Would You Have Done It?

Continuing our study of the tale of Bluebeard, we have read Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber" this week.  As in the Perrault version, we are again presented with a heroine who has been instructed not to use the last key on the ring but, alas, she does.  In doing so, she discovers her husband's terrible secret; he has murdered (and preserved) his previous wives and the heroine rightly fears she will be his next victim.

What I found interesting in this version of the tale is that the heroine is aware of of where she went wrong and her shortcoming in disobeying the instruction she was given.  As she acknowledges this, she compares herself to Pandora and later she is also compared to Eve.  I am not sure if these comparisons are a subtle hint that women who succumb, and are too weak to resist, to temptation always find trouble.  I am sure there are some who would it interpret it that way. 

I am much more fascinated with the thought of what would I do in their place.  I would like to be all righteous and secure that if the man I loved told me I could not peek at one little thing that I would not.  Surely, the fact that I do not go around checking my boyfriend's email backs that idea up.  Of course, he's never actually forbidden me to do so, and therefore, never made me curious about it.  Is that the difference?

All three of these women were content until they were told not to do something and then the temptation became an overwhelming, burning desire they had to sate.

It is a little like Christmas presents when you are a child.  My mother had a maddening habit of hiding our presents in the closet that we never had any desire or inclination to go into all throughout the year.  Had she simply hidden the presents in there and said nothing it would have been fine.  However, every year she felt the need to announce the presents were hidden there and we needed to stay out of the closet.  All of a sudden it became a challenge to get in there and see what was hidden because we could not bear the thought of waiting a couple more weeks.  Even worse, there were years where we knew she had begun hiding the presents in there and had no urge to peek because she hadn't yet forbidden it.  Only after the magic words were uttered did the compulsion take over.

Okay, so now I know that for me, at least, the temptation comes in the knowledge that it is a forbidden act.  This is most likely true for Eve as well, as she isn't truly tempted by the tree until the serpent plants the idea into her head.  Pandora and Bluebeard's wife were not really given the opportunity to demonstrate what the catalyst is for them as Pandora is given the box and immediately told not to open it, and the same occurs with Bluebeard's wife and the key. 

The question of the day though is, would you have done it?

Are you sure?

My First Experience with Bluebeard

We have begun studying the tale of Bluebeard and his wife this week.  This is one of the few fairy tales I had not read previously, although I was acquainted with the characters thanks to good ol' Uncle Walt. 

Upon exiting the Haunted Mansion attraction at the Walt Disney World theme park, this is one of the featured tombs on display in the graveyard.  For years I have stopped and read the words and always interpreted them to mean that the last wife had murdered her husband.  I was a little surprised when I read the tale that the wife's hand in Bluebeard's death was indirect and that she actually had to rely on her brothers to save her.  This was a little disappointing for me, as thanks to the rhyme engraved on the tombstone pictured above, I had imagined the wife to be a resourceful and victorious heroine who had emerged victorious over a character of some villainry (why else had he already been married and widowed so many times).  To read that she was the helpless victim (and possibly a descendant of Pandora and Eve), was a letdown.

Perrault's moral inserted at the end of the story completes this image of a weak charactered wife by reminding us that she was the maker of her her destruction by being curious. 

"Moral:

Curiosity, in spite of its appeal, often leads to deep regret. To the displeasure of many a maiden, its enjoyment is short lived. Once satisfied, it ceases to exist, and always costs dearly."

See, "Bluebeard", by Charles Perrault.

Further reflection on the story and this tomb have led me to determine the wife may not have been as passive as I originally thought while I was reading Charles Perrault's version.  While she may have been dependent on her brothers to actually kill Bluebeard, the wife manipulated the situation and set the events in motion by stalling and delaying her immediate death and allowing herself the chance to signal for the help she needed.

Looking at it from that perspective the rhyme, once again, rings true for me.

"Seven winsome wives, some fat and some thin. 

