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Angelo Pastelin
WR 39C
Dr. Lynda Haas
4 Nov 2015
An In Depth Look at Fairy Tales
Many people like to think of fairy tales as magical stories where the good always prevails
and although this is mostly true, fairy tales are much more complex than that, since they contain
specific details that can be analyzed rhetorically. The genre has remained popular for centuries
and has crossed many cultures, which makes it uniquely positioned to illustrate how literature
reflects and is shaped by the situation from which it came. Early fairy tales have come a long
way and now the more modern day adaptations are created with the early fundamental principles
that were valued in many classic fairy tales. From the early German Grimm brothers tales, and
also the French Perrault, the genre of fairy tales has been fairly consistent in style and there are
many noticeable qualities of tales that are easily recognizable. The Grimm brothers were
educated scholars and authors who sought to help in the romanticism movement in Germany as
their, 200 stories of this collection aimed at conveying the soul, imagination, and beliefs of
people through the centuries (Ludwig). As for Perrault, he was a French poet who Is best
remembered for his collection of fairy stories for children, Tales of Mother Goose, (Editors) in
1697. According to Jack Zipes Introduction: Rediscovering the Tales of the Brothers Grimm,
he states that, There are some clues in the Grimms' tales themselves and their styles that provide
background information about the views of the tellers of the tales and the sociohistorical context
(Zipes 16). He is showing how the fairy tales are reflections on what is happening in society at

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that moment in time. Now, in the 21st century, there are still qualities that we know make up a
fairy tale present, just with modern adaptations, due to the major change in time period.
One example of a classic story that has reflected several different cultures and time
periods is the story of Sleeping Beauty, recorded in the 17th to 19th centuries by Basile (Italy)
Perrault (France), and the Grimms (German).They can be seen as a prime example when taking a
look at what fairy tales really are, since it displays identifiable qualities and events that make a
fairy tale unique, such as conventions of a happy ending in the plot and the theme of love. The
Sleeper and the Spindle, a modern fairy tale written by Neil Gaiman, is a unique remake of the
classic fairy tales, Sleeping beauty and Snow White, with its own element and twist. The Sleeper
and the Spindle uses the classical fairy tale conventions of a short plot and the theme of true
love; comparing this text to its earlier counterparts illustrates how texts reflect their rhetorical
context.
The author effectively delivers a change in the cultural context from the early 19th century
versions, to the modern day 21st century novel, and mainly does so through the short plot and the
theme of love displayed. This change is mainly because the norms and the environment of
society has changed, so the fairy tales and what they essentially want to do, other than entertain,
has changed. It would not seem right for fairy tales to keep being outdated, written in a society
that no one is familiar with, so it only makes sense that new creations were bound to happen. The
Sleeper and the Spindle displays this change effectively through the short plot and the theme of
true love, compared to the famous Sleeping Beauty, and the specific change is that of cultural
context. In The Sleeper and the Spindle we see that when the story is concluding, the Queen, a
female character of high standards and royalty, is actually the one to save the day. Generally, we
are used to the well-known and typical Prince charming to come save the day and rescue the

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princess in distress. This time, with the newer version, that did not happen. The queen is the hero
in the story and there is no real sign of a male figure that plays a heroic role. The dwarves in the
story are males, but they do not truly save the day, although they do accompany the queen.
Essentially, the queen is the one to save the day when She lowered her face to the sleeping
womans. She touched the pink lips to her own carmine lips and she kissed the sleeping girl long
and hard, (Gaiman) magically waking her from her sleep. At the end, an old woman also plays
into that role of the hero, because she is the one to kill the princess, when they realize she is
nothing but trouble. A big change that is associated with that of the transition from male hero to
woman hero, is the fact that in the outside world, the role of women has become much larger
since the time period that the early tales were written. Women no longer stand around in a house
and just cook and watch children, they actually have careers and get a strong education in
college. They now Are less than a percentage point away from making up the majority of the
national workforce (Bell). It is unfair to believe that the old values and roles of women have
remained the same as before when writing this novel. The appeal to the audience would not be as
effective and especially not for the group it is all about, the women.
The cultural context change through plot is basically just relating to the fact that women
save the day and can be considered the heroes of The Sleeper and the Spindle. In the early
versions of Sleeping Beauty, the women are not strongly portrayed as they are or could be now.
The sleeping princess is locked up and then awakened by a valiant and courageous prince. The
fairy tales also emphasize the nobleness of the prince, to show how the male is dominant and
fearless, sine the prince gets to the princess when no one else could. It figuratively shows how
males are the ones that can overcome anything, since in the tale, many tried to get to sleeping
beauty, but they all failed. Now with the newer, 21st century novel, the queen is the prince

