Moral Ambiguity and Implications of Children's Fairytales
Moral Ambiguity and Implications of Children's Fairytales
A fairytale as we know it is meant to be an entertaining story of incredible and supernatural happenings. Its purpose is to stimulate the depths of a young mind in such a way as to make us a part of the environment, bound only by the limits of our own imaginations. However, it is this very wild fantasy land that yields a very real threat to its intended audience. Both traditional and contemporary fairytales experienced by children can have harmful effects on a child’s psyche. This is especially true when children are exposed to these fairytales during the early stages of psychological development.
Why do expose children to fairytales? Most often we use these tales to comfort young children or perhaps to calm them down, in the form of bedtime stories. However a closer analysis reveals some startling realities regarding the messages delivered to a child through the words of these fairytales. If one really examines Snow White for example, we could conclude that this fairytale advocates divorce and black magic. There are also overtones of homicide and cannibalism in Hansel & Gretel, rape in the original Sleeping Beauty(Grimm’s Briar Rose), as well as betrayal and pre-meditated murder in the ‘Lion King’. Is it any wonder, then, that a child comes to be afraid to be baked in an oven - or learn to fear villains in made-for-child movies.
For centuries, fairytales have long been criticized and praised by those at both ends of the psychological spectrum. Dr. Karl Oppel and Dr. Bruno Bettelheim, both considered experts in child psychology each have presented opposite views about fairytales. Dr. Oppel presented his findings in the early 1900’s in his book, The Parent’s Book: Practical Guidance for the Education at Home, Oppel made his strong argument against telling fairytales to children. He stated that we should “shelter children from the ugly, illogical, overly violent, and frightening nature of fairytales” (Oppel). In the text, Oppel goes on to recount a childhood story in which a young man is passing the time away under the gallows, and is amusing himself with several hanged corpses. Later, he takes the corpses from their coffins and lays them with him in bed. Surely this is not the type of image that we want to share with children.
Nor is that of the evil step-mom portrayed as being a blackened...