Definition, Origin, Structure and Characters

Definition

A fairy tale is a fictitious story that happens in indefinite places or times, it takes place “Once upon a time”. Usually, writers resorts to mythological creatures, fantastic animals and things that speak, and magic spells, but  the term gives responses to a kind of folklore fantasy  rather a literal “fairy” tale. 

Dwaves

Fairies

Elves

                               

  

Goblins

Witches

Nymphs

Origin

Nobody knows exactely the origins of fairy tales because they have not always been part of written language; the have existed for thousands of years as oral tradition. Besides, the folkloric undertones have allowed “many of today's fairy tales have evolved from centuries-old stories that have appeared, with variations, in multiple cultures around the world” (Wikipedia, 17/04/15).  Because of that, some folklorists prefer to make reference to “wonder tale”, but the term “fairy tale” was ascribe by Madame d’Aulnoy in the late 17th century, in French, as “Conte de Fée”. However, as I explained before, fairy tales began as tales for adults, and were not at all addressed to children.

Structure and characters

We can see the fairy tales as a tree, where the author’s message is the root (the life lesson the author is trying to teach us in the story), after that we have the trunk: the heart of the story; the plot. The branches are showed in the following order: 

•  First the characters (protagonist: character that is viewed as “good person”), very often, the main characters belong to the monarchy: kings, queens, princes or princesses. 
• Then the setting (place and time), often the hero or heroine is looking for something or someone: a home, love, acceptance, wealth, wisdom. Most of the time, it begins in a undefined place, time or person. In some cases we can find first the setting and them the characters, as in The Golden Bird. 
• After that, the problem or the conflict comes (the antagonist appears: character viewed as “bad person”), and the protagonist has to face a serie of conflicts on his or her journey toward reaching the goal (Story Elements 2). 
• In addition, to finish the story, the solution comes, and it usually has a happy end, where the villain has been punished and the hero has found or fulfilled his or her design or dreams.