Historical Dramaturgy

  Fairy tales and folklore have captured the human imagination for centuries, from the Brothers Grimm to ancient Egypt. Fairy Tales often center on moral lessons, transformations, and good vs evil. In current times, these stories have often been seen in the Disney movies, with films such as Cinderella and Beauty and The Beast bringing old classics to life for a new audience. These films often depend on basic stereotypes and tropes, with very black and white views of good and evil. Within my work, I plan to investigate the ways that these stereotypes are often one dimensional, not acknowledging the fullness of a human experience. People do not live life making black and white choices, but instead reside within shades of gray. Working on The Fire Within by Savannah Allred, I plan to focus my dramaturgical research on the history of fairy tales and folklore, specifically the Sleeping Beauty mythology that The Fire Within is inspired by. Within my work, I want to center a framework of survival and survivors, and use a feminist and queer lens within the work I am doing. It is very important to me that as an artist, I am creating work that inspires and empowers people, particularly people in marginalized communities. 

  Historically, Fairy Tales have been used as an educational tool, passed on as cautionary tales from parents to their children. Fairy tales and myths can be found all over human history, however for this I am going to focus specifically on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales collection. This collection of fairy tales was published in 1812, with the first edition containing 86 stories and the second edition containing 210. Some of the most famous of these stories include Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. Many of these stories were taken from European folklore, although with stories such as Cinderella, it was a folk tale that had been in circulation for many years in different cultures. Many of these stories are much darker then the versions we are used to now, especially the Disney versions. Filled with violence and death, these stories were intended as stories to warn children against doing specific things.  

  Many of these stories are based in medieval Europe, inspired by real life events that had become lore by 1812. The royalty system still held a strong appeal to many in Europe at this time, becoming heavily romanticized. This romanticizing can be seen in many of the Disney adaptations as well, a sense of longing for this world that was seen as simpler. In the podcast The Medieval Podcast with Daniele Cybulskie and Kelcey Wilson-Lee, they break down the role of royalty in the medieval times, including the myths that have become common around what the life of royalty was actually like. Specifically, that even those living in a castle still lived a life of deep discomfort, and that being royalty was not as beautiful an experience as it is made out to be in the myths. 

Of course, this was also a world of extremes, with extreme poverty and wealth. Much of the darker inspiration in the Grimms fairy tales also was pulled from the dark ages, with plagues, poverty, and cruelty being a hallmark of many of these stories. Medievalist David Blamires discussed the influence of the Dark Ages epic romances on the fairy tale genre, many of which also deal in violence, death, and cruelty. In his paper Telling Tales, he cites the impact that German fairy tales had on American children’s literature, as many fairy tales became part of the American culture and lexicon. The impact of these violent fairy tales on American culture is shown through the ways that they got purified as they moved into the American culture.

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Sources cited: 

• Wolfgang, Mieder. “Grim Variations From Fairy Tales to Modern Anti-Fairy Tales.” Tradition and Innovation in Folk Literature, 2015, pp. 25–68., doi:10.4324/9781315673677-9. 

• Warner, Marina. “Where Do Fairy Tales Come from?” BBC Culture, BBC, 21 Oct. 2014, www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140930-where-do-fairy-tales-come-from. 

• Haase, Donald. Fairy Tales and Feminism: New Approaches. Wayne State University Press, 2004.

• “The Medieval Podcast: Medieval Princesses, with Kelcey Wilson-Lee.” Created by Danièle Cybulskie. 2020. 

• Telling Tales: The Impact of Germany on English Children’s Books 1780-1918
  David Blamires | October 2009
  
  

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