Six of them were faithful, but the seventh did him in."

See, Bluebeard's Tomb, Haunted Mansion Graveyard, Walt Disney World.

Gretel the Hero!

This week we have left behind our princesses and little girls in red hoods off to visit their grandmothers, and moved on to the story of Hansel and Gretel, yet another classic fairy tale from my childhood.  The image above is the cover of the first version of the book I read as a child.  What made this story so special and different for me was it was one of the first times I was exposed to the idea of the girl coming to the rescue instead of the boy.

In the world of fairy tales, the female heroine actually performing the defining act of heroism is pretty rare.  It is much more common to see the character saving the day be a male, while the female serves as his reward for doing so.  Gretel is completely refreshing in this sense.  She saves Hansel, her brother, not because she will gain marriage to a prince or riches or some kind of magical item.  She saves Hansel simply because he is her brother and in danger from the witch.

Even more impressive, is Gretel begins the story a frightened girl dependent on her brother to lead.  Her character's progression is nicely summed up by Marcia R. Lieberman in the essay, "Some Day My Prince Will Come: Female Acculturation through the Fairy Tale", where Ms. Lieberman states: "Gretel does perform the decisive action at the end, but for the first half of the story she is the frightened little sister, looking to her brother for comfort and help."

This was an awesome and powerful lesson to teach children (especially girls) reading fairy tales.  ANYONE can be the hero - even the girl!  And you do not need to start out as the hero; Gretel didn't.  She adapted and grew as the situations around her changed.

There may not have been princesses and castles and magic spells in this fairy tale, but it was spell binding to me nonetheless.   

The Animal Unleashed

While still on the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood", our class has been taking a closer look at the character of the Wolf of late.  He has proven to be a fascinating study, as he can be interpreted to symbolize so many different things: the villain, an object of fear and evil, darkness, man, the seductive manipulator, a sexual predator, and even a victim.

I lean towards the theories of seductive manipulator and sexual predator myself.  As seen in the video clip below, the Wolf in Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods" is a shining example of this persona (and he's anatomically correct too).

Hello Little Girl - Into the Woods, OBC

Perhaps Sondheim got his inspiration for his Wolf character from the one in Charles Perrault's version of "Little Red Riding Hood".  Perrault's wolf has quite the seduction scene where Red exclaims over the wolf/grandmother's features as each new part is exposed. From the Perrault version, "The wolf, seeing her come in, said to her, hiding himself under the bedclothes, "Put the cake and the little pot of butter upon the stool, and come get into bed with me."

Taken from www.deviantart.com, a drawing of the wolf from "Into the Woods" by Selinelle.

Clearly, in the video clip above and the drawing, he is not an animal in the conventional sense of the word.  He looks all man, well, all animalistic man.  Arrrooo....

Knock, knock. Who's there? Can't you tell by looking at me?!

In furtherance of the idea presented in class about images of Little Red Riding Hood and how she is depicted, my last post contained several images of Little Red and I made the observation that it is her red cape and hood that make her instantly identifiable as Little Red.  This started me thinking about other fictional characters and who else among them possesses such an iconic, trademark piece of clothing that would be instantly associated with that character.

I was surprised that this was harder than I initially expected.  In fact, the best I could do was Cinderella and her glass slipper, however, it is not uncommon for Cinderella to be depicted in her housework rags, or in her ball gown but without her feet showing so it is not quite the same effect as we have with Little Red and her hooded cape. 

I was able to come up with a list of items that we might instantly associate with a particular fairy tale character but, unless you were only using the Disney images for associations, no other definitive article of clothing for another character.

Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty could all be interchangeable princesses and fairy tale heroines if they were lined up side by side in ball gowns.  However, add an apple and maybe a forest creature or two and you would immediately know it must be Snow White.  The same goes for Cinderella and her already mentioned glass slipper, as well as her pumpkin coach.  Rapunzel could be any pretty, young girl with a very long braid but if she is near or in a tower with no visible door, then she is recognized as Rapunzel.  Sleeping Beauty needs the spinning wheel or to be seen lying atop her bed before she is easily identified as Sleeping Beauty.

