1.
Sleeping Beauty
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Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault, or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm, is a classic fairy tale which involves a beautiful princess, a sleeping enchantment, and a handsome prince. The version collected by the Brothers Grimm was an orally transmitted version of the originally literary tale published by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697. This in turn was based on Sun, Moon, and Talia by Italian poet Giambattista Basile, the earliest known version of the story is found in the narrative Perceforest, composed between 1330 and 1344 and first printed in 1528. At the christening of a king and queens long-wished-for child, seven good fairies are invited to be godmothers to the infant princess, the fairies attend the banquet at the palace. Each fairy is presented with a plate and drinking cups adorned with jewels. Soon after, an old fairy enters the palace and is seated with a plate of fine china and this old fairy is overlooked because she has been within a tower for many years and everyone had believed her to be deceased. Six of the seven fairies then offer their gifts of beauty, wit, grace, dance, song. The evil fairy is very angry about having been forgotten, and as her gift, enchants the infant princess so that she one day prick her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel. The seventh fairy, who hasnt yet given her gift, attempts to reverse the evil fairys curse, however, she can only do so partially. Instead of dying, the Princess will fall into a deep sleep for 100 years, the King orders that every spindle and spinning wheel in the kingdom to be destroyed, to try to save his daughter from the terrible curse. Fifteen or sixteen years pass and one day, when the king and queen are away, the princess, who has never seen anyone spin before, asks the old woman if she can try the spinning wheel. The curse is fulfilled as the princess pricks her finger on the spindle, the old woman cries for help and attempts are made to revive the princess. The king attributes this to fate and has the Princess carried to the finest room in the palace and placed upon a bed of gold, the king and queen kiss their daughter goodbye and depart, proclaiming the entrance to be forbidden. The good fairy who altered the evil prophecy is summoned, having great powers of foresight, the fairy sees that the Princess will awaken to distress when she finds herself alone, so the fairy puts everyone in the castle to sleep. The fairy also summons a forest of trees, brambles and thorns that spring up around the castle, shielding it from the outside world, a hundred years pass and a prince from another family spies the hidden castle during a hunting expedition. The prince then braves the tall trees, brambles and thorns which part at his approach and he passes the sleeping castle folk and comes across the chamber where the Princess lies asleep on the bed. Struck by the radiant beauty before him, he falls on his knees before her, the enchantment comes to an end by a kiss and the princess awakens and converses with the prince for a long time. Meanwhile, the rest of the castle awakens and go about their business, the prince and princess are later married by the chaplain in the castle chapel
2.
Fairy tale
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Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. The term is used for stories with origins in European tradition and, at least in recent centuries. In less technical contexts, the term is used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness. Colloquially, a tale or fairy story can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale, it is used especially of any story that not only is not true. Legends are perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legends, Fairy tales are found in oral and in literary form, the name fairy tale was first ascribed to them by Madame dAulnoy in the late 17th century. Many of todays fairy tales have evolved from stories that have appeared, with variations. The history of the tale is particularly difficult to trace because only the literary forms can survive. Still, according to researchers at universities in Durham and Lisbon, such stories may date back thousands of years, Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today. Folklorists have classified fairy tales in various ways, the Aarne-Thompson classification system and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable. Other folklorists have interpreted the significance, but no school has been definitively established for the meaning of the tales. It moves in a world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms, a fairy tale with a tragic rather than a happy end is called an anti-fairy tale. Although the fairy tale is a genre within the larger category of folktale. The term itself comes from the translation of Madame DAulnoys conte de fées, Vladimir Propp, in his Morphology of the Folktale, criticized the common distinction between fairy tales and animal tales on the grounds that many tales contained both fantastic elements and animals. Were I asked, what is a fairytale, I should reply, Read Undine, that is a fairytale. of all fairytales I know, I think Undine the most beautiful. As Stith Thompson points out, talking animals and the presence of magic seem to be common to the fairy tale than fairies themselves. However, the presence of animals that talk does not make a tale a fairy tale, especially when the animal is clearly a mask on a human face. Steven Swann Jones identified the presence of magic as the feature by which fairy tales can be distinguished from other sorts of folktales, davidson and Chaudri identify transformation as the key feature of the genre
3.
