The Enduring Allure of Fairy Tales

Fairytales are archaic stories, shot through with whimsical and fantastical elements. At first glance they might appear to make no sense and yet, the slow dawn of delayed realization reveals that scarily, they make very much sense. How was it that in all our glory of modern “sophistication” and departure from primitive origins, we have not dropped fairy tales into the dustbin of history? Why do they still hang around, forever clinging to the edges of our culture? It’s a dynamic strangely at odds with our Western penchant for a reason. How is it that we find them so, well, irresistible?

Such tales have been dressed-up and digitally reproduced for the masses for decades, spawning a myriad of commercial successes. Obviously there exists a not-untapped hunger and curiosity for these old stories, tinged with magic and melodrama. Nowadays, fairy tales are relegated to the realm of children but this wasn’t always the case.

Long ago, fairy tales were generational folklore that was repeated amongst adults, particularly in rural areas. That these tales have enjoyed such stunning generational continuity is telling in that their importance is perhaps more serious than we initially imagine. Fairytales are actually potent vehicles of mythic material with embedded, highly significant, very un-frivolous messages.

Of fairy tales, we tend to think their modern appeal must stem from their apparent whimsy but this assumption is a little half-baked, a little superficial. Fairy tales are not merely children’s stories accompanied by painterly, pastel illustrations of charming forests and beautiful princesses. These stories are far from innocent and quaint. The storylines of fairytales are not without abruptness and harsh surprises.

Someone is killed. Someone is eaten. Someone’s hands get cut off. And all of it is mentioned in such an unsettlingly perfunctory manner. Considering the brevity of these stories, themes are dense and plentiful. It is revealed in glaring, raw detail that consequences result from one’s actions. Likely part of the perennial fascination with fairy tales is due to these lurid, grisly details. Maybe we should be asking the question of why a tale about a wolf eating a little girl is perfectly acceptable fodder for a children’s bedtime story. Isn’t that the curious part? But there’s an…

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