These are all popular fairy tale characters, and yet, it is only Little Red that has that one, steady, consistent article of clothing that identifies her as the young girl who encounters a wolf while walking through the woods.

Clothes Make the Woman

We have left Snow White and Disney behind this week and moved on to Little Red Riding Hood, which is ripe with sexual innuendo, violence, and obedience lessons depending on the versions you read.  One point I was particularly taken with was raised by Zohar Shavit in his essay "The Concept of Childhood and Children's Folktales".

"While in Perrault's version the grandmother's love for her girl is not mentioned at all, in the Grimm version her love for Little Red Riding Hood is boundless, and she makes her the red hood as a symbol of her love.  Hence the hood serves a different function in each of the two versions: for Perrault it symbolizes the girl's eroticism, whereas for the Brothers Grimm it is an expression of the grandmother's deep love."  See, "The Concept of Childhood and Children's Folktales", by Zohar Shavit, p. 330.

The idea of the cape representing such different imagery has really impressed me, as did the current assignment in class of posting an image (just one) of Little Red and discussing the image evoked.  I have looked through hundreds of images online and chosen a handful that, for me, evoke either the beloved child or the erotic heroine in keeping with the statement above.

First, we have the Red that would be in keeping with Perrault's character:

And now, the Grimms' Red:



In every one of these images, the red cape is what identifies the girl in it as Little Red for us.  The capes are of varying length and style, even the shade of red varies, and yet we know this is Little Red Riding Hood each time.  Without it in any or all of these images, and I do not believe Little Red would immediately come to mind except, perhaps, in the first one where the character has slain a wolf.

The emotions and sensations these images conjure are also different.  When I see the erotic Red, I think of a siren who has been awakened out of her innocence by the Wolf, and who is thriving in her newfound womanhood.  The young, child Red invokes in me feelings of wanting and needing to protect her innocence and her life as a parent or grandparent would want to do with a child.

While I was not unaware of several versions of art and images of this character exist, I seldom spend much time searching through them and contemplating my reactions and feelings to them.  I have really enjoyed this project as it gave me a new reflective point.

Am I Under a Spell or Do I Just Believe in Magic?

In preparation for the essay I need to write this week on Jack Zipes' essay, "Breaking the Disney Spell", I have re-read it.  I still fail to see the harm in some of the things Mr. Zipes found fault with Disney over.  One of the first criticisms broached is probably the one I have the most trouble with.  Mr. Zipes appears to resent that the stories were altered to give people hope and make them want to believe in good and happily ever after.

"Of course it would be a great exaggeration to maintain that Disney's spell totally divested the classical fairy tales of their meaning and invested them with his own.  But it would not be an exaggeration to assert that Disney was a radical filmmaker who changed our way of viewing fairy tales, and that his revolutionary technical means capitalized on American innocence and utopianism to reinforce the social and political status quo.  His radicalism was of the right and righteous.  The great "magic" of the Disney spell is that he animated the fairy tale only to transfix audiences and divert their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images he cast upon the screen." 

See, "Breaking the Disney Spell", by Jack Zipes, page 333.

Back in the 1930's, when we were in the middle of the Depression, people wanted to believe there was something good to look forward to.  Today, in the midst of terrorist attacks, wars and deadly diseases that are ravaging our loved ones, I think we still want something good to look forward to.  Is it so terrible that Disney's animated fairy tales do that?  The bad people in the stories still get punished, (perhaps not as harshly as in the original tales, although I think I would be a bit disturbed watching the Evil Queen be forced to wear shoes that were ablaze and dance until she dropped dead - it sounds like something I would expect to see in one of the "Saw" movies), and the good people get rewarded (isn't that what we all hope will happen to us one way or another, that if we do good, we will be rewarded in kind whether it is a raise or a promotion at work for doing well there, or riches, or marriage and family if that is what we wish for).

