The original German fairytale “Snow White” was published in 1857 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm that features the 7-year-old Snow White, and her evil stepmother who the king marries after the child’s biological mother dies from childbirth. This tale...

Being a princess is every little girl’s dream from the charming princes to the beautiful and elegant dresses. As the girl gets older, that dream slowly dies out but not completely. A tiny part of that dream is still there until she learns the true...

As a child coming of age in the mass-consumerist, technologically innovative, and media-influenced climate of the twentieth century, one’s exposure to fairy tales will have likely been informed by recurrent viewings of Disney film adaptations....

In the popular fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, the road to grandmother’s house is no walk in the park – it is dark, ominous, dangerous. It also offers choices, but Little Red Cap tends to make those that lead to trouble. The innocent heroine’s...

Fairy tales were handed down orally until the 18th century when the Romantics began to collect them together and write them down. The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, are the best-known recorders of European tales. In the classic fairy tale laws...

Eating is not only fundamental for survival; it also offers a setting for social gatherings, where eating habits and rituals create a noticeable distinction between social classes. In literature, food often symbolizes more than pure nourishment....

The Grimm brothers’ widely-known collection of fairy tales includes two especially significant stories: “Little Snow-White” and the lesser-known “The White Snake.” The main characters of each tale are, respectively, Snow White, a beautiful young...

Fairy tales serve as important tools in history by allowing countries and societies throughout time to share their cultural beliefs and values. As fairy tales circulate around the world, cultures adopt and adapt the basic story lines that may stem...

The story of “Little Red Riding Hood” contains many aspects that surprised me upon reading the tale again as adult. In fact, taking a look at most of the classic fairy tales that are told to children at a later time in life often reveals different...

The tale of “Beauty and the Beast” is one of the best-loved and most persistent fairy tales in modern culture. Its universal appeal is due to its endearing message of ‘true love’ and the idea that ‘beauty is found within’. However the concept of...

The Grimm Brothers’ tale of Snow White and The Seven Dwarves uses the duality of hatred and good to deliver the idea that being a person of good morals and mind triumphs over being a person of hatred and the desire to hurt the lives of others....

A same story can be perceived differently depending on who reads it. Indeed, depending on our cultural background and the historical period in which we live a story can take on different meanings. Similarly, our perception of a story may change...

Cannibalism: it’s one of humanity’s biggest taboos. The word itself conjures images of horrific depravity to mind; scenes like the tribal rituals atop the pyramids of the Aztecs where human hearts were carved out and tossed to the crowd. But...

The Grimm fairy tale “The Jew in the Brambles,” which is found in the “adult” section of the collection, is much more than a simple fairy tale. It is even more than a folk tale intended for a mature audience. It is a story that evokes the deepest...

Greed can lead to the corruption of ones morals and inner self; in fact, greed has caused constant struggles throughout human history and usually results in one’s own downfall. The Brothers Grimm redesigned the central concepts of the tale of The...

In the movie Hard Candy, the director transfigured and subverted the three conventions of the Grimm's version of The Little Red Riding Hood to critique both the social issue of sexism and pedophelia. The subversion of Little Red Riding Hood as the...