Damsel in distress
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The damsel-in-distress or persecuted maiden is a classic theme in world literature, art, film and video games. This trope usually involves a young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster. After rescuing her, the hero often obtains her hand in marriage and she has become a stock character of fiction, particularly of melodrama. Though she is human, she can also be of any other species, including fictional or folkloric species. The word damsel derives from the French demoiselle, meaning lady. It is a term not used in modern English except for effect or in expressions such as this. It can be traced back to the knight-errant of Medieval songs and tales, the English term damsel in distress itself first appeared in Tobias Smolletts 1755 translation of Don Quixote, a parody of medieval chivalry tales. The damsel in distress theme featured in the stories of the ancient Greeks, greek mythology, while featuring a large retinue of competent goddesses, also contains helpless maidens threatened with sacrifice. For example, Andromedas mother offended Poseidon, who sent a beast to ravage the land, to appease him Andromedas parents fastened her to a rock in the sea. The hero Perseus slew the beast, saving Andromeda, Andromeda in her plight, chained naked to a rock, became a favorite theme of later painters. This theme of the Princess and dragon is also pursued in the myth of St George, another early example of a damsel in distress is Sita in the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. In the epic, Sita is kidnapped by the villain Ravana and her husband Rama goes on a quest to rescue her, with the help of the monkey-god Hanuman. European fairy tales frequently feature damsels in distress, evil witches trapped Rapunzel in a tower, cursed the princess to die in Snow White, and put Sleeping Beauty into a magical sleep. In all of these, a prince comes to the maidens aid, saves her. A number of tales in the One Thousand and One Nights also feature damsels in distress and this story appears to have influenced later European tales such as Adenes Le Rois Cleomades and The Squires Tale told in Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales. The damsel in distress was a character of medieval romances. Chaucers The Clerks Tale of the trials and bizarre torments of patient Griselda was drawn from Petrarch. The Emprise de lEscu vert à la Dame Blanche was an order with the express purpose of protecting oppressed ladies
4.
Quest
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A quest serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction, a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of every nation, in literature, the object of a quest requires great exertion on the part of the hero, who must overcome many obstacles, typically including much travel. The aspect of travel allows the storyteller to showcase exotic locations, the object of a quest may also have supernatural properties, often leading the protagonist into other worlds and dimensions. The moral of a quest tale often centers on the character of the hero. The hero normally aims to obtain something or someone by the quest, the object can be something new, that fulfills a lack in his life, or something that was stolen away from him or someone with authority to dispatch him. Sometimes the hero has no desire to return, Sir Galahads quest for the Holy Grail is to find it, not return with it. A return may, indeed, be impossible, Aeneas quests for a homeland, having lost Troy at the beginning of Virgils Aeneid, the quest object may, indeed, function only as a convenient reason for the heros journey. When a hero is on a quest for several objects that are only a convenient reason for his journey, they are termed plot coupons, most times in a quest, the knight in shining armor wins the heart of a beautiful maiden/ princess. An early quest story tells the tale of Gilgamesh, who seeks a secret to life after the death of Enkidu. Another ancient quest tale, Homers Odyssey, tells of Odysseus, recovering the Golden Fleece is the object of the travels of Jason and the Argonauts in the Argonautica. Psyche, having lost Cupid, hunted through the world for him, other characters can also set forth on quests — the heros older brothers commonly do — but the hero is distinguished by his success. Many medieval romances sent knights out on quests, the term Knight-errant sprang from this, as errant meant roving or wandering. Sir Thomas Malory included many in Le Morte dArthur, the most famous—perhaps in all of western literature—centers on the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. This story cycle recounts multiple quests, in variants, telling stories both of the heroes who succeed, like Percival or Sir Galahad, and also the heroes who fail. This often sent them into a bewildering forest, despite many references to its pathlessness, the forest repeatedly confronts knights with forks and crossroads, of a labyrinthine complexity. The significiance of their encounters is explained to the knights—particularly those searching for the Holy Grail—by hermits acting as wise old men -- or women. So consistently did knights quest that Miguel de Cervantes set his Don Quixote on mock quests in a parody of chivalric tales, nevertheless, while Don Quixote was a fool, he was and remains a hero of chivalry. Analysis can interpret many stories as a quest in which the character is seeking something that he desires
5.
