Germany Lit Stories

Fairy Tale Maturity

Cinderella, Snow White, The Frog King and Hansel and Gretel are written by the Grimm Brothers provide a great example of coming of age & maturation. Fairy tales historically have had deep rooted meanings behind their magical writing. The fairy tales we have read for class each have their own individual stories, yet they are all connected with their characters. They are connected because each character shows how they are coming of age and growing. Although not all of the characters fully grow and change, they still do in a minimal way.  Coming of age is not only changing from childhood to adulthood physically, I believe it can also be mentally. Many of the characters face this, they are rushed to think and adapt and take care of themselves. This in its self is an important step to becoming a full adult. In Cinderella, Snow White, The Frog King and Hansel and Gretel the characters come to age from youth to adulthood.

Cinderella is a great example of coming of age. Cinderella lives in a home where she is treated very badly. She lives with her father who is missing most of the time, a stepmother who is evil as can be and two step sisters who are completely out of tune from the real world. Cinderella is maturing mentally and physically in the story. The first example of this is in the story it says, “she had to get up before dawn, carry the water into the house, make the fire, cook, and wash” (Brothers, Grimm “Cinderella”). She understands the importance of hard work and doesn’t seem to crack which is very mature of her. She could in my eyes be just as her sisters were but she doesn’t decide to. This is really seen where her father came to her and asked what she wanted from his trip and she simply said, “Father break off for me the first branch which knocks against your hat on your way home.” (Brothers, Grimm “Cinderella”). While her sisters wanted jewelry and beautiful dresses she wanted a branch so she could plant it on her mother’s grave. She wasn’t interested in materialistic things, something that really shows how mature she is.

Snow White, another fairy tale that shows an essence of coming of age. Snow White was growing and becoming more beautiful as the story says and eventually the lady queen could not stand it and had her take away to be killed. After the huntsman couldn’t kill her he left her alone in the woods. For Snow White being able to survive and find a way out in a forest takes a bit of maturity. When she found a place to stay she was given the opportunity to stay. The dwarfs said, “If you will take care of our house, cook, make the beds, wash, sew and knit, and if you will keep everything neat and clean you can stay with us and you shall want for nothing.” (Brothers, Grimm “Snow White”). Even though at the time this was a typical thing for women to do, with Snow White's beauty she worked hard to have a place to live. Again, an example of growing up and taking action.

The Frog King is somewhat different from the other three stories because the character herself doesn’t change much, but her father is teaching her valuable lessons that will take her a long way. The lesson that stood out to me was when he said, “He who helped you when you were in trouble ought not afterwards to be despised by you.” (Brothers, Grimm “The Frog King”). As a parent, he is trying to set his child up for success in the long term. I think once she realized she need to do this she began to take in the frog. Although she was very mean she kept her promise. Finally, I think that getting married at the end of every fairy tale cliché isn’t just a cliché. Getting married has typically been a sign of growing up.

Finally, the greatest example of coming of age has to be Hansel and Gretel. Hansel and Gretel mature throughout the story at different times. In Hansel and Gretel, the step mother wanted to kick them out the house and leave them stranded in the woods. When Hansel heard her speak to his father, he went outside and collected rocks so he could find his way back home. Hansel had to step up and think ahead and take the lead over his sister. They could have just stayed out in the woods alone and did nothing about it. After the second time, the step mother took them out he brought bread, which was a bad idea due to the birds which would eat it. This time they were stuck out there with no way of coming back. Hansel did what he knew and try to find a way out, but they stumbled at a witch’s house instead. The witch took them captive and this is where Gretel’s character started to grow and take the lead. Gretel out smarted the witch by tricking her into going into the oven, which Gretel pushed her in. After escaping Gretel led the way out.