The Meaning and Importance of Fairy tales

* Essentially, fairy tales offer a form of escapism for young people
--> Bruno Bettelheim beleives it may be due to a deprivation of magic in the early years and so young people suddenly feel the need for magic to help escape the early onset of adult life

* There are many variations of fairy tales across many cultures

* Catherine Storr beleives children like fairy tales for several reasons:
1.) entertainment, suspense and escapism
2.) moral qualities can be learned and admired and justice is always reached
3.) child see's fairy tale as simple and the way life ought to be

* The Gingerbread boy story gives examples of inherent fears for young children including being eaten and rejected. Other themes include love and trust which enable the child to learn about these aspects of life.
--> in addition, the fairy tale offers a moral
    --> Bettelheim argues that only the individual child knows what areas of the story are relevent to him and they take particulars from the story to learn from themselves

* Fairy tales often being with "Once upon a time" or "Far away in a distant land..." which makes the story seem distant and magical, offering a sense of escapism from reality

* Many fairy tales are well known and have been passed through the generations. Often popular fairy tales are renacted by children, offering another form of escapism and allowing the child to become the characters in the story

* Fairy tales have standard characters and motifs:
wolves, witches,…