A Grimm Observation

(Pun naturally intended)

     The other night I opted for an audiobook instead of music as I made my dinner.  The audiobook was, of course, a collection of Grimms' Fairy Tales.  As I ate, I did something I knew I should have done a long time ago: started making a list of all the tales I know I've read.  I realized I can only clearly recall fewer than 80 of the 210 easy-to-find-in-English tales.  Of the several hard-to-find-in-English, I can recall two, but that's a higher percentage.  (Side note: I need to get me a copy of the Jack Zipes edition, as his DOES have these tales that for some odd reason did not make it in the English copies until the twenty-first century.  One of those stories was very long, but really good!  I have no idea why it didn't make it!  I mean, yeah, there were princesses marrying animals and having offspring with the said animals, but that's hardly news in the fairy tale world.)

     One of the stories that I listened to was "The Goose Girl."


     **SPOILER ALERT**  (But I won't tell you how it ends, only the middle/ beginning twists.)

     The Goose Girl starts as a princess, but her vicious maid threatens her and forces her to switch places.  The maidservant marries the prince and thus the princess is given the task of caring for the king's flock of geese.  This theme of the false bride has been in several folk tales, and I think it is in two of the Turkish folk tales that I have from the Ignacz Kunos collection.  I don't know why this is a thing.  Did this really happen a lot?  Or did lots of men just worry that it might happen, since some of them only met their brides on their wedding day?  What we don't get in the folk tales is a discussion of just how troubling that would be-- for everyone!  Imagine you are the prince.  If you find out you're married to the wrong woman and were tricked into believing she was someone else, that would be such a nightmare!  The marriage is absolutely invalid, you wonder who is this chick, and where did my actual bride go?  You may or may not feel really dumb because you were fooled, and you might reasonably have a hard time trusting even the right bride.  This would be a traumatizing event!  Sure you might be glad this woman was the wrong one-- if the false bride was a bad actress and was always pretty nasty--, but I can't imagine that you wouldn't have any baggage at all.  Then you need to worry about, "Well, what do I do with this false one?"  And you have to explain things to everyone and have yet another wedding-- this time, to the real bride.  How embarrassing!  Imagine explaining that mess to your court, or -- if necessary -- to your subjects!

     I also realize that I have not yet heard of any false grooms in the stories -- just as I cannot recall any evil step-fathers.  Instead, it seems that there are specific ways in which male or female characters are evil.  Both male and female characters might be greedy, ambitious, or cruel, but not always in the same ways.  Are there any step-fathers or step-brothers in the first place?  I can't think of any.  (Technically, Cinderella's father is the step-father of Cinderella's stepsisters, but he isn't the step-father of the main character.  He also dies pretty early in the story.)

     "The Goose Girl" also had one of the better father characters in any of the fairy tales I have ever read.  He has an important role, and cares about people.  Most of the fathers in fairy tales serve little purpose other than to send their sons on errands or to tell them, "It is time for you to go out and seek your fortune."  Or to beg someone, anyone!, to find out why his daughters' shoes are completely worn out every morning.  They are, however, always happy to see their children married off, though they do not always care to whom.
     I would actually like to see this made into a chick flick-- even though Falada would make it kind of creepy.
 

 

    I also listened to "Little Brier-Rose."  Another fun convention to note is that wedding planners in fairy tales would be highly stressed out.  The number of times you read in a story, "And they were married that day," is insane.  It's one thing to marry a guy the day after you meet.  It's another thing entirely to marry someone the very same day you wake up from a 100 year-long coma from a kiss given you by a complete stranger who wasn't even like your betrothed or anything.  This is an instance where the Disney version just sits with one so much better:  Aurora had not only at least met the guy, but he was also her betrothed.  It's a win-win!