1. MYTH/ LEGEND AND FOLKTALE DIFFERENCES

2. CUPID AND PSYCHE AND BEAUTY AND THE BEAST:
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MYTH AND FOLKTALE
Cupid and Psyche
 Greece, Mount Olympus
 sacred
 In a specific time in the
past when there were
gods and goddesses
 Cupid (son of Venus)
 Psyche (Transformed
into an immortal
 Venus (Goddess of Love
Beauty and the Beast
 In a land far away (no
specific place)
 Secular (no gods)
 Once upon a time
 Beast (enchanted)
 Human girl
 Fathers, sisters

3. SIMILARITIES
Cupid and Psyche
 Youngest and most
beautiful of three
daughters
Beauty and the Beast
 Youngest and most
beautiful of three
daughters
Others?
Others?

4. WAYS TO ANALYZE FOLKTALES
Themes and motifs
The recurring themes and
elements of folktales
 Historical Perspective:
What do the folktales
tells us about important
events in history? (War,
Famine, medical care,
legal rights of peasants,
women)


Sociological
interpretations: What do
these tales tell us about
the class system? About
gender roles? About
marriage and courtship
practices? What do they
tell us about the values
of the cultures they are
from? What do they tell
us about the way people
behave?

5. WAYS OF ANALYZING CONTINUED

Psychological
Interpretations: How do
the folktales reflect the
fears, desires and
needs of children? Of
adults? What are the
symbolic
representations of
these drives?

Structural
interpretations: What
are the cross-cultural
similarities of elements
of folktales? What are
the commonalities
between Cinderellas
across cultures? Which
are the common
elements according to
Vladimir Propp?

6. THEMES AND MOTIF
Beauty and the Beast,
Urashima the Fisherman,
The Frog Princess,
Bluebeard, The Robber
Bridegroom




Youngest and most
beautiful daughter
Monster bridegrooms
Youth = innocence and
purity
Age = greed and
weakness and hostility

7. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: BEAUTY AND THE
BEAST



Six months: In the time before cars
and airplanes, trips to other towns
were often expected to last for
months with time for traveling,
visiting and conducting business at
the destination.
Give me one of your daughters: In the
days when many marriages were
arranged, the giving of a daughter in
marriage was common. Women rarely
had any influence over the choice of
their husbands by their parents.
Marriages were often made for political
or social reasons, especially in higher
society.
Dead mothers: Childbirth was arduous
and birth unavailable. Women often
died in childbirth.


Promised: Promises, while important
today, were more powerful in the past
when honor was a great motivator.
Also, before the time of literacy among
the masses and written contracts,
verbal promises were given greater
weight. A promise was a contract and
actionable by law if broken.
Marina Warner interprets the tale as
the historical storyteller's way of
assuring young brides that arranged
marriages in which they must go live
with their husband's families can be
survived and even happy. The bride
must leave behind her old family and
embrace her husband as a loving wife.
Mutual affection and attachment
between the husband and wife will lend
itself to a happy marriage and life for
the young bride (Warner 1994).

8. SOCIOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS: BEAUTY AND
THE BEAST



Merchant: The daughter of a
merchant, Beauty is a member of
the middle class, not a member of
the nobility.
Servants: In past centuries, the
middle and upper class
households had servants, even if
only one. The lower class usually
worked as servants. The family's
inability to have even one servant
illustrates their total poverty.
In the past, mirrors were
expensive and a luxury reserved
for the wealthy.



In the past, mirrors were expensive
and a luxury reserved for the
wealthy.
Women are expected to obey
fathers.
The youngest is the least
experienced and perhaps most
protected of the children in a
family. The youngest is also the
child least likely to receive a
financial inheritance in the days
when the eldest son received the
bulk of a father's estate. The
youngest would consequently find it
necessary to know how to fend for
themselves in the world by
marrying well or choosing a career.

9. PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS: BEAUTY
AND THE BEAST



Forest: According to Jungian
psychology, the forest is a
representation of the feminine
principle and is identified with the
unconscious. The foliage blocks the
sun's rays, the sun being associated
with the male principle. The forest
symbolizes the dangerous side of the
unconscious, its ability to destroy
reason.
. Mirrors: A mirror has many symbolic
meanings of truth and representation
of a person's heart.
Garden: The garden is an important
element of the tale, appearing in
most versions. It represents the
magical field and boundaries around
the Beast's castle, immune to the
seasons and growing impossible and
beautiful fruits and flowers.




A garden symbolizes the conscious, the
soul, nature subdued, feminine fertility,
happiness, Paradise, salvation, purity,
the world, and the place of mystic
ecstasy
Rose: Roses symbolize love,
completion, perfection, beauty, female
sex organs, and the heart (Olderr
1986).
The rose is a common element in the
Beauty and the Beast tales. Beauty
usually requests a rose from her father,
hoping to ask for a gift he can afford
whatever his success in reviving his
business. Ironically, Beauty's request
for the rose will be the most dangerous
and costly gift the father tries to
produce.
Thomas Mintz views the rose as
"representing both the Beast's
masculinity and Beauty's femininity.

10. PSYCH INTERPRETATIONS CONT’D

A fairy represents the supranormal powers of the human soul;
latent possibilities; the
personification of stages in the
development of the spirit; and the
lesser spiritual moods of the
universal spirit


The jealous sisters: Beauty is the
youngest and best-beloved of the
sisters and is thus a target of
their enmity. They want to do
away with her and make her lose
anything they feel should be theirs

Weak fathers: fathers may be seen
to be incapable of seeing their
daughters as objects of sexual
desire. In this case the father may
be seen as avoiding the issue of
marriage of his daughter. She
takes the choice from him. He may
see any suitor a a sort of beast.
. Silence: One can imagine a
deafening silence, filled with the
suspense of searching for an
inhabitant, be it human or animal.
In a large castle that should be
bustling with life and activity to
keep it in good shape, the silence
would be terrifying. The silence also
foreshadows that the Beast does
not have all of the traits of a beast,
including noisiness.

11. GROUP WORK

Discuss themes and
possible psychological,
historical and
sociological
interpretations of
Bluebeard and the
Robber Bridegroom.

12. HOMEWORK
From Classic Fairy Tales
Read
 Propp’s Method and Materials pp.
382 – 387
 Little Red Riding Hood pp. 11 – 12
 Little Red Cap pp. 13 – 15
 Goldflower and the Bear
pp. 19 – 20
 Hansel and Gretel
pp. 273 – 280
 Hansel and Gretel
pp. 184 – 190
 Molly Whuppie
pp. 209 - 211