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Final Paper for Rachel Gibbons

Page history last edited by Rachel Gibbons 9 years, 11 months ago

I plan on writing about the movie Shrek for my final paper. My topic would cover how fairy tales have evolved over the years to reflect the changes in society by poking fun at many classic fairy tale tropes.  Also, Shrek is an example of making fairy tales entertaining for adults.

 

Thesis: Fairy tales have evolved in a myriad of ways over the years to show the changes in society's views. Women are no longer the quiet obedient girls of old that didn't have avoice and were at the mercy of the men around them. A man doesn't have to be handsome and unintelligent to be someone's "Prince Charming". A woman can choose to empower herself rather than wait for a knight in shining armor to rescue her. Lastly, it's acceptable if one's idea of "Prince Charming" and "happily ever after" is different from the cookie cutter ideals Disney's fairy tales led us to believe in the past. Shrek is the perfect movie to showcase the changes in times and views in a playful, interesting, and witty way that made adults enjoy it just as much, if not more, than the children they took to see it. Shrek takes the things that most people come to expect from a traditional fairy tale and turns many of those things on it's head. In this paper, the ideals of the fairy godmother, the ogre, Prince Charming, and the helpless princess are just a few of the topics that will be analyzed to show the evolution of fairy tales from then to now.

 

These are all great ideas! However, you may want to consider focusing on one of these points (or think about the way these things are united). For example, do these undermine gender assumptions? OR do they undermine assumptions about power? Or do they unintentionally reinforce some of these assumptions? 

 

Takolander, Maria(03/01/2005)"'You can't say no to the Beauty and the Beast': Shrek and ideology.(Critical Essay)". Papers : explorations into children's literature(1034-9243)15(1), p.5.

 

Roberts, Lewis(03/01/2014)"'Happier Than Ever to be Exactly What He Was': Reflections on Shrek, Fiona and the Magic Mirrors of Commodity Culture.". Children's literature in education(0045-6713)45(1), p.1.

 

http://muse.jhu.edu.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/journals/ethics_and_the_environment/v012/12.2caputi.html

 

Donald Haase. "Decolonizing Fairy-Tale Studies." Marvels & Tales 24.1 (2010): 17-38. Project MUSE. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.

 

Jessica Brater. and Jessica Del Vecchio. and Andrew Friedman. and Bethany Holmstrom. and Eero Laine. and Donald Levit. and Hillary Miller. and David Savran. and Carly Griffin Smith. and Kenn Watt. and Catherine Young. and Peter Zazzali. "“Let Our Freak Flags Fly”: Shrek the Musicaland the Branding of Diversity." Theatre Journal 62.2 (2010): 151-172. Project MUSE. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.

 

http://elibrary.wayne.edu/search~S47?/XFairy+Tales+and+Society&SORT=D/XFairy+Tales+and+Society&SORT=D&SUBKEY=Fairy+Tales+and+Society/1%2C12%2C12%2CB/frameset&FF=XFairy+Tales+and+Society&SORT=D&2%2C2%2Chttp://elibrary.wayne.edu/search~S47?/XFairy+Tales+and+Society&SORT=D/XFairy+Tales+and+Society&SORT=D&SUBKEY=Fairy+Tales+and+Society/1%2C12%2C12%2CB/frameset&FF=XFairy+Tales+and+Society&SORT=D&1%2C1%2C

 

Rachel Gibbons Final Paper.docx

Comments (3)

Abigail Heiniger said

at 10:50 pm on Mar 2, 2014

Good topic, great sources!! The potential problem I see here is getting too broad (Shek parodies SO MANY fairy tales in SO MANY ways, you may find your argument going in too many directions). As you read and work on this, think about ways to focus your argument. What is one specific thing (or three closely related things) that you see happening in Shrek (that other people have not quite discussed the way YOU will)? Happy to talk if you want to iron out details!

Abigail Heiniger said

at 3:10 am on Mar 7, 2014

What thesis are you considering?

Rachel Gibbons said

at 10:37 pm on Mar 14, 2014

I added my thesis, sorry so late Dr. H. I would really appreciate it if you could look it over and tell me what you think. Thank you in advance.

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