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Allan, Robin. Walt Disney and Europe: European Influences on the Animated Feature Films of Walt Disney. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1999. Print. Robin Allan’s book discusses Walt Disney’s animated fairy tales as being profoundly influenced by European culture and European folktales. He cites many of the well-known animated tales such as Cinderella and Snow White and meticulously examines how their re-working of characters and themes is attributed to European sources. In addition, he analyzes Disney’s tales in regard to the pop culture of the time, drawing on the audiences that were targeted and reasons why.

Golberg, Stefany. “The Smart Set: Happy 200th, Snow White! – October 1, 2010.” The Smart Set. 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. . The article briefly comments on the changes that fairy tales have underwent to come to be as we know them today. Whereas today they are more geared for children and are more colorful and cheerful in their content, centuries ago they were more dramatic and gory, geared for an illiterate audience that used the tales as melodramatic entertainment. Golberg attributes the transition to a children’s audience to hope, the hope that the child and other characters exhibit in the tales. Citing Walt Disney’s Snow White as an example, she shows the avid optimism and hope that is present in its elements, as opposed to that in the Brother Grimm’s version of Snow White.

Haase, Donald P. “Gold into Straw: Fairy Tale Movies for Children and the Culture Industry.” The Lion and the Unicorn 12.2 (1988): 193-207. Project MUSE. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. The journal article addresses two sides of a debate about the Disneyfication of fairy tales: one about the definite structure of a fairy tale and how Disney distorts it with his adaptations and the other about the fairy tales having never contained any eternal truths but rather reflected the values of their time, as did Disney’s. The article discusses varying motifs and structural changes that fairy tales have underwent as a function of new power relations, morals, and experiences of the society (i.e. patriarchal structure, female roles). In addition, analyses of other scholars such as Charles Eidsvik, Bruno Bettelheim, and Clarke Sayers are included.

Jean, Lydie. “CHARLES PERRAULT’S PARADOX: HOW ARISTOCRATIC FAIRY TALES BECAME SYNONYMOUS WITH FOLKLORE CONSERVATION.” TRAMES: Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences 11.3 (2007): 276-83. Estonian Academy Publishers. Web. .In this paper, Lydie Jean discusses Charles Perrault’s work as it relates to traditional folklore. Jean argues that Perrault was not interested in conserving folklore in his fairy tale interpretations, but the popularity of his works eventually resulted in that. She shows a connection between Charles Perrault’s fairy tales and the aristocrats who were the tales’ primary audience. She mentions how his interpretations differed from the original folk tales that came before them, and these changes made them more relatable to the aristocrats. For example, she mentions some tales have witty remarks that were obviously directed at the educated people, and that some of the morals in the end were geared at the upper class. She however does not give specific examples that support those claims with the exception of The Sleeping Beauty. Though, no details about The Sleeping Beauty and its relation to the aristocratic lifestyle are discussed.

Knox, Skip. “Germany after the Thirty Years War.” Boise State University. Boise State University. Web. . The source addresses the after-math of the Thirty Years’ War in Germany in the economic, social, and governing spheres. It provides statistical data of population and land loss and discussed changes in trade and labor relations that ensued. Although relatively short, it gives much helpful information and insight on Germany’s post-war state.

Orenstein, Catherine. Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale. New-York: Basic, 2003. Print. Orenstein’s book traces the history of Little Red Riding Hood in various social contexts, analyzing them in light of the values common to the times. She cites Charles Perrault’s fairy tales how they are reflections of the court society present in 18th century France. It discusses elements of aristocratic lifestyle that influenced the writing style and content of the tales. In addition it portrays Perrault’s literature as an attempt to defend the aristocracy’s lifestyle and strengthen it.

Perrault, Charles, and Judith Bronte. “”Cinderilla or The Little Glass Slipper” by Charles Perrault, 1729.” Judith Bronte – Christian Poetry, Inspirational Romance, John Bunyan, & Christian Romance. Web. . French to English translation of Charles Perrault’s Cinderella.

