Fairytales and folktales are still relevant to modern storytelling, even though many of them are hundreds of years old. Over centuries, these tales have evolved through countless oral, written and visual retellings. Though many fairytales are known by their popular feel-good, magical Disney adaptations, the original tales often had far darker subject matter and themes. Within the plethora of re-imaginings, many of these take a much darker tone and approach like the original stories. This is interesting to explore, especially because we often consider fairytales to be children’s stories that convey moral lessons.
Some of the most popular fairytales come from those collected by the Brothers’ Grimm in the early 19th century. The brothers compiled popular stories from people across the German speaking region, into the first edition of Kinder und Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales) in 1812. They aimed to record and establish a shared cultural heritage of German folklore, uniting people across the fragmented German-speaking states, in a time of political and cultural upheaval. Some of the most famous tales collected by the Grimms include Cinderella, The Juniper Tree, Hansel and Gretel and The Frog Prince.
Though the Grimm tales often contain the moral lessons of good triumphing over evil, patience and kindness being rewarded, and cruelty or greed being punished, there was often a much darker side to them. In the original Cinderella, the evil stepsisters cut off their toes and heels, in the effort to make their feet fit into the glass slipper, and they later have their eyes pecked out by birds as punishment for their wickedness. In The Goose Maid, the false bride is thrown into a barrel filled with nails and dragged through the streets. In Hansel and Gretel, the mother sends her children off into the forest to die, because they have so little food. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, the evil queen asks the huntsman to bring back the girl’s lungs and liver after he kills her, as she plans to eat them with the hopes that it will make her more beautiful, and she later is forced to dance to her death in red hot shoes. It begs the question – what on earth were such darkthemes doing in tales about magic, aimed at children?!
It should be noted that the Grimms’ initial intention was not to entertain children, but to accurately preserve these folk stories. They were also taking place in a world where such brutal things reflected the social norms, ideas of justice and common fears at the time. The tales were also moral lessons, and having extreme or violent consequences for wrongdoing was an effective way to drive home these messages. The blend of horror with the fantastical was also entertaining and shocking which drew audiences in, as it still does today. The original Grimm tales were focused on conveying ideas of human struggle, hardship and turmoil, which are so universally relatable. Though many beloved and magical light-hearted retellings do this to an extent, darker retellings return more to this original focus of the Grimm tales.
Examples of recent retellings include the Lunar Chroniclesbook series by Marissa Meyer (2012-2015), that placesintriguing versions of original fairytale characters in a futuristic sci-fi world gripped by a pandemic. The TV show Once Upon A Time (2011-2018) examines ideas like grief, fate, redemption, temptation and sacrifice, through interesting parallel storytelling with the real world. It turns many fairytale characters into 3D, complex and flawed individuals. A large focus of the show is on the layered complexities and possibilities for the redemption of villains. Films like Into the Woods (2014) and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) offered an exploration into the social injustices and harsh lives of the characters in classic fairytale settings. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (1979) is comprised of short stories that are adult renditions of classic fairytales, often with a feminist spin.
A reason why these versions work so well is because they address the core themes of human struggle and uncertainty,morality, choice, good vs evil and so on, which is the heart of fairytale storytelling. However, despite their dark subject matter, the classic fairytales often had a black and white view of good and evil, and so modern retellings are able to go a step further than even the original Grimm tales, by the exploring moral complexity or ambiguity of real life.
I also think that fresh and complex takes on fairytales work so well because they are able to blend the nostalgia of beloved magical childhood stories, with the excitement of the unknown. Recognisable features of a story provide an interesting hook to audiences – the whimsical, magical settings and familiar characters are comforting, but retellings then have the ability to completely subvert your expectations, surprise and shock you. Retellings are almost like ‘what ifs’ as they allow you to explore various possibilities for how the story could have unfolded, and diverge from predictable outcomes like the ‘happily ever after.’
In retellings, the motivations, development, flaws and personality of the characters can be expanded upon. It allows audiences to imagine what these fairytale characters could be like if they were real people. Villains can be sympathised with and given better motivations, side characters can be given more autonomy, the story can be told from a different character’s perspective and so on. The archetypes of fairytales are an excellent springboard – the evil stepmother, the naïve prince, the wise old crone, but these can be flipped on their head to interesting effect. Darker retellings can allow exploration into the social realities, class differences, prejudice, gender expectations and trauma of characters that may have been brushed over in previous renditions. Instead ofthe violent and extreme consequences present in the original Grimm tales which were sometimes brutal to the point of being unnecessary, the ‘darkness’ of recent retellings stems from addressing social realities, injustice and hardship. In this way, they can be used to highlight or criticise previous damaging social norms.
Some people criticise the changes to fairytales and wish for them to strictly retain their original features. Whilst I agree that the exact same stories do not need to be remade for the sake of it, I also think it is unnecessary to force fairytales to remain the same and not to welcome imaginative retellings. The idea of what counts as the ‘original’ is also subjective. It is in the inevitable nature of fairytales to evolve over time, so it seems unwise to force them to remain unchanging.