I'm something of a visual person.  I do dream and imagine but I love to see images laid out before me that depict the very things I dream and imagine about.  It makes me feel good to see I am not the only one who believes in something, which in turn, gives me hope because then it seems a greater possibility of being achieveable if more than one person sees it as well.

People need to dream and hope and believe.  Without these ideals, our country would not be what it is today.  Maybe some of the Disney fairy tales are a little too sun-shiney sometimes, but I would rather have too much than not enough.

Princesses: Not Just for Decoration Anymore

The current module assigned reading is an essay by Jack Zipes entitled, "Breaking the Disney Spell", in which the author discusses his views on how Disney "ruined" the fairy tale.  One of the biggest issues I have with fairy tales, whether they are Disney's or someone else's, is that the female protagonist characters are frequently portrayed as weak, or needing a man to succeed, or having to rely on her beauty.  I was surprised that while Mr. Zipes mentions this phenomena in his essay, this was not one of his bigger criticisms about the ruination of the fairy tale.  According to Zipes, "The young women are helpless ornaments in need of protection, and when it comes to the action of the film, they are omitted."  See, "Breaking the Disney Spell", by Jack Zipes, p.349.

The weak, helpless girl whose only purpose is to be beautiful so she can attract a prince to save her is really disturbing to me as this could lead to self-esteem issues if girls and women today adhere to these principles.  I much prefer stories where the heroine is allowed to possess spirit and bravery, and exhibit intelligence and self sufficiency in addition to being beautiful (it is a fairy tale after all).

Someday My Self-Esteem Will Come

While looking through some old emails, I came across the cartoons below:

As you can see, they focus on how much attention and focus is given to the princesses' looks rather than other qualities. 

Is this something for us to truly be concerned about?  Are young girls basing most or all of their ideals regarding self worth on these cartoon characters who have no greater purpose than to be beautiful?  Yes, some of these girls are brave and attempt to live their lives on their own terms but somehow they still end up needing a man to fall in love with them in order to achieve their greatest desires.

I admit, I got a chuckle out of these cartoons when I received them, especially because some of the princesses have annoyed me more than others over the years for being too weak and simpering (actually I once wrote a series of satirical story poems I called "The Fractured Fairy Tales" where I re-wrote the stories of various princesses to paint them in a slightly less saintly light).  I do recognize though that some girls, rather than be annoyed by the characters, might think this is what we are supposed to strive to be in order to be successful as women which, to me, is disturbing.

I am not saying you shouldn't want to be beautiful.  I also see nothing wrong with wanting to stay home and take care of your family by cooking and keeping house.  I just don't like being objectified or cornered into one particular role as what I "have" to be, and I hope we are teaching our young girls that they do not have to be limited either.

The Fairest of Them All...Please No!

I recently read the original version of the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for the first time in many years.  I had forgotten some things like the fact the the Evil Queen was Snow's mother, not her step-mother, originally.  Other things have carried over no matter the version, such as the fact that I have just never been a fan of Snow White because her weaknesses bother me. 

What I realized for the very first time though with this reading was I am guilty of a sort of reverse stereotyping of these fairy tale heroines.  Many fairy tale princesses (in many versions) have to rely on someone else (usually the prince) to step in and save the day and I have never been comfortable with the idea of waiting for some knight in shining armor to come riding into my life and tell me not to eat the poisoned apple. 

Somewhere along the way, I began mentally equating these beautiful heroines with weakness and just wrote them off as useless and what I did not want to be.  Unconciously, I was equating beauty with a negative trait and struggled with wanting to be beautiful, but not wanting other people to tell me I was beautiful because that would mean I was weak. 

I realize now that while it is good I did not want to be weak, being beautiful has nothing to do with whether you are weak or not and I am sure now that I am aware of what I was doing, I can work on correcting it.