We are winding down the #GRIMMread2019 challenge. This week we have five stories instead of the usual four. This takes us to number 200, and the end of the main section of stories. The final two weeks we’re reading the stories grouped together as “the children’s legends.”
Since I recently wrote a blog on girls who save boys (week 46), it’s only fitting that I mention the boys who save girls in fairy tales.
Several times this year I’ve mentioned my surprise that there are so few fairy tales of passive girls waiting to be saved by boys. Surprised, because based on social media memes and comments about sexism in fairy tales, one would expect there to be more.
I’d never bought into the idea that boys/men saving girls/women is a bad thing. If I’m in need of saving and a man finds me, he is welcome to rescue me. But based on the literary chatter, you’d expect the Grimm stories to be about one passive girl after another along with princes swooping in left and right to save the day. Those of you who have actually read through all of Grimm might be rolling your eyes about now. You know better.
Last week I made note of how The Drummer is a story that starts off with a boy setting out to save a girl. She is a princess under a spell and tells the drummer how to break it. So, yes, he saves her. Was she passive? Was she waiting for someone to save her and her sisters? Yes and no. She approached him and asked for help. Then she told him exactly what to do. Given her constraints, she did what she could to steer the plot.
After learning what was going on, the drummer had to then rely on his own courage and cunning to overcome the obstacles in his way in order to rescue the princess. He tricks the giants and outwits the witch….um…with help from the maiden and her wishing ring.
And then the twist.
He becomes enchanted himself and then the princess has to save him.
Okay. Maybe not the best example of a-boy-saving-a-girl story. The Drummer gives equal air time. How modern for stories published in the 1800s.
This week, in the story The Crystal Ball, the narrative begins with a sorceress with three sons whom she doesn’t trust. She turns the two older sons into animals, but the youngest escapes.
The youngest son learns of an enchanted princess “WHO WAS WAITING TO BE RESCUED.” Ah, there it is, right in the text of the story. The passive princess.
According to the story, twenty-three young men had already tried to rescue her and suffered horrible deaths during the attempts. Sounds like this princess really is trapped in a terrible situation. I wonder if the modern fairy tale prince would stand down and wait for her to save herself?
We learn that the youngest son is both brave and has a compassionate heart. He’s already escaped his mother turning him into a wild animal, so maybe he sees someone who’s suffering his fate and he realizes this is his chance to help?
At any rate, he decides to attempt what killed twenty-three others. Talk about bravery.
Next, he faces some arguing giants and tricks them out of a wishing hat that brings him to the castle of the golden sun and the location of the princess.
There, he is shocked to find an odd looking princess: face ash gray and wrinkled; dreary eyes and red hair. He seems to be thinking he’s been tricked and maybe this is a trap (remember his mother is a sorceress who tried to turn him into an animal.)
The princess assures him it is part of the enchantment, and that she is really beautiful (she is who she says she is), as seen in her reflection in the mirror. Satisfied, he’s ready for the next set of challenges to outwit the witch.
If this part is sounding familiar, it’s because the plot is similar to The Drummer above.
But this time, the princess doesn’t step in with a magic ring to help. This princess in The Crystal Ball has no magic object in her possession, but she does have very precise information on how to break the enchantment. It’s tricky, and the hero needs the help of his brothers to complete the tasks. When he breaks the enchantment, he also frees his brothers. Our brave hero saves all the people he loves.
So…in fairy tales do girls rescue the boys? Yes. Do the boys rescue the girls? Yes. Is it a good thing that we see both boys and girls with agency, courage, and self-sacrifice in fairy tales? Yes.
ALERT! This series of posts has turned into a book! Preorder the ebook now; paperbacks and workbooks to follow!
Here are quotes from the other stories we read this past week:
