Happy September, readers! This summer, I’ve read a fair amount of fantasy, which lead me to explore their themes, and hence this blog post.
Fairy tales are a thing of wonder. They draw you away to a dark world, where good and evil are in constant conflict. The protagonist boldly fights the antagonist, (generally) wins, and voila, all is right in the world again. But, behind the plot, the battles, and the magic, there are lessons to be learned. Fairy tales develop the imagination and bring out the adventurer in a reader. They explore deep themes of hope and of courage, of unconditional love and of faith, of sacrifice and of consequences, of darkness and of light.
These quotes from G.K. Chesterton pretty much sum it all up. ❤ We don’t teach children anything by trying to hide the darkness – they’re going to have to face it eventually. We as children learned through the stories that the good always won, that the darkness never conquered, that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
~ G.K. Chesterton
The classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast is one of my personal favorites. I’ve always loved how Belle is so sweet and how she truly cares for the Beast (and how she loves to read xD). I’ve heard this ever since I was a preschooler, but as I grew older, I began to stop seeing it as a “fun story” and started to see the true meaning in this fairy tale–not just from Belle’s perspective, but from the Beast’s. He persevered and never gave up hope that he would find a lasting love–and as a result, changed back from the Beast to the Prince.
“There is the great lesson of ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ that a thing must be loved before it is lovable.”
~ G.K. Chesterton
What’s your favorite fairy tale? Is there a life lesson that you can take from it? I’d love to hear from you!
all images from google.
the word collector 