The story “Red Riding Hood” does involve a heroine’s journey, but it too puts a twist in the self-discovery angle. Tony DiTerlizzi, Peter Pan, 2006, © Tony DiTerlizzi Later versions of the story were revised and omit any reference to Peter Pan getting rid of his aging cohorts.įig. 5. In contrast to Joseph Campbell’s description, Peter Pan isn’t involved in “dragon killings and threshold crossings,” but instead kills the hero before the journey has begun. The reader of Peter and Wendy is left to presume that Peter keeps his cadre of Lost Boys in perpetual youth by offing the older ones as younger ones arrive. Peter Pan isn’t just resisting the hero’s journey himself he is stopping others from their own self-discovery. Arthur Rackham, Peter Pan in Faerie Orchestra, 1906 He assists other “Lost Boys” in remaining childlike for a time, but “when they seem to be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out.”įig. 4. Symbolizing Pan, the Greek god of the wild, the main character does not want to grow up. Barrie’s 1904 fairy-tale play, delivers a twist to this classic story line. The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung posited that a common archetype in these stories is the hero’s journey to venture away from home, fight a battle, achieve self-discovery, and return home changed. George Cruikshank, Jack the Giant-Killer, 1894 All of these dragon killings and threshold crossings have to do with getting past being stuck.”įig. 3. “But even though there’s a happy ending for most fairy tales, on the way to the happy ending, typical mythological motifs occur-for example, the motif of being in deep trouble and then hearing a voice or having somebody come to help you out. “Fairy tales are told for entertainment,” he wrote. Annie Stegg Gerard, Tinker Bell, 2016, © Annie Stegg GerardĬomparative mythologist Joseph Campbell compared fairy tales to stories from classic mythology that were designed in a way a child could understand. Though they do not typically play a central role in the story, fairies, elves, sprites, and boggarts (goblins who terrorize the British countryside) may enjoy lighthearted encounters with the main character.įig. 2. Other creatures in fairy tales can be playful, even impish. The hero or heroine’s typical antagonists include a trickster, an evil stepmother, and one of an assortment of wicked witches who sulk in castles, ride on brooms, or threaten to bake children alive in houses made of candy. Fairy tales typically involve a childlike figure who encounters a hindrance on what should be a simple journey from point A to point B. The stories, however, evolved from folklore passed down for many generations. Many of the fairy tales that remain popular today first appeared in collections published by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen. Walter Crane, “At last he turned to her and said, ‘Am I so very ugly?’,” 1875 Home > Essays > Enchanted: Illustrated Fairy Tales Enchanted: Illustrated Fairy Tales Jesse M.
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