You know, realists always say that "Life isn't a fairytale. There are no happy endings."
Well, if you read the ORIGINAL fairytales (meaning the non-disneyfied versions), you'd see that life can be as grim and as sad as they are.
Here's a few:
Red Riding Hood gets eaten by the big, bad wolf.
Sleeping Beauty's mother-in-law tries to kill her.
Cinderella's step-sisters take drastic measures to get her prince.
The Tin Soldier is cast into the furnace.
Bellissima and her love die. (The Yellow Dwarf)
The evil sisters take revenge. (Fair, Brown, and Trembling)
The Children of Lir remain cursed and die so.
The Fisherman and his wife go right back where they started.
All the children of Hamelin are never seen again...
So don't try and tell me that fairytales are all happily-ever-after.
(Note: Why exactly do we read these to small children, again?)
Originally, I think it was to communicate a moral or lesson of some sort. Could also just be "scare schooling."
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that the little mermaid throws herself into the sea after the prince marries another princess. I do agree that it is kind of odd that those are children's stories!
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