Pineiro, Victor. “The Moral of Snow White.” Popten. 24 June 2008. Web. . The article examines Walt Disney’s Snow White as a case of war-propaganda. Pineiro analyzes the changes that the characters underwent since the Grimm’s version, and attributes their new function to the unstable political condition of pre World War II. Fight against Communism, gender segregation, and a “call-to-arms” are some of the higher political purposes of Snow White that Pineiro considers.

Weber, Eugen. “Fairies and Hard Facts: The Reality of Folktales.” Journal of the History of Ideas 42.1 (1981): 93-113. JSTOR. University of Pennsylvania Press. Web. . Eugen Weber begins the article with a critical analysis of the Grimm Brother’s Hansel and Gretel, arguing that it is a grim reflection of the prevailing hard times characterized by hunger, poverty, danger, and high mortality rates of women leading to stepparent/stepchildren issues. He explores various themes and common situations found in fairy tales and their relation to real life at the time. His work continuously cites the apparent shortcomings in Bruno Bettleheim’s psychological analysis of the tales and offers alternative analyses in areas of disagreement.

Zipes, Jack David. The Brothers Grimm from Enchanted Forests to the Modern World. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. Print. In his book, Jack Zipes explores the journey of the Brother Grimm’s fairy tales, starting with how they gathering the tales from storytellers in early 19th century and ending with the development of new fairy tales post-1945. The book discusses symbols and characteristics of heroes found in their fairy tales, the opinions of others regarding the tales, and the shifts the fairy tales underwent in their themes, coinciding with a shift in targeted audience (i.e. adults to children).

Research Question: How do the peaks in the evolution of Fairy Tales show their fairy tale interpretations to be a reflection of the social context in which they are created?
There are many sources out there dealing with fairy tales and the settings in which they were written. Since I’m coming into this topic wholly anew, the first source was a great starting source from which I could branch out:

“The Moral of the Story.” Current Social Issues| Moral Values | Health Care, Science, Environmental News | Vision Media. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=153

The source offers insight into the major peaks of fairy tale evolution and offers support of my research question. For example, Charles Perrault in 18th century France had an interpretation of Cinderella where she drops the slipper on purpose and the source mentions how sexuality and social mobility into aristocracy was prevalent in those times (i.e. kings having relations with their servant girls). Consequently, it points to a possible claim that the French Cinderella does in fact represent the ambitious poor girl of the time. If we look at the Grimm Brothers in 19th century, their fairy tale interpretations run alongside the Romantic period of 19th century, where religion and Christian morality played a large role. It was most interesting, however, to read that 18th century England began to mass-produce fairy tales for children, paralleling a shift in society where literacy and “a budding children’s culture” was on the rise. It seems that 18th century France and England had radically different fairy tale interpretations, French being overtly sexual and the English being much more focused on communicating morals to children. So if more research is done about both cultures of this time the link between Fairy Tales and their social context can be established even more so.
In addition, if the claim that fairy tales, such as Cinderella, reflect the moral values of the society at the time, this claim could be extended to contemporary time. For example, 1997’s adaptation of Cinderella, where she is African American, reflecting the prevalent racial issues in American society, and perhaps their gradual resolution.
The second source is a more critical examination of fairy tales and how researchers perceive them:
Weber, Eugen. “Fairies and Hard Facts: The Reality of Folktales.” Journal of the History of Ideas 42.1 (1981): 93-113. JSTOR. University of Pennsylvania Press. Web. .

