Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part A

 Week 12 

For the first reading I was really intrigued with all the choices we had since this is such a cool unit! I thought it would be interesting to read about some of the english fairy tales since I've heard they are a lot different from the ones I probably grew up reading. These stories come from "English Fairy Tales" by Joseph Jacobs in 1890. 

(Source: Binnorie)

In the first story "Tom Tit Tot" I quickly realized it probably wasn't for a child to read. I've heard versions of this story before, but the langue in it was kind of confusing. I thought it was interesting that it gave off this kind of tone where the mother and daughter were less wealthy in a way, and all because of a lie the daughter was able to grab the king's attention and marry him. I do think this idea of spinning skein or else she dies is worse than her life probably would've been with Tom Tit Tot. In addition to that the ending of the story was interesting because it did end in a "happy way" but it also left the question, how is she going to spin all the skein without being killed? Tom Tit Tot was the one who was doing all the work for her! I like the idea of this little creature possibly being outsmarted and this lingering ending, I just wish the characters were more likable. 

The next story I found interesting because of the ending was "Binnorie" because it showed how crazy things get when love is involved. I saw connections to this with my own project story idea. I thought it was insane that one sister fell in love with Sir William, and while the second sister didn't even do anything, she still was punished for it. It was obvious that the princess who died was true beauty. So much so that the beauty of her was made into many different things, one being the harp. I liked the idea that she had one last thing to say and show that her sister murdered her and for good reason. A part of me believes the harper knew this and wanted her to sing that song. I think the idea of the harp never working again goes back to the sister being absolutely broken by all of it. When the story ends I also wonder if the princess who is still alive was banished for killing her sister. 

I really enjoyed all the stories but I had to tie it back to a classic. I decided to take notes over "The Three Little Pigs." This definitely was different as when I read it growing up. I think they kept the story rated PG for me, but I enjoyed how in depth this one got. It like showed this back and forth relationships with the wolf. It also showed that the pig could outsmart the wolf. It was funny to me because none of the other pigs were mentioned after they had been eaten. I also found it interesting the wolf didn't get frustrated with the pig deceiving him so many times and going down the chimney the first time! It was really smart for the ending to be the pig drawing up some boiling water and getting the wolf. It was intense that the wolf got eaten by the pig though. Crazy story.