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character but in her own unique and feminine way. The women role is as big now as ever, and is
even recognizable in fairy tales, where it can be seen as perfectly normal for women to be heroes
but before, it would be strange and unlikely. The fact that the queen, a woman, ends up kissing
the girl, instead of the prince, a male, is a major change as well. Before, in olden times, this
would have never even been thought of, because it goes against the Christian religion that the
Grimms were trying to spread so widely with their tales. Same sex interaction and marriage was
seen as sinful before, and the fact that now, in 21st century novels, movies, and basically
anything, it is perfectly normal. Whereas before it would seem unusual and against religious
beliefs, society today is pushing towards it as many places have begun to legalize same sex
marriage. Although it was just a kiss that was far from romantic, the idea behind the same sex
interaction is a big one because originally, it had been a prince kissing the princess, now shifting
into a queen.
The cultural context change can also be displayed through the themes that The Sleeper
and the Spindle ultimately displays, compared to Sleeping Beauty. In Sleeping Beauty, the
overall theme of the tale is that of true love, again undermining the role of women since it seems
like they need a husband or in this case a prince, in their life. It is true love since the prince in all
early versions, such as the 1697 Perrault, Sleeping Beauty in the Woods ends up marrying the
princess. The prince, in Perraults version, after dueling with his mother and ultimately killing
her, Comforted himself with his beautiful wife and his pretty children (Perrault). In The
Sleeper and the Spindle since there is no prince involved, we do not really see the theme of true
love with a man and woman, or even the theme of true love at all. The theme can be seen as good
triumphing over evil, due to the fact that the sleeping princess was essentially evil, and when she
awoke, and evidently displayed her cruel intentions, she was killed. There is again, no mention of

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a male hero at all, the tale does not even bother to mention them and the true love theme goes
away even though the queen does kiss the princess, the ending for the princess is far from true
love, and they do not ride off Happily ever after. This goes to show how the culture
surrounding society has had obvious changes and those changes are reflected into the works of
many writers, including those in the fairy tale genre.
The targeted audience of the author is another evident rhetorical social change. Due to the
short plot and its typical happy ending form, as well as the theme of true love displayed, we see
the comparisons from the newer, The Sleeper and the Spindle and the original stories of Sleeping
Beauty. With Sleeping Beauty, the author is writing for different time periods, so it is obvious
that the form of writing would be different, since the audience and ways to appeal to the
audience now have changed. The plot setup is different in both texts, therefore creating a
different way of entertainment for the audience. Another difference in the plot, specifically
focusing on the general Happy endings, and the short form, from older to newer version the
involvement and meshing of another story, as read in The Sleeper and the Spindle. It combines
the two classic texts Sleeping Beauty, and has some elements of Snow White. The queen is
supposed to be snow white, along with her dwarves and the princess sleeping beauty, and at the
end, it can be seen as a clash between the two iconic figures that we popular are familiar with
today. This combination of the two stories is a great way to keep the fundamentals of fairy tales,
but to add a twist and more entertainment value for the audience. The old versions of sleeping
beauty have a simple plot and they are all more or less the same, just the amount of detail in each
story varies. In Little Brier-Rose, by the Grimm brothers in 1812, this simplistic plot is
evident, for example, when the prince is on the search for Brier-Rose, he Finally he came to the
old tower where Brier-Rose was lying asleep. The prince was so amazed at her beauty that he