Magic (paranormal)
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Magic or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of exploiting supernatural forces. The term magic has a variety of meanings, and there is no agreed upon definition of what it is or how it can be used. Religious scholars have defined magic in many different ways, one approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer, has magic and science be opposites. Many scholars of religion have rejected the utility of the term magic, the term magic comes from the Old Persian magu, a word that applied to a form of religious functionary about which little is known. This meaning of the term was adopted by Latin in the first century BCE. The concept was incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. This concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, although in the modern period Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to establish the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term were retained in Western culture over the following centuries, throughout Western history, there have been examples of individuals claiming to be practitioners of magic and referring to themselves as magicians. This trend has proliferated in the period, with a growing number of magicians appearing within the esoteric milieu. Scholars of religion have failed to agree on a definition of magic is. The subject has one of intense dispute, with some scholars criticizing the validity of the term in the first place. Even among those throughout history who have described themselves as magicians, there has been some debate among scholars as to whether to use the term magic at all. The scholar of religion Jonathan Z. Smith for example argued that it had no utility as a term that scholars should use. Religious historian Wouter Hanegraaff agreed, stating that the magic is an important object of historical research. Since the 1990s its usage among scholars has declined, within Western culture, magic has been linked to the idea of the Other. Using the term magic when discussing non-Western cultures or pre-modern forms of Western society raises problems, alternately, this term implies that all categories of magic are ethnocentric and that such Western preconceptions are an unavoidable component of scholarly research. Magic is one of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion, the intellectualist approach to defining magic is associated with two prominent British anthropologists, Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer. This was an approach that viewed magic as being the theoretical opposite of science, in his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor characterized magic as beliefs based on the error of mistaking ideal analogy for real analogy
6.
Hero
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The concept of the hero was first founded in classical literature. It is the main or revered character in heroic epic poetry celebrated through ancient legends of a people, often striving for military conquest and living by a continually flawed personal honor code. The definition of a hero has changed throughout time, and the Merriam Webster dictionary defines a hero as a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities. The word hero comes from the Greek ἥρως, hero, warrior, before the decipherment of Linear B the original form of the word was assumed to be *ἥρωϝ-, hērōw-, R. S. P. Beekes has proposed a Pre-Greek origin. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the Indo-European root is *ser meaning to protect, according to Eric Partridge in Origins, the Greek word Hērōs is akin to the Latin seruāre, meaning to safeguard. Partridge concludes, The basic sense of both Hera and hero would therefore be protector, the word hero is used in English to refer either explicitly to male heroes or as a gender neutral form. The use of the male form hero as a gender neutral substantive is a modern advent, see also Gender neutrality in English. A classical hero is considered to be a warrior who lives and dies in the pursuit of honor, each classical heros life focuses on fighting, which occurs in war or during an epic quest. Classical heroes are commonly semi-divine and extraordinarily gifted, like Achilles, or, alternatively, are like Beowulf, evolving into heroic characters through their perilous circumstances. While these heroes are incredibly resourceful and skilled, they are often foolhardy, court disaster, risk their followers lives for trivial matters, during classical times, people regarded heroes with the highest esteem and utmost importance, explaining their prominence within epic literature. Hector was a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War, Hector acted as leader of the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing 31,000 Greek fighters, offers Hyginus. Hector was known not only for his courage but also for his noble, indeed, Homer places Hector as peace-loving, thoughtful as well as bold, a good son, husband and father, and without darker motives. However, his familial values conflict greatly with his aspirations in The Iliad. Hector is ultimately betrayed by the gods when Athena appears disguised as his ally Deiphobus and convinces him to take on Achilles, Achilles was a Greek Hero who was considered the most formidable military fighter in the entire Trojan War and the central character of The Iliad. He was the child of Thetis and Peleus, making him a demi-god and he wielded superhuman strength on the battlefield and was blessed with a close relationship to the Gods. Achilles famously refuses to fight after his dishonoring at the hands of Agamemnon, Achilles was known for uncontrollable rage that defined many of his bloodthirsty actions, such as defiling Hectors corpse by dragging it around the city of Troy. Achilles plays a role in The Iliad brought about by constant de-humanization throughout the epic. Heroes in myth often had close but conflicted relationships with the gods, thus Heracless name means the glory of Hera, even though he was tormented all his life by Hera, the Queen of the Gods
7.
