Fairy Tales 2010

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Of Feminine Subtlety


This story can definitely be described as a fairy tale. In the beginning, you have a king and his three sons. He gives his 3rd son, Jonathan, three riches with magical powers: a necklace, a ring, and a piece of cloth and is warned by mother that he must protect them. Already, we see the element of kings and queens, various representations of three, and magical objects. The son, of course, is mystified by a woman and ends up giving all three objects to the woman who in turn leaves him alone in the deep, dark forest. Here again, many elements of the fairy tale are seen. The unknown forest and the evil but beautiful woman figure are seen here. In the end though, Jonathan passes the test and gets out of the forest escaping burning water and leprosy. He ends up healing those that have leprosy, and then watches the woman who cheated him die in agony. He returns to his mother and lives happily ever after. It reads, " Then he recounted how God had saved him from various dangers, and after living many years, he ended his days in peace."
This story follows the structure of fairy tales very closely and includes an abundant number of elements which fairy tales also have. However, there is definitely a deeper message of Christian moral at the end, and importance of education over riches scattered throughout that make the story more complex than a traditional fairy tale.

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