The Fairy Tale: More Than Just Child's Play

While Darnton discusses the similarities and dissimilarities between folk tales of different cultures, Bettelheim directly visits the role of the fairy tale as a moral instructor that appeals to the developing unconscious of youth. He argues that while empty, modern children’s literature attempts to entertain, the traditional fairy tale enriches, stimulates and encourages the imagination. Only through developing the unconscious can a child truly develop a conscious set of morals. In providing a child with a full store of moral training through the concealed ethical principles of folk tales, he is equipped to deal with life’s difficulties in an unwavering, honorable fashion. Fairy tales set the unconscious free, permitting the imagination to instruct as it may through the moral codes established at the basis of their lessons. For these reasons, fairy tales are much more than children’s entertainment. They are the teachers that create the foundation for every child’s moral character.