fandomhigh | Traditional Fairy Tales, Class Two

Monday, January 15, Period 2

The table in the center of the room was filled with breakfast pastries and hot drinks, there were stacks of books close at hand for the students to borrow for their readings assignments, and Aziraphale looked quite cheerful as he sat in his armchair and waited for the class to arrived.

"Good morning, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your first week of classes. Today we'll begin our discussion of the basic character archetypes found in fairy tales. Your assigned reading was Jack the Giant Killer and Molly Whuppie. Following the lecture, we'll discuss the central characters in these two stories, and how they fit into the roles of hero and villain."

LECTURE: "With a few exceptions, every fairy tale contains two central figures: the hero or heroine, and the villain. These characters can take many forms, from innocent child to clever thief, from evil stepmother to hungry wolf, but the central conflict of a fairy tale often evolves around the idea of the hero outwitting the villain. The hero may have a quest to fulfill, a puzzle to solve, or a difficult situation to escape. They may act out of self-defense, altruism, love, or necessity -- sometimes even out of greed or fear. Heros display a common set of characteristics -- in general, they are quick-witted, creative, and bold. Villains are not always evil, but are in general selfish and greedy, and usually act out of a desire to fulfill personal needs or an often baseless dislike of the hero."

DISCUSSION: "Take a look at the two stories from your assigned reading. Identify the hero and villain in each one, and then explain what motivates their actions. In your opinion, why is the villain villainous, and why does the hero act heroically?

"I would also like you to take a little time at the end of class to meet with the members of your project groups. I'll be expecting proposals for your final project in a few weeks, and I'll try to give you time during each class to meet with one another."

ASSIGNMENT: "For next week, read Mr Fox and John the True."

[ooc: For those who are new to Aziraphale's classes, there is always a spread of breakfast pastries and hot drinks, which you are free to mod. Also, the room is always arranged with comfortable chairs and couches for seating, rather than desks. ~~Please wait for the~~ OCD threads are now up, and class is in session.]

Syllabus
Class Roster
Project Groups
Linkdrop for classes

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

River looked at Neil. "Why do you assume heroes have to be selfless? And isn't using their large size and superior strength to kill people villainous enough, apart from grotesque looks?"

"Well, if they're doing it for monetary reward, aren't they then called mercenary?" Neil asked. "If not, what's the difference between a hero performing a task for a grateful unit of people who then compensate them and a mercenary? The timing of the discussion of payment?"

Shifting slightly in his chair, Neil made a note and then looked back towards River.

"And as for the giants...well I guess I sort of subscribe to the idea that the winner tells the tale. After all, if these were tales written for giants how would they present the facts? I mean...okay, how about this, you point out the giants using their superior strength to kill people as being villainous. What about when people use their superior strength to...oh...say slaughter lambs or take eggs from chickens to eat? Does that make people villainous? The first giant in the Jack story, he took the oxen as a food source. Okay, maybe we'd like to see him sit down and negotiate with the villagers for a fair divison of resources but to the giant, he was bigger, he was superior in strength he took what he wanted and needed. When was the last time you heard of a farmer negotiating with a ewe that he was going to take her babies and turn them into lamb chops?"

"Not every hero has money to start with," River replied.

"And the winner tells the tale would make sense if the point fo fairy tales was to describe historical events, but it's not. I'm sure that giants' fairy tales would be about the evil little humans. The point is to describe the struggle, not the truth of an event.

She smiled happily at Neil.

Neil snorted.

"Well, if that's the case then it certainly lives up to that billing because I see very little truth in these archetypes when set against real life. True heroes fight for the dream that burns inside them. The dream that moves them towards the greatness of heroic actions. They’re not often compensated and praised as heroes, in fact more often they are maligned and shunned by the very societies they seek to liberate due to the radical form of their dreams and ideals. It’s always too much change too fast and not until after the hero himself has been vilified, persecuted and driven to the edges of society in exile does the society as a whole come to realize the gift of his contribution.

These heroes in the books who get their fortune and their happily ever afters were men and women who took advantage of a situation to better their own lot in life. Not heroes."

Yeah, he might have been thinking about Mr. Keating just then.

It wasn't hard to pick up Neil's thoughts on Mr Keating.

"What's the difference between a hero and a lunatic, using your definition then?" It wasn't that River disagreed with Neil, but she was curious to hear him argue the point.

Neil paused and looked pensive for a bit, ordering his thoughts carefully. It wasn't that he was aruging with River on a personal level, just arguing with the subject matter and the discussion question.

"I guess, when you boil it all down, the common school of thought is it's a very fine line, defined ultimately by history." Neil admitted with a quick little smile. "But I like to think that a hero, using my definition, is someone with the inner vision not to look at the world as it is or as they want it to be -which is how I would define a lunatic- but they see something in the world, in society as a whole, in people...err...beings as a whole that is beyond what has become the commonly accepted norm and they are willing to stand up and try to express that potential growth to those around them, even recognizing that they stand a good chance of facing ridecule for their efforts."

Sitting forward, his dark eyes gleamed a little as he surfed on the vision of what Keating had come to mean to him.

"A hero recognizes the challenges before them and comes up with ways to express themselves, to take a naturally fearful society and help lead them through the dark wilderness of the unknown to the new potential. A lunatic, throws themselves against the wall of societies' fears with no thought of how to guide others forward."

River nodded. "Like Mr Keating," she commented quietly, without thinking.

[ooc: and now the mun is too tired to argue properly]

Traditional Fairy Tales, Class Two

Re: Discussion

Re: Discussion

Re: Discussion

Re: Discussion

Re: Discussion

Re: Discussion

Re: Discussion