Gender Roles In Fairy Tales

It is no secret women's roles have changed but, no one seems to notice they have also changed our fairy tales. Over the years fairy tales have evolved making women play many roles, some submissive others assertive; the females in Little Snow-White and Beauty and The Beast portray these roles as reflections of the times in which they were created.
Written in the 1800’s Little Snow-White personifies the submissive roles assigned to women at the time. In this time period being a housewife is typical and expected of a woman. "If you will keep house for us, and cook, make beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay with us, and you shall have everything that you want"(Grimm’s 57) In order to get anything
in return such as food, housing, clothing, and safety women usually had to give up everything in order to live a good life. Although in the story it creates a good proposition, it shows this time period did not see women as capable of taking over another job nor taking care of themselves.
In addition to cooking and cleaning for living, the female character is portrayed as naive and dependent. In the novel the conflict is the queen disguising herself to poison Snow. Although the dwarfs manage to rescue her, Snow falls for the queen's tricks over and over again until finally she dies. Being incapable of learning from her mistakes Snow demonstrates no change in personality nor growth in character. Subsequently, Snows emotions are determined by the circumstances. She shows fear when in times of trouble, yet it doesn’t impact her farther on. As well as on the story women did not need to be smart all a women needed was her beauty to conquer a man that will take care of her for the rest of time.
Snow White always known for her beauty even after death.
She had a beauty so big she had to be put in a glass coffin. One day a prince found shelter in the dwarfs home and as soon as he saw that dimension of beauty Snow had he could not leave without her, for in that moment he fell in love. “I cannot live without being able to see Snow-White. I will honor her and respect her as my most cherished one"(Grimm’s 140) Beauty, a woman’s best feature. As in the story, man fall for looks many times forgetting any other traits a woman can offer. Letting them turn beauty into a thing they must have. Moreover not only is the prince allowed to take snow but she awakens and is quickly told what has happened then is offered to marry the prince. Instantly they marry "I love you more than anything else in the world. Come with me to my father's castle. You shall become my wife."(Grimms 146) In the time this was written woman would marry for money and a good home which is what the Grimm Brothers are emphasizing in this passage. In addition to marrying for a good life woman would come to be the housekeepers and motherly figures letting man do the hard work. As a women in the 1800’s they are meant to comfort man without complain. It is known that if your home is in disorder no one must know. Therefore women would only settle for good, never going out to try anything different.Many times being different was just unacceptable for society making it hard for women to progress. For many there was
no need to change what is already working.
In contrast to Snow-White written for television in 1991, Beauty and the Beast personify a dynamic female figure. Developed by the time period, Belle is an educated, smart woman whose aspirations in life are much more than anyone else's in her village. “I want much more than this provincial life! I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, I want it more than I can tell”(Woolverton 26) Independence and hunger for knowledge are traits mostly know for man. Allowing Belle not only to feel this but to be opened about it defines a change in women’s roles.
Belle goes on a path that is consisted in making choices, choosing to destroy or build her future.
Yet allowing her to create her own criteria of the circumstances. In the story Belle’s father is captured and taken prisoner by a monster far away on an enchanted castle. Once Belle finds out she decides to take the place of her sick father, losing all hope of any future she had ever planned to have.“But I've lost my father, my dreams, everything.”(Woolverton 40) Belle on the other hand is presented as hope for Beast, for in order to break the curse that has him dressed as a monster he needs to love and to be loved back. With Belle present he has a chance, but it is not easy to love a beast. Ultimately making this sacrifice of staying with a monster and giving up all of her dreams puts on a hero role for Belle, a role mostly known to be for
man.
In the story there is a forbidden wing no one must go to. However, Belle goes to it making Beast so angry he turns into the monster he was cursed to be, this causes Belle to run away. As she is on the run wolves attack her, thankfully she is rescued by Beast but he ends up getting injured. Not being able to leave him behind Belle takes him to the castle to cure him. In this scene both characters sacrificed something for each other. Beast sacrifices himself to save Belle, as well as Belle sacrificed her freedom to save him, showing equality of the female and male character.
When they head back to the castle they argue about his temper and Belle tells him he needs to control it. “Well you should learn to control your temper!”(Woolverton 64) Belle being the only character that speaks so strongly to Beast and is able to make him see his anger issues. Although in the movie the scene is shown as a small argument it represents that this period of time started to see women as a more dominant character.
Moreover as time goes by Beast begins to feel affection and love for Belle and vice versa. There comes a time where he is so in love with her he can no longer keep her prisoner. Belle, goes back to her father to shortly find out there is an attack planned to kill Beast. She finds herself trying to save him but is locked with her father on their workshop. Once again Belle trying to save him gives her the role of hero and the most well known, which requires saving the princess, in this case the beast.
Finally Belle is able to escape and goes out looking for Beast but finds him near to death. “Don't talk like that. You'll be all right. We're together now Everything's going to be fine. You'll see.”(Woolverton 134) Even though it is a new era a woman will always have her soft side and more importantly that carrying motherly figure will always be presented. Him dying brings out this side of her allowing the feelings she holds back to come rushing to her. Being so distraught she confesses her love for him “I love you!”(woolverton) Being able to love the worst side of him shows the purest act of true love. As a result of Belle’s confession of true love she is able to break the spell and transform the beast back to the prince charming he used to be, allowing love and compassion to enter his heart.
In conclusion we can see how Belle is written out to be a dynamic character who does not settle even on her worst days. The way women are presented in the story allows us to see the 1900’s was a time of change, a time in which women were becoming as capable as men. Most importantly is the message this novel has for all the little girls, telling them it does not matter if they are different, more manly, or creative than other girls they can become whatever they set their mind to.
Women have never been looked at equally as men, even today there are issues with women getting payed less than men by doing the exact same job. Novels written in 1812 and 1991 allow us to see the significant growth women's roles have taken from submissive to assertive. The difference in time which they were written in allows us to understand how hard it was for women, to be able to be seen as more than a housekeeper or a man's wife. Although women have come very far there are still issues between what a woman can do and what she should not do. In order for this inequality to end women have to believe in themselves and keep on fighting, because if they do not do so, no one else will.