by Edward Thorne

Created on: July 30, 2009

Structure and Style in Fairy Tales -

How can Fairy Tales be recognized from other sorts of Wonder Tales?

Fairy Tales must all be woven of some common thread, or we should all be fools whenever we speak of them. Why, as educated people, would we talk about something that either doesn't exist, or could not possibly be recognized if it did? If there is no such thing as a Fairy, then there is no reason to discuss Fairy Tales.

But there is something deep within the mind of humankind that seeks to peer into Mystery. Any over-ripe culture that has abandoned that quest quickly deteriorates. Without the Fairy Tale, the world becomes disenchanted. These are stories that spark the imagination and fire the spirit. Fairy Tales may teach truths that cannot be approached in the cold, clear manner of science.

In his seminal book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" (1949), noted mythologist Joseph Campbell described what he called the "Monomyth", which shows the structure of many of the Heroic myths. The sections were the Departure, the Initiation, and the Return. This fits many of the classic Fairy Tales, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, and Puss-inBoots. Along the way, the hero may encounter helpers, hindrances, and even despair. He (or in many cases she) enters the mystic realms, receives some knowledge or gifts, and returns from where he came in a happier state. These stories illuminate what it is to be human. "The folk tale is the primer of the picture-language of the soul."

However, this is a rather simplistic explanation, much like saying "A man was born, he lived, and then he died". Even that story could be further reduced to "The sun rose, and later set." That's all there is to it - everything else is just so
much icing on the cake. There's the structure.

Part of the problem lies in identifying exactly what actually constitues a Fairy Tale. Little Red Riding Hood has no fairies to be seen at all. Perhaps they are hiding in the underbrush. There are a few things we have come to expect. A pre-technological setting, for example.

Could we identify a Fairy Tale by the fact of its inclusion in "Grimm's Fairy
Tales"? Here we find that Jacob and Wilhelms excellent collection represents what might be called Folk Tales. The brothers wrote down word by word the tales from village story-tellers, and refused to polish them into a more literary form. As a result, the styles range as greatly as those individuals talents. These are quite moral tales, which may be considered

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