Bruno Bettelheim's 'Fairy Tales And The Existential Predicament'

Gregory Hyatt
Professor McMillan
English Composition 102
March 19, 2012 Components of A Fairytale

Fairy tales should illustrate more than what meets the eye. It should incorporate certain elements, which can aid in the development to healthy growth of a childhood. In “Fairy Tales and the Existential Predicament,” Bruno Bettelheim discusses the importance of fairy tales and the elements they should contain in order to fully connect with a child reading a particular fairy tale. Bettelheim considers a successful fairy tale to be one, which fulfills a child’s psychological needs and promotes his/her development. The Grimm brother’s structure of their fairy tale in Little Red Cap (LRC) was different in certain points than Charles
Perrault’s version of Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH). However, despite the changes made by the Grimm Brothers in their interpretation of Riding Hood compared to Perrault’s, it can still be considered a fairy tale through Bettelheim’s criteria. The presence of evil, the gaining of assurance and the ultimate happy ending in Perrault’s and the Grimm Brothers version of Little Red Riding Hood show that both iterations are true fairy tales.
In fairy tales, good and evil are embodied in simply drawn characters, in blunt plots without subtlety and without the nuances and ambivalences of flawed good people, or bad people with some good qualities.
As Bettelheim reasoned, the child can identify with the good character, not because he values goodness per se, but because he identifies with the situation the character is placed in and wants to see her escape or triumph. Nevertheless, the morality of the situation is not lost on the child and he or she learns to value good over evil. In Charles Perrault’s version of Little Red Riding Hood, we are introduced to the main character portrayed as an innocent girl living in a small village. As was stated by Perrault, “Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl”(Perrault 63). This quote shows the presence of the simply drawn character Bettelheim looks for in a successful fairy tale. In the Grimm Brother’s version of Little Red Cap, the reader is once more introduced to what is believed to be a sweet innocent girl also living in a village. As was stated by Grimm, “Once upon a time there was a sweet little girl”(Grimm 65). Both stories although both having different tones, contain the same aspect that is needed for a story to qualify as a fairy tale according to Bettelheim, simply drawn characters. Although Perrault’s version is more friendly compared to the more darker version of the Grimm Brothers’, both contain simply drawn characters in
the form of Little Red Riding Hood and Little Red Cap that makes both versions of the fairy tale ultimately qualify as a successful fairy tale. In the Grimm Brothers’ version of Little Red Cap, the criteria of evil set forth by Bettelheim are present because of the use of symbolism. The symbolism of the wolf that Little Red Cap encounters on her journey is evil. Although encountering evil in the form of the wolf, the innocent girl is able to triumph at the end when she is ultimately rescued from the stomach of the wolf by the aid of a woodsman. This makes the Grimm Brothers’ version of Little Red Cap as a fairy tale successful because the sweet innocent girl portrayed as good is able to successfully defeat evil at the hands of the wolf. The thinking here is that because a child is able to see Little Red Cap preserver with triumph by escaping, the child is able to learn through Red Cap’s experience to choose good over evil. Because this aspect exists in the Grimm Brothers’ version, although dark compared to Perrault in terms of theme, it still must be considered a successful fairy tale because of the elements being present.
Children gain the symbolic assurance that all difficulties in life can be mastered with the right attitude and some courage.
As Bettelheim reasoned, folk tale characters experience existential anxieties that are inherent in human nature: the need to be loved, the fear that one is thought worthless, the value of life and joy, and the ever-present spectra of death. In LRC, the reader is able to see the importance of mastering difficulties in life when Little Red Cap was thought to have been dead as a result of being eaten by the wolf. The reader is given a glimpse of hope on Red Cap’s good fortunes when Grimm states, “He has eaten the girl but perhaps she can still be saved”(Grimm 66). When she emerges from the wolf’s stomach after being rescued by a local woodsman, the theme being conveyed to the reader is that through Red Cap’s experience, her perseverance was able to master the difficulty in her life, being eaten by a wolf. It displays to the reader that even when potential death can be staring at you as a possibility, it is important to try to preserver. The logic behind this idea is that perseverance allows an individual to never give up on life no matter how bleak the circumstances may look at a given time. When Red Cap was eaten by the wolf and thought to be dead, it appeared her outcome was bleak. However through her perseverance, she was able to master the difficulty in her life at that particular moment. Due to this Bettelheim aspect of perseverance being
present in the Grimm Brothers’ version of LRC, it must be considered a successful fairy tale.
The “happy ever after” ending, is not unrealistic wish fulfillment. It shows the child, while eternal life on Earth might not be possible, a “truly satisfying bond with another” will make our lives worthwhile. As Bettelheim reasoned, it shows that the separation anxiety the child feels with his parents is not overcome by hanging on, but by risking the move away to a more satisfying adult relationship. In LRC, the happy ending is present in the fairy tale after the woodsman successfully cut Red Cap out of the wolf’s stomach alive. As was stated by Grimm, “He cut a little more, and the girl jumped out and cried”(Grimm 66). This quote demonstrates a happy ending, which according to Bettelheim is a necessary component of a successful fairy tale. Parents must assess whether his fairy tale interpretation warrants the revitalization of the fairytale telling tradition. Presumably, Bettelheim himself was told such tales as a child demonstrating the impact successful fairy tales most likely had on his life.
Bruce Bettelheim lays the groundwork for the Grimm Brothers and Perrault on what elements are needed in order for a story to be accurately characterized as a fairy tale. The word ‘fairy tale’ can carry different meanings of symbolism. Bettelheim’s symbolism of a fairy tale came through fear. Due to the use of an innocent character in Red Riding Hood/Red Cap being tied inadvertently into evil with the use of the wolf as a grandmother, both Perrault and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were able to convey the principles needed in order for their stories to be made a successful short fairy tale that would have Bettelheim approve of.