Snow White
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Snow White is a fictional character and a main character from Walt Disney Productions first animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The character of Snow White was derived from a tale known from many countries in Europe. Snow White is the first Disney Princess and the first fictional character with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Snow White first appears in the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, after many years, the Queens Magic Mirror confirms Snow White as being the fairest of them all, which causes the Queen to cast Snow White out and send a huntsman to kill her. But when he refuses to do so because she means no harm, Snow White stumbles upon the home of the Seven Dwarfs, who happily aid her. When the dwarfs are away the hag arrives at the cottage and offers Snow White the poisoned apple. Snow White bites into the apple and falls into a coma, the dwarfs discovering what had happened track down the Queen, a short fight ensues and the Queen is killed. Believing her dead too, the build a open grave for Snow White to rest on. Time passes and the Prince comes across Snow White, saddened by her apparent death, he kisses her, causing her to awaken. As the Seven Dwarfs dance with joy, Snow White and the Prince go off to live together, Snow White is a princess, and the fairest in the land. She is described by her stepmothers Magic Mirror as having hair as black as ebony, lips as red as the rose and her voice is also the inspiration for that of Minerva Mink in Animaniacs. Along with yellow shoes, a red cape, and a red bow in her hair, Snow White is innocent, kind, gentle, sweet, and cheerful. Her generous, trusting and helpful nature can cause her trouble, as people might take advantage of it, such as her vain. Although she is sensitive and soft-spoken, she can be energetic and stern, Snow White is motherly, compassionate and delights in keeping house for the lovable Seven Dwarfs while she waits to meet her beloved prince again. With her kindness and ethereal beauty, Snow White charms every creature in the kingdom except the Queen and she also shows great resilience and an inner strength against adversity. Animators initial sketches for Snow Whites character, some of which bore a resemblance to Betty Boop, did not meet Walt Disneys expectations, as they were too cartoonish. This was a challenge Luske and co-animator Les Clark had previously asked to explore while developing the character of Persephone for the Silly Symphonies animated short The Goddess of Spring. Of that project, Les Clark later remarked, Im sure Walt was thinking ahead to Snow White, Snow White and the Queen were refined by Grim Natwick and Norm Ferguson, who would often override Walt Disneys instructions
8.
Cinderella
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Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper, is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world, the title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances, that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune. The oldest documented version comes from China, and the oldest European version from Italy, the most popular version was first published by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697, and later by the Brothers Grimm in their folk tale collection Grimms Fairy Tales. Although the storys title and main characters change in different languages. The word Cinderella has, by analogy, come to one whose attributes were unrecognized, or one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity. The still-popular story of Cinderella continues to influence popular culture internationally, lending plot elements, allusions, the Aarne–Thompson system classifies Cinderella as the persecuted heroine. The story of Rhodopis, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is considered the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story, a version of the story, Ye Xian, appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Duan Chengshi around 860. Here, the hardworking and lovely girl befriends a fish, the rebirth of her mother, the fish is later killed by her stepmother and sister. Ye Xian saves the bones, which are magic, and they help her dress appropriately for the New Year Festival, when she loses her slipper after being recognized by her stepfamily, the king finds her slipper and falls in love with her. The Indonesian and Malaysian story Bawang Merah Bawang Putih, are two girls named Bawang Putih and Bawang Merah. While the two countrys respective versions differ in the relationship of the girls and the identity of the protagonist. Both have a fish as the fairy godmother to her daughter. The heroine then finds the bones and buries them, and over the grave a magical swing appears, the protagonist sits on the swing and sings to make it sway, her song reaching the ears of a passing Prince. The swing is akin to the slipper test, which distinguishes the heroine from her sister. In Indonesia, Bawang Putih is the girl, who suffers at the hands of her evil stepmother and stepsister, Bawang Merah. When the Prince enquires after the singer on the swing, Bawang Merah lies, the angry prince forces Bawang Merah and her mother to tell the truth. They then admit that there is another daughter in the house, Bawang Putih comes out and moves the magical swing by her singing. In the end, she and her prince marry and live happily ever after, in the Malaysian version, it is Bawang Merah and her mother Mak Labu who are good, while her half sister Bawang Putih and her mother Mak Kundur are evil
9.
Foil (literature)
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In fiction, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character —usually the protagonist— in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character. In some cases, a subplot can be used as a foil to the main plot and this is especially true in the case of metafiction and the story within a story motif. The word foil comes from the old practice of backing gems with foil in order to make them shine more brightly, a foil usually either differs dramatically or is extremely similar but with a key difference setting them apart. The concept of a foil is also widely applied to any comparison that is made to contrast a difference between two things. In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the two characters, Dr. Frankenstein and his creature are both together literary foils, functioning to compare one to the other. In Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice, Marys absorption in her studies places her as a foil to her sister Lydia Bennets lively, similarly, in Shakespeares play Julius Caesar, the character Brutus has foils in the two characters Cassius and Mark Antony
