The fairytale The Frog Prince by Brothers Grimm is about a prince who is saved by a princess. The beginning of this story begins with the princess sitting by a pool of water, playing with her golden ball, symbolizing wealth, majesty, and truth, but accidentally drops it, therefore it rolls away and down into the spring. This is a typical archetype that many fairytales use, where the princess loses something and the prince later comes and finds her, returning her prized possession. Once the princess began to cry over her loss, a frog appeared out of the spring, promising her he would retrieve the ball back for her if she, in return, promises to love him, let him live with her, eat off her golden plate, and sleep in her bed. She was reluctant at first, but agreed to his deal, thinking that she wouldn’t have to follow through with it. The frog is on a quest to find true love, as most princes in fairytales do. Another archetype found in The Frog Prince is that the princess makes a pact with someone, and in this case, the frog. When the frog finally retrieves the princess’ ball back from the spring, she ignorantly runs away as fast as she possibly can, hoping she won't have to keep her promise.
The next day, the frog paid the princess a visit at her home where her father, the trustworthy and loyal king, saw she was frightened, and told her to keep her word from the night before. She let him eat off her golden plate, sleep on her bed, and live with her for 3 consecutive nights, the number symbolizing mind, body, spirit, birth, and life. The Brothers Grimm may have used the number 3 to represent the different bodies and lives the frog prince experiences. On fourth morning, she woke up to a handsome prince beside her instead of the frog. The author may have also chose 3 nights as the number 4 represents mankind. He confessed that he had been enchanted by a fairy, who had cursed him and changed him into a frog until he could find a princess to take him in and let him sleep upon her bed for three nights. The fairy in this story acts as the witch/troll, who brings misery upon one of the main characters. This portrays the archetype of “the quest,” where the hero, the prince, has to complete a task, which is to find a princess to love him, to restore the status quo. The hero goes through what could be understood as ressurection, from a frog back to who he was before - a handsome prince.
The prince asks the princess for her hand in marriage, and she immediately agrees. The two of them throw an extravagant wedding, riding off in a coach pulled by eight horses off to their new life together, happily ever after.
I enjoyed reading the question you pose at the beginning of the entry. How has the Disney versions of fairy tales shaped a generation or two of girls? Do boys dream of being princes in the same way that girls want to be princesses? Is there danger in sharing these stories with children?
ReplyDeleteDisney has helped to shape the identities, interests, and dreams of girls around the world by telling stories of a prince and princess from different ends of the social spectrum, saving one another and living happily ever after against all odds. They fight for each other and rebel against their parents to be together. This gives both boys and girls the mindset that anything is possible if you fight for what you really want and believe in.
DeleteI believe that although boys don't express it quite as much as girls do, boys do think and maybe dream about being someone's Prince Charming. They, too, want to find true happiness and live a fairy tale life.
Sharing these stories with children may be in a sense, dangerous, because they'll expect too much out of people and won't be content with general, realistic romances. This will set them up with high hopes and unfortunately, extremely painful heartbreak.
I liked how you stated that the fairy in this case was the witch/troll, and even though she wasn't mentioned much, she is still a great influence in the story. Do you think that the brothers grim may have chosen three days so that he could be returned on the forth symbolizing Mankind(four limbs)?
ReplyDeleteThe archetype of the number four is a good point you've brought up. I think that the Brothers Grimm may have chosen the number 3 for both of the archetypes of these numbers.
DeleteThis is my favorite blog posting for several reasons: first, you write with a strong,clear voice. Your analysis is conscious and carefully considers the details of the story, and you go beyond the text to address questions posed by your reader.
ReplyDeleteaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
ReplyDelete