The Retelling
"You were so close," a