This is one of those fairy tales that is famous because the story resonates with children today. It tells of a poor woodcutter and his second wife. She is the stepmother to his children – Hansel and Gretel.
A life lesson for us all in these tales is to be strong, stay focused and fight for what you deserve, even if you are a minority like a woman. 2. Little Red Riding Hood This classic fairy tale has a clear and precise life lesson attached to it. This lesson isn’t meant to be taken literally, but symbolically.
I even told some of the same classical fairy tales to my children as well. Classical fairy tales, however, are more than just magical creations. Deep within the images and words lies a deeper meaning than the story itself. There are profound lessons woven between the princes and princesses, the forest animals and the dragons.
Classical fairy tales, however, are more than just magical creations. Deep within the images and words lies a deeper meaning than the story itself. There are profound lessons woven between the princes and princesses, the forest animals and the dragons.
We’re fairly certain that Petrus Gonsalvus’ life inspired French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve to write “Beauty and the Beast,” which was published in 1740 in LaJeune Américaine et les Contes Marins. There are far more fairy tales than just these out there, of course, and a lot more horrifying history.
Wikimedia Commons. The story: When Rapunzel’s mother is pregnant with her, she has the worst pregnancy cravings ever for the green for which the little girl will eventually be named — which, as luck would have it, grows bountifully in the garden of the witch next door.
The story: A merchant with a huge family going through a tough time seeks shelter during a terrible storm. A beautiful palace opens its doors to him, feeds him, and allows him to rest. In the morning, before he leaves, he spots a rose garden and takes a flower to give to Beauty, his youngest child (and also objectively the “best” one — she’s smart, beautiful, and kind, whereas the merchant’s other kids are jerks) — but when he does so, he’s caught by a “Beast,” who tells him that because he stole a rose after accepting his hospitality, he must die. However, they strike a bargain: The merchant can go free if one of his daughters returns.
Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood points out that child abandonment and infanticide were not unheard of as ways for families living in poverty to cope with their situations ; indeed, the practices were still going on in the 19th century, when the Brothers Grimm were collecting the folktales they’d later publish.
The story: A dude dressed in colorful clothing and carrying a pipe appears in a town suffering from a plague of rats and offers to rid the townspeople of their problem — for a price, of course. The mayor agrees. By playing infectious music on his pipe, the piper lures the rats away and into a nearby river, where they drown. The mayor then reneges on his agreement to pay the piper the fee he’d been promised — so the piper returns one day when all the adults are at church and plays his pipe again. This time, though, he lures the town’s children away. They’re never seen again.
The story: Hansel and Gretel, a brother and sister, live together with their parents in a cottage in the forest. Although their father, a woodcutter, is kind, he’s kind of spineless, so when his cruel wife tells him that in order for them to survive a famine, they’ve got to abandon the kids in the woods, he does so.
Her tears restore his sight, they return to his kingdom, and they live happily ever after. The history: Saint Barbara , an early Christian Greek saint and martyr (who, to be fair, may or may not be mythical ), is believed to have been an inspiration for at least part of the Rapunzel tale.
Classical fairy tales are powerful. The truth is classical fairy tales make us better people. They help us become resilient, kind and even more intelligent. Reading these stories may have been entertaining in childhood, but now they are so much more.
Cinderella. I will start with this one because it actually includes a few life lessons derived from different versions of the tale. For starters, the modern Cinderella that most of us remember is packed with lessons about strength and respect.
Rumpelstiltskin. This is one of the strangest classical fairy tales around. What this story teaches is that no one should make rash decisions about serious issues. Although the information and what you see may look good, it can be filled with lies and misconceptions.
Well, even so, they may not know the hidden life lesson derived from this tale. One lesson that can be taken from this story is about slothfulness. As the story goes, three little pigs build one house each.
In the story of Red Riding Hood, we see a wolf which tries to lure the protagonist with his diabolical plans because he is hungry. In the tale, the wolf is dressed in sheep’s clothing. You may have heard the expression, “she’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing” before.
According to the fairytale, in 1284, the German town of Hamelin was experiencing a rat infestation, and thus hired a man to take care of it, the Pied Piper. However, the town double-crossed him and refused to pay him, so in retaliation he played his pipe and kidnapped all the kids in town, never to be seen again.
But the fairy tale might not have just dropped into Andersen's imagination. Rumor has it, the acclaimed Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind was the inspiration for the titular queen. Allegedly, after Lind rejected Andersen's romantic pursuits, he turned her into the Snow Queen, a woman with a heart made of ice.
Read more: 17 children in Spain developed a condition known as 'werewolf syndrome' after they were accidentally given hair-loss drugs. Gonsalvus was just 10 years old when he was taken from his native country, Spain, and sent to the King of France to operate as a type of court jester.
Reportedly, this was most likely because he had a case of hypertrichosis, a condition that causes a person to grow hair all over their body, often referred to as "werewolf syndrome.".
Deep breath: Maria Sophia Margaretha Catherina von Erthal. The young woman also lived in Germany, according to the Independent, in a town called Lohr am Main. Born in 1729, she was the daughter of Prince Philipp Christoph von Erthal, whom she lived in a castle with. Turns out, her father owned a mirror factory.
In fact, the castle they lived in is now open to the public as a museum, and inside one of the rooms is a "talking mirror," aka a toy that the prince gave to his second wife: the young baroness' stepmother, whom she is said to have had a rocky relationship with.
Disney. According to Mental Floss, von Waldeck lived in the German town of Waldeck (of course) during the mid-1500s. When she was 17, she left her father's home, perhaps due to friction with her new stepmother, and moved to Brussels. There, she attracted the eye of Spain's king, Philip II.
The story is set during the Great Famine of 1315. Many people starved to death during this time. Acts of extreme cruelty, such as infanticide and cannibalism, took place as people became more desperate. The situation for some families became so wretched that they left their children to fend for themselves.
Hansel and Gretel. This is one of those fairy tales that is famous because the story resonates with children today. It tells of a poor woodcutter and his second wife. She is the stepmother to his children – Hansel and Gretel. As food becomes scarce, the stepmother decides there is not enough food for the children.
Yet, in his private life, he murdered children. He was given the nickname of Bluebeard because of the peculiar way his horse’s mane looked blue in the daytime. Gilles de Rais is one of the world’s most evil psychopaths.
However, the real-life tale is not so pretty and there’s no happy ever after for Cinders. The story is based around a slave girl in ancient Greece, around 500BC. Rhodopis was a beautiful young Greek woman. At a young age, she was taken from her home in Greece and forced into slavery.
Here, Margarete began a lustful affair with Prince Philip II of Spain. However, his father, the King of Spain vehemently disagreed with the romance. He organised a plot to kill Margarete.
Luckily, her brother races to her rescue in time to kill Bluebeard. This famous fairy tale is based on two real-life characters. Conomor the Cursed is a savage 6th-century ruler in Breton. This Breton chief had been warned that one of his sons would end up killing him.