The Representation of Ideal Women in German Fairy Tales Written by The Brothers Grimm

Authors

  • Tira Murniati Yusuf Universitas Brawijaya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.alphabet.2021.04.02.04

Keywords:

ideal women, heroine, patriarchal culture, German fairy tales, The Brothers Grimm

Abstract

The patriarchal culture, which can be tracked down in most societies around the world, constructs the concept of ideal women. In this system, a woman is considered an ideal woman only if she represents particular traits. This study aimed to examine the representation of ideal women in the structure of selected German fairy tales by The Brothers Grimm. The method used in this study was descriptive qualitative. The five selected German fairy tales were Cinderella, Snow White, The Six Swans, The Twelve Brothers, and The Three Little Menin the Woods. To analyze those stories, the theory used in this study was Propp’s framework in describing tales, particularly Narrative Structure and Dramatic Personae.The results revealed that the structure of Brother Grimm’s fairy tales showed the traits of ideal women that are portrayed by the heroines of all the selected fairy tales as a consequence of the concept of ideal women constructed in the society. On the other side, the representation of non-ideal women is also demonstrated by the villains in the fairy tales.

References

Aguirre, M. (2011). An Outline of Propp’s Model for the Study of Fairytales. The Northanger Library Project (NLP).

Ashmore, R. D., & del Boca, F. K. (1979). Sex Stereotypes and Implicit Personality Theory: Toward a Cognitive–Social Psychological Conceptualization. Sex Roles, 5, 219–248.

Brody, L. R., & Hall, J. A. (2000). Gender, Emotion, and Expression. In M. Lewis & J. M. Havilandâ€Jones (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions (2nd ed.). Guilford.

Goode, W. J. (1977). Principle of Sociology. Colombia University.

Grimm, J., & Grimm, W. (2012). The Brothers Grimm: 101 Fairy Tales. Canterbury Classics.

Havirova, T. (2005). Fairy Tale Elements in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Stories. Masaryk University in Brno.

Heilman, M., & Eagly, A. H. (2008). Gender Stereotypes are Alive, Well, and Busy Producing Workplace Discrimination. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(4), 393–398. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9434.2008.00072.x

Keightley, T. (1828). The Fairy Mythology. Usborne.

Kring, A. M., & Gordon, A. H. (1998). Sex Differences in Emotion: Expression, Experience, and Physiology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(3), 686–703. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.3.686

Propp, V. (1928). Morphology of the Folk Tale: Introduction to the Second Edition. The American Folklore Society and Indiana University.

Sigiro, K. (2015). The Hidden Agenda Found in Anne Steele’s The Two.

Sugiyono. (2001). Metode Penelitian Kualitatif dan R&D. Alfabeta.

Teew, A. (1988). Sastra dan Ilmu Sastra: Pengantar Teori Sastra. Pustaka Jaya-Girimukti Jaya.

Ulandi, M. R. (2014). Semiotic Analysis of Giant Character in Jack the Giant.

Wojtczak, H. (2009). Women’s Status in Mid-19th Century England. http://hastingspress.co.uk/history/19/overview.html

Zipes, J. (2014). The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Routledge.

Downloads

Published

2021-12-27

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Articles

License

The copyright of the received article shall be assigned to the journal as the publisher of the journal. The intended copyright includes the right to publish the article in various forms (including reprints). The journal maintains the publishing rights to the published articles.

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International