Bettelheim

Fairy Tales and the Existential Predicament

1. How might Bettelheim's Ideas help us to understand fairy tales?

Betteleheim's interpretations of fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast suggests that the duality of characters, good and evil, beautiful and beastly creates a simplistic view of moral dilemmas for a child to understand. Fairy Tales are designed to deal with unconscious feelings, expressing them in a safe way that allows the child to comprehend and understand their own feelings. Bettelheim expresses the belief that fairy tales expose a child to the darker sides of life without damaging them and work to prepare them for later conflicts they may have in their psyche by training their imaginations through these tales.

2. How do Bettelheim's ideas help us to understand the purposes of the gothic?

The gothic and its link to romanticism revolves around the forbidden feelings that are ingrained in fairy tales. Bettelheim highlights the issue of duality in fairy tales, the omnipresence of evil and the simulacra of the typical characters all of which are concepts touched by the gothic genre and specifically Angela Carter. The outlines of morality are also important to both forms however in gothic the boundaries are more blurred.

3. Why do you think Angela Carter mixes the fairy tale and gothic genres?

The mix of Gothic and fairy tales allows Carter to subtlety expose the darker conventions of fairy tales by portraying them through the Gothic's warped morality. The mix, creating a sense of magical realism, creates new messages that reveal underlying truths in today's society. Specifically through the magically simularcra which plays on the playfulness of fairy tales but also the disturbing elements of the Gothic genre.