Four of the above tales feature the common combination of passive princesses and prince saviors. Disney and others have added touches to such tales that make them "pretty." For instance, in "The Frog Prince," which many associate with a princess kissing a frog, she actually slams the frog onto a wall. It stands out even more how the Grimm's Snow-White and Sleeping Beauty (unlike the kisses reviving Disney's counterparts) wake up on their own, removing consensual issues.
Passive princesses and prince saviors are prevalent even in many of the Grimm's lesser-known tales. A common pattern involves the prince or groom accomplishing a certain task and the king giving his daughter in marriage as a prize. The princesses hardly ever have a say in the marriages, conveying the sexist idea that women's opinions don't matter; their job is merely to be with a man.
As Elizabeth Dalton notes in the introduction to the Barnes and Noble Classics version, the Grimm's tales have also been criticized for its dark subject matter. A lot of these stories involve cutting off body parts, but such violence brings crucial messages. For instance, the doves pecking the eyes out of Cinderella's stepsisters represent eternal punishment for the wicked.
Of course, more active maidens and princesses exist in some of the other Grimm's tales. For instance, "The Robber Bridegroom" tells the story of a maiden escaping a potentially toxic marriage. Even the Grimm's "Cinderella" protagonist receives assistance from birds at a tree she plants instead of passively waiting for a fairy godmother (I wrote about why the tale is underrated here).
A few tales even challenge the conventional fairy-tale trope of having the wedding at the end. In "Clever Alice" ("Clever Elsie" in other versions), for instance, the maiden marries at the beginning of the story and escapes by the end.
Even young girls exist in Grimm's tales beyond "Hansel and Grethel" and "Little Red Riding Hood." One of my favorites is "The Seven Crows," in which a young girl rescues her brothers. Another tale I enjoy is "Snow-White and Rose-Red," which features two clever sisters who take on an evil dwarf. I am not a fan of how the Grimm brothers portrayed dwarfs outside "Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs," though.
One more tale that stands out is "The Juniper Tree," in which an older brother dies, becomes a bird, and resurrects (emulating Jesus). If I were to do a more Christian take on the tale, though, I'd have the brother display more Christlike behavior.
The Grimm Brothers have written a lot of tales that bore me, but also a lot that stood out. One of the charms of their fairy tales is the multiple, including Christian, subtexts. After people read the entire collection for themselves, they can, hopefully, re-popularize the Grimm's forgotten tales such as "The Robber Bridegroom" and "The Juniper Tree," and maybe even adapt them into iconic films.
SCORE: Good (8/10)
AGE RATING: 5+
Have you read Grimm's Fairy Tales? What do you think about it?
