One: Define magic in Myths, Fairytales, and Folktales.
There is an element of magic or the magical in the myths, fairytales, and folktales under analysis here. Without this element, they would not be myths, fairytales, and folktales.
The Creation Myths are filled with magic from evil presences that take the form of serpents who speak to and the creation of woman from a male rib, “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (133). In Prometheus and Pandora, we see that a jar contains all of the world’s evils and by opening it Pandora unleashes an eternity of burdens upon mankind. Both of these myths are quite derogatory to women, as they blame the world’s ills and man’s burden on the female sex, “Men were burdened with women, through whom every other suffering and misfortune they experience...comes to them...Hope remains...but so does Pandora’s legacy” (144).
The magic found in the fairytale and folktales is more positive with respect to the portrayal of women. In the fairytales the women are beautiful and innocent and the magic is typically used against them or to save them. In the Princess and the Pea the princess is so sensitive she magically is bruised by a pea under twenty mattresses and twenty “eider-down beds” (99). In Sleeping Beauty a kiss after a hundred years of sleep awakens the princess and her family and the entire court. In the folktales, we see less magic than the other types of stories, but we do see its use as in Urashima the Fisherman. In this tale, a beautiful “five-colored turtle” transforms into a “dazzlingly lovely girl” (18).
Two: Classify types of problems encountered by the main characters in Myths, Fairytales, Fables and Folktales.
The main problem encountered in these myths, fairytales, and folktales by the main characters is avoiding temptation. In the myths, Eve does not and it brings an eternal burd...