by Deirdre Gould

Created on: August 21, 2009

Fairy tales are first and foremost thinly veiled cautionary tales. A favorite model of conflict for these stories focuses on the cardinal sins: Gluttony (these stories are especially useful in times of want to prevent waste), Greed and Envy(for example the Fisherman and His Wife), Sloth (these were especially popular stories for reprimanding children who were not doing their chores, read The Ravens or Mother Holle), Meanness (in manner and economically) and Pride (i.e. The Emperor's New Clothes or the Nightingale). Virtuous characters either did not possess or overcame these particular flaws and the villains always succumb to one version or other. There is no reason this same model cannot be adapted to modern fairy tales, but there also may be new conflicts that may be used.

Fairy tales always occur in distant locations and times, unconnected with both reader and writer in order to broadcast a universal feel. These stories can happen anywhere at any time (hence they retain their cautionary value). Although many types of stories are told from the third person omniscient perspective, fairy tales take it to a level unknown in others. The fairy tale author has access not only to this world and the afterlife of its characters but also the musings of the devil, angels and even God on occasion. No one, not even supernatural beings (such as angels, devils, death itself) are flawless within the fairy tale structure. It is this very freedom and unlimited scope(most often referred to as the feature of enchantment) that makes a fairy tale separate from the common folk tale or legend.

Many traditional fairy tales have been tossed aside in modern times for containing seemingly two dimensional characters. A second look however, shows that most heroes and heroines of fairy tales do have at least one flaw and these flaws are conquered to achieve their objective. The true flatness in older tales seems to lie with the villains, but this doesn't have to be the case in modern tales. Even some older tales (for example, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight or Beauty and the Beast) have very complex characterizations and no "true" villain. Fairy tale structure revolves more around the good or evil actions taken by the characters than upon any intrinsic fault or perfection. Thus an otherwise good little girl may act lazily and be punished or a truly evil character (most of the time the devil himself) can act mercifully (at least for a time).

However, fairy tales do require

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