The Celtic Connection:

Later Claire and Paul asked their Uncle Harry to tell them their bedtime story.  Penny’s dad pretended he didn’t know any good stories, but they were very persistent in asking and he eventually agreed.

“Mind if I join you?” asked Penny.

Her dad gave her a warm smile, “Of course not, you’re always welcome at story time.”  He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead.

Claire and Paul finished getting into their pajamas and brushed their teeth.  After a brief argument about who would sleep in the blue bag and who would sleep in the red (Claire got the blue one), they were ready.  Just as he had with Penny, her dad delivered a beautifully mangled Harry Preston original, complete with character voices and sound effects.

“The Three Bears who Refused to Hibernate,” he began.  “Peter, Patrick, and Pearl refused to hibernate for the winter and inflicted themselves on their neighbors.  First they moved in with the Golden Pig.  She was very rich because there was a gold mine on her property,” said Mr. Preston.

“How’d she mine the gold?” asked Claire.

“She didn’t,” answered Mr. Preston.  “The seven dwarfs did and they paid her a handsome fee to mine her gold.  While staying at her house, Peter ate all of her food, Patrick broke her furniture, and Pearl ruined her fine quilts,” said Mr. Preston

“Gee, they’re not very nice,” said Paul.

“Yeah, what did she do?” asked Claire.

“Why she promptly threw them out,” he answered.

“Where did they go?” asked Paul.

“They walked down the road a ways until they came to the house of the three Goats Gruff, Billy, Willy, and Tilly.  The Goat’s lived next to a bridge and they grew wealthy from the tolls.  The Goats welcomed the bears into their home as long as they promised to never go under the bridge.  Again the bears were bad news.  Peter ate all of their food, Patrick broke their furniture, and Pearl smashed their prized tin can collection.  The bears never apologized and the Goats never complained,” said Mr. Preston.

“Let me guess,” said Claire, “the goats threw them out.”

“Nope,” said Mr. Preston.  “One day Billy, Willy, and Tilly went to visit relatives, reminding the bears by the hairs of their chinny chin-chins to avoid going under the bridge.  The bears were convinced the Goats hid their riches under the bridge,” he said.

“What were those goats thinking?” asked Claire.

“Yeah, they shouldn’ta trusted the bears,” said Paul.

“Well, you’re right.  Once the Goats were gone, they decided to go under the bridge and take the treasure.  First, Peter left the house and went under the bridge.  Patrick and Pearl heard a loud scream, then nothing.  Thinking Peter had tricked them, they agreed that Patrick should go under the bridge.  There was another loud scream, and again nothing.  Pearl decided that her no good brothers conspired to keep the Goats’ treasure from her, so she went under the bridge.  Once again there was a loud scream followed by silence.  When the Goats came home they were pleased to find their house empty of bears,” he said.

“What happened to the bears?” asked Claire.

“Well, the headline in the next morning’s newspaper read, “Disgraced Troll Emperor Regains Throne After Finding his Lost Bearskin Cloak.”

I hope you enjoyed that segment and thanks for reading.

Armen

More info on fairy tales:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/17601/8-fairy-tales-and-their-not-so-happy-endings

http://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Grimm_fairy_tales.html