Fairy Tales and the concept of femininity.

(*) Neshantha Harischandra

Once upon a time, a mother sat by her little daughter's bedside, relating the story of "The Sleeping Beauty" ...

A hundred years later, a mother sat by her little daughter's bedside, relating the story of "The Beauty and the Beast" ...

A hundred years later, a mother sat by her little daughter's bedside, relating the story of "Snow White" ...

" ... And Prince Charming married Snow White, and carried her off to his castle, and they lived happily ever after," concluded the mother, in the true tradition of all good mothers.

"But, Amma," said the little girl. "Did Snow White know about Prince Charming's earlier marriage to Cinderella?"

This last-mentioned little girl, one can be assured, did not live in that dubious period we can brush off casually, as "once upon a time", but right here in the twentieth century. (It would never have occurred to the earlier little girls to question why the male heroes were always Prince Charming, while the females had distinct names, as well as distinct personalities.) We might even venture a step further and predict that this little girl may grow up to be a feminist -- that species which, like witches or goblins or gnomes, kept themselves hidden away in forests or caves for a number of centuries, and made their existence known only when they felt comparatively safe from being seized, thrown in the dungeons, banished, or burnt at the stake. For who, other than an evil spirit, would dare question the morality of a time-honoured fairy-tale, and spoil its beauty by casting a gloomy spell over an otherwise happy ending at a wedding between two young lovers?