What Effect Did Grimm Have On German Identity

Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were eager German nationalist who really campaigned for the idea of all German states being integrated as one country. They collected German folk stories because they believed that folktales revealed a national German identity also wanting to revive their countries culture. As the Grimm brothers were collecting and writing their folktales, France occupied a good section of German territory setting up its own legal system therefore, influencing and transforming the German culture like having different languages being spoken including Latin, French and Greek. For someone who wanted to unite the German states this wasn’t in your favour, another country having leverage on your home can make it really difficult for
Cinderella is figuration of the German people who is suffering from unequal treatment in their own country having to listen and obey these foreigners and do the callous and disheveled jobs. In the story, Cinderella remains calm, kind and pious showing the real identity of the German people. Since the Grimm’s version of Cinderella is kind of different from other versions, it is notable to conclude that they wanted a separate Cinderella that belonged to the German nation. The brothers used nonfictional stories and characters to have an underlying message to get a point across to the people that would entertain all ages and make them come together as nation with a story that was directed to them in a positive way. In Rumpelstiltskin another technique was used xenophobia, the intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries. Rumpelstiltskin is about a maiden who is forced to spin straw into gold by a king, but she doesn’t have the capabilities to do so. Rumpelstiltskin shows up and offers to help but he needed something in return, the maiden offers him some jewelry to