Defining Fairy Tales

    The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fairy tales as "Simple narrative typically of folk origin dealing with supernatural beings. Fairy tales may be written or told for the amusement of children or may have a more sophisticated narrative containing supernatural or obviously improbable events, scenes, and personages, and often having a whimsical, satirical, or moralistic character."(link) 

   Globally, people are familiar with fairy tales, passing them down and ending up with multiple versions of the same story. Fairy tales hold not only a sense of entertainment for children, but often the triumph of good over evil, and the brave completion of supposedly impossible tasks. Although a happy ending is what we know to expect from fairy tales, we are sometimes met with tragedy and violence, reality cutting into fantastic worlds. Perhaps the message is not always direct,but fairy tales ease us into reality as we age from childhood. Writer Kelly Cipera comments "The study of fairy tales is a study into our own psychology. They are not just about the hero saving the day, but the hero becoming a better person by dealing with their own inadequacies and maturing from a simple child into a complicated adult".(link)