German Literature Commons^™

Frauen Und Geschlechter In Märchen: Von Der Gebrüder Grimm Zu Disney, Harrison W. Lawrence

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis explores the representation of gender in fairy tales. Gender is among the most fundamental social constructs. Every culture has unique gender roles, and these roles must be taught to members of a society from a very young age. One of the oldest, and most successful methods of teaching gender roles to people of all ages is through fairy tales. In this thesis I demonstrate many of the subtle ways in which fairy tales are able to communicate powerful lessons about gender. The Grimm Brother’s Kinder und Hausmärchen transformed the fairy tale from oral tradition to literary genre. As …