Most modern fairy tales are expected to have happy endings and be appropriate for children, where as in past centuries most were gruesome which is why they have been modified throughout time. The stories “Beauty and the Beast” by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont and “The Summer and Winter Garden” by Jacob and Wilherm Grimm share similarities and differences. The two stories are distinct because of the peculiar year they have been written in: LePrince de Beaumont’s story is written in London of 1783 and Grimm’s in Germany of 1812. At the time, wealthy people in London, were educated and had nannies who would read to their children, whereas in Germany, the Grimm brothers created their own interpretation into a short story. Because many high class parents in 18th century London would not be able to spend time with their children, nannies would read “Beauty and the Beast” to them since they were intended for children and considered appropriate. In “The Summer and Winter Garden,” the Grimm’s’ story was mostly based to entertain misbehaved children and teach them the valuable lesson that everyone should be treated with kindness. The Grimm brothers’ goal in rewriting this short story is to better children’s behavior which worked quite well. Since these stories have been re-written for children, it would be safe to say the reason why parents expose the two stories to their children is because they both portray the same moral: good things happen to good people. The two interpretations of “Beauty and the Beast,” although written in separate countries, share important similarities and differences even though the authors have different interpretations and came from different cultures.
Following this further, Le Prince De Beaumont writes, “…finding his heart beat still she fetched some water from the canal and poured it on his head. Beast opened his eyes” (Le Prince de Beaumont 8). Although water brings the Beast back to life, in reality, there is no possibility of such action. The magic in the fairytale is proven by this impossible cause. In many fairy tales there is usually some form of magic that takes place for entertainment purposes. In this case, the children are the main target for this purpose. Furthermore, in “The Summer and Winter Garden,” seeing Beast lying on the pile of rotten cabbage heads, the beautiful daughter’s first thought was to bring him back to life somehow: “He was lying beneath them and was dead. She quickly fetched some water and poured it over him without stopping. Then he jumped up…” (Grimm 3). Unlike in real life, only in fairy tales can reviving anyone be possible. The water is interpreted as magic because in reality, once death is reached, the chances that you will awake back into life are very minimal. In both narratives, the Beast’s only way to come back to life is by having water poured on him. In reality it is only effective to survive by drinking water. The only way water could wake someone up when poured on them is by...
