Fairy Tales: The creepy stories that have shaped literature

“It's not the prince at all, but my father drunkeningly bends over my bed, circling the abyss like a shark, my father thick upon me like some sleeping jellyfish. What voyage is this, little girl?” Can anyone guess what that is? When you first hear it, the tone is dark. That is true but it is also a fairy tale. Wait what you say? You heard me correctly. This is the story of Briar Rose and how her father sexually abused her. It doesn’t seem like a happy story but that is because it’s not. That is only what the story has come to mean to us today. As writers, we have gained information from folk lore and fairy tales to help us with our own stories. These iconic tales of princesses being rescued by handsome princes and all of their dreams coming true were burned into our minds ever since we were born. As children we loved to watch Disney movies and see how they all ended with happily ever after. We never looked deeper and saw the true colors of the stories. There is death, betrayal, and poison hiding in those pages. These morbid tales have helped literature to become what it is today.

            Does everyone here know the tale of Snow White? First off, she is a princess. She frolics in the forest and sings with animals, but not everybody feels the same way about her. Her stepmother, more commonly known as the Evil Queen, was jealous of her beauty so what does she do? She sends a huntsman to stab her and rip out her heart so that she can be the fairest of them all. This story is considered a children’s tale and yet it has this thematic element. We don’t focus on this because the first thing we think is that the Queen is evil but yet that is no excuse for murdering and innocent child because a mirror tells you that she is more beautiful. Also, the Queen goes a step further and poisons the child when the huntsman comes back without Snow White’s heart. This is one of the most morbid stories I have ever heard but as times go on, authors begin to shift the story so that it is a happy tale.

            Today media and authors have made adaptations to these classic tales. In other words, they have modernized them. For example, there is a popular show on ABC called Once Upon A Time. The plotline of the TV show is the lives of the fairy tale characters in modern times. This show collected much information from various fairy tales to make the project a reality. Another modern take on the stories is the Land Of Stories series written by Chris Colfer. This series gives a whole new meaning to fairy tales. All of your favorites are there but they have completely different stories. Take Goldilocks for example. In the fairy tale she is an innocent little girl walking into a cottage of bears by accident while in the modern take, she is a bandit running from the law for all of the crimes that she has committed. While the characters in these two stories are the same, they could not be more different.

            The authors who wrote these classic stories used famous characters and morals to create the stories that we know and love today. Although these tales were originally dark and mysterious, as time has gone on, they have become tales of adventure, true love, and most surprisingly happiness. They were molded by writers through the ages to make them more appealing to each new generation. These once ominous fables are now what many authors look to for guidance when writing stories. They have produced many great stories that wouldn’t have been possible without them. Although these tales have started as simple and eerie, they have evolved into so much more as time has gone on. They created a base for literature and we use all aspects of them in our own stories today.

Works Cited Page

“Briar Rose” By Anne Sexton

http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/anne-sexton/briar-rose-sleeping-beauty/

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell By Chris Colfer

http://www.thelandofstories.com/

“Once Upon a Time” Created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz

http://abc.go.com/shows/once-upon-a-time