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bent over and kissed her (Grimm). Since many fairy tale readers already know the classics,
switching it up and combining them is a creative and effective way to keep the attention and
appeal to the society that has changed its mindset greatly. In the end, many would have thought
that the queen would go back and marry her prince charming, but it did not happen, instead she
Walked away from the sunset and the lands they knew, and into the night (Gaiman). The queen
ends up walking away from her royal castle and leaves her prestigious lifestyle, along with the
three dwarves. In classical tales, we would really never see this happen, because the queen
always got her prince and continued to live the royal and flashy life that she was already familiar
with. This is a big appeal to the audience in a way that pertains to a more broad audience,
displayed with a more realistic ending because the queen leaves her riches to live a normal
lifestyle. It is easier to relate to the queen and understand that her intentions were only for good,
and not being arrogant and vain such as many of the early version queens. It is a way to switch it
up and give the audience a different take on what fairy tales are about and trying to show. With
The Sleeper and the Spindle the audience is intended for everyone, of any age and culture. There
is not just on specific group of people that the tales focus on, since they are meant for people of
all nature.
Religion is a prime example that the intentions have changed because before, it was
evident that the Grimm brothers would look to spread and value the specific religion of
Christianity where as now, we see no real emphasis and extra effort to enforce the values and
religious beliefs of a particular religion. In The Sleeper and the Spindle there is no real mention
of religion, due to the fact that the author knows the audience is widespread. Again, early one,
the Grimm brothers Had been influenced by their critics to make the tales more accessible to a
general public and more considerate of children as readers and listeners of the stories (Zipes

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13). This goes to show how the appeal to audience was impactful on how the fairy tales were
written, and it continues to modern day with the newer texts. The aspect of audience appeal is put
into more thought now with newer tales, and any texts, than ever before to keep the value of
entertainment at its highest.
The theme of the older Sleeping Beauty of true love again, is a great and magical theme,
but it seems to be repetitive for the audience when reading all of the older tales. We see in Little
Brier-Rose, a sleeping beauty version of the Grimm brothers, which The prince and Brier-Rose
got married, and they lived long and happily until they died (Grimm). This specific tale has that
happy ending that others have as well. Many tales are closely related and easily connected and
it seems with the 21st century recreations, they are more complex and distinguishable. The true
love theme of Sleeping Beauty was evident in all three version of the 19th century, but with The
Sleeper and the Spindle that theme seems to be withdrawn. The theme that provides the greatest
change from the audiences of before and those from now, is that of overcoming challenges
through a journey. From older versions of fairy tales we saw a main problem, and a quick
solution. This unrealistic approach to problems was repetitive as well, since mostly all tales
would have a similar problem and fix. In The Sleeper and the Spindle we see that characters
actually take steps and go through a process. This provides the audience with relatable events
and more interest, and although they do not relate entirely, since we do not live fairy tale lives,
they can see some similarities. The audience now knows the real world applications and lifestyle,
and how sometimes problems are difficult to overcome and take a while. The fairy tales now
more easily relate to that because although they still contain magic and fictional ideas, there are
more realistic conventions of the newer tales that generally have a stronger attraction to the
present day audience.

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There are many drastic changes, many slight changes, and many elements of older
versions of classic tales that are still kept the same. All of these conventions contribute to the
rhetorical change that has come about, whether it is due to society and the culture, or the
audience, and many times, both. Fairy tales are still fundamentally the same and are great pieces
of texts to read and enjoy for people of all ages.

Thesis Annotation: Theme of true love and short plot with happy endings.
Revision Strategy: My strategy was defined by prioritizing the revision of the analysis. I
added quotes and textual evidence from different sources, and I removed repetition of ideas to
make the analysis more effective. I then focused on the smaller aspects, such as citations and
grammar. The most difficult part was adding the analysis and figuring out where to fit it for
organizational purposes.
Grade yourself: I think I deserve a B to a B+.

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Works Cited
Bell, Ella Edmondson. "The 21st Century Workplace -- Are Women The New Men?" Huffpost.
The Blog, 17 Apr. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Denecke, Ludwig. "Brothers Grimm." Brittanica. Encyclopedia Brittanica, n.d. Web. 8 Nov.
2015.
Editors. "Charles Perrault Biography." Biography. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 15 Nov.
2015.
Gaiman, Neil. The Sleeper and the Spindle. N.p.: n.p., 2014. Print
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, Little Brier-Rose Kinder- und Hausmrchen, 1st ed., vol. 1. 1812.
Print
Perrault, Charles. The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods. Trans. D. L. Ashliman. Pitt.edu. 7 June
2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2015
Zipes, Jack. (2014) Introduction: Rediscovering the Original Tales of the Brothers Grimm.