The source mentions the high mortality rates of women especially during childbirth in 19th century Germany, paralleling Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella, which deal with child neglect and a wicked stepmother, respectively. It was interesting to learn from the source that the Grimms’ opening lines to about half of their fairytales points to the tie between the stories and real life: “In days of yore when God Himself still walked the earth, the land was much more fruitful that it is now” (96) and “In days of old when wishing still did some good, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful…” (96). This contrasts to the conventional start “Once upon a time…” which suggests that the story is going to be wholly made-up. This could be an interesting piece of evidence to look into in support of my claim that the Grimms did want to include significant religious overtones in their fairy tales to reflect the time period.
What was interesting in this section was his mention of Hansel and Gretel, a fairy tale of German origin (Grimms), and his drawing a parallel between it and the occurrences of the time not only in Germany but in France. He gives an anecdotal example about Jean-Roch Coignet, a well-known French soldier, who wrote about Restif de la Bretonne’s father who widowed and then remarried. What followed was a story a lot like Hansel and Gretel where the stepmother took his children to the forest and left them there. The significance of this anecdotal case that it shows that perhaps Fairy Tales have components that are general enough to be applied to universal matters (orphans, mean stepmothers etc.). So the extent to which each major peaks’ fairy tale interpretations mirror the time period and culture isn’t clear-cut, so it would be more rewarding to look at the specific changes that took place from peak to peak and how those changes reflect the society.

As a double major in Biology and Philosophy it is no surprise that I have had the longest and most through exposure to material pertaining to these two areas of study. Biology, to me, has always been about memorization and philosophy, about contemplation. In many cases, philosophy has no specific answers and this is where abstract thinking about hypothetical problems comes in. I find both majors immensely interesting but I’ve always had a knack for being revolutionary and learning about something completely different (like photography). Being in Macaulay Honors College, I was lucky enough to be exposed to many other areas of study in the seminar classes: Genetic Engineering, Homelessness, History of Yellow Fever in Bay Ridge, and diverse art and literature in CHC 1. It was an amazing feeling learning about things I either thought about but never had the time to learn or never even though about in the first place.
When Professor Natov asked me to intern in a CHC 1 class three years after I took it I was thrilled. It was a chance to experience the class again, which out of all four seminars was my favorite. Unlike my experience in CHC 1, this one had a slightly different focus, which included fairy tales. The class read Beauty and the Beast and The Frog Prince and it was fascinating to see how the fairy tales as we know them today were completely different centuries ago. I conversed with Professor Natov and a close friend who took Professor Natov’s Children’s Literature course and was almost shocked to find out what a close tie fairy tales had to the social context in which they were composed. Since then, I’ve wanted to learn more in-depth about fairy tales. Originally, however, I decided to take a slightly different approach to them and look at them from a philosophical perspective (i.e. what philosophical issues and morals do they convey). In formulating my thesis I soon realized that the values that are conveyed in fairy tales have changed over time, as fairy tales themselves have changed. So it is essential to look closer at
these changes and the social context that accompanied these changes.
The senior-thesis class is my chance to address this task. After much research, it was clear that fairy tales started off as one thing and centuries later ended up as we know them today from, perhaps, Walt Disney. They began as oral narratives, and after being documented, underwent a series of significant revisions. It would be almost impossible to look at every single interpretation since the beginning of time due to the () of material (i.e. almost every culture has their own Cinderella). However, there are certain peaks in history that are vital in the evolution of fairy tales, such as 18th century Charles Perrault in France, 19th century Grimm brothers in Germany, and 20th century Walt Disney, to name a few. Currently the questions I seek out to answer are 1) When and where were the significant milestones of fairy tale evolution? 2) What were the changes that the fairy tales underwent (in a more general sense, the underlying themes)? 3) How do these various interpretations of fairy tales reflect the social values and morals that were relative to the culture and time period in which they were made? And 4) How do Snow White, Cinderella, and The Little Red Riding Hood serve as prime examples of fairy tale evolution (closer analysis)?
In presenting my topic I see myself as assuming the role of communicating to my readers something they may not know and may find interesting about the evolution of fairy tales. In addition, I seek to partially assume the role of a scholar in answering the question of what influenced the evolution of fairy tales throughout specific points in time to increase my audience’s understanding of the topic (especially if part of it already has some knowledge of the topic). I imagine that some of my readers are scholars as well and I seek to provide sufficient and relevant evidence in addressing my thesis and answer any questions they may have. In doing so I will also increase the understanding of the general readers who perhaps don’t know much about
the topic.