The Changing Depiction of Evil in Fairy Tales from Grimm to Disney
Penelope Fournier
Illustration (School of Graduate Studies)
About this Item
- Title
- The Changing Depiction of Evil in Fairy Tales from Grimm to Disney
- Contributor Names
-
Fournier, Penelope (Author)
-
Reitschel, Barbara (Thesis advisor)
- Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Illustration (Degree granting institution)
- Date
- 2022
- Degree Information
- M.A. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York 2022
- Department: Illustration
- Advisor: Barbara Reitschel
- Committee member: Brendan Leach
- Abstract
- Fairy tales as part of European oral history date back to folk tales and urban legends used to trick children into behaving, and instill values and virtuous principles. Stories with villains such as Babayaga, Dybbuks or Krampus have served historically to entertain as well as to serve as cautionary, morality, educational, indoctrination and cultural tales in every culture. For example the tale of Cinderella has had more than 500 versions have been found, all cautionary. These tales began as exclusively oral history before printing allowed them to become part of literature, culture and eventually, history.
- This paper explores five classic fairy tales and the illustrations that have evolved through the centuries. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Peter Pan are used as examples to explore how and why the representation of evil changed. The villains in each story have different goals, drive and wickedness that represent the hero’s biggest fears and showcase the overall theme of the story. Artists have attempted to depict the iconic characters and have defined what horror is in the subconscious of countless children, as the child will experience the tales through the images first, unable to read yet. This paper will explore historical, social and philosophical factors that allowed and influenced artists to illustrate evil in a different way throughout the decades. Most evil characters in Early European and American illustrations originally were dark, frightful and dramatic until the early 1940’s, where the birth of animated feature films changed the tale to a more gentle, tamed version. Several factors that are responsible for this change will be explored in this paper in the hope to understand the shift in fairy tales illustrations styles.
- Rights
- In Copyright
- The copyright for this work is held by its author/creator(s). Usage of this material beyond what is permitted by copyright law must first be cleared with the rights-holder(s). This work has been made available online by the Fashion Institute of Technology Gladys Marcus Library strictly for research and educational purposes. If you are the copyright holder for this work and have any objections to this work being made available online, please notify us immediately at [email protected].
- This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.
- Identifier
- FIT Repository ID: etd_000978
- Language
- English
Citation
Fournier, P. (2022). The Changing Depiction of Evil in Fairy Tales from Grimm to Disney [Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York]. FIT Institutional Repository. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/179209
Fournier, Penelope. The Changing Depiction of Evil in Fairy Tales from Grimm to Disney. 2022. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, Master's thesis. FIT Digital Repository, https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/179209
Fournier, Penelope. "The Changing Depiction of Evil in Fairy Tales from Grimm to Disney." Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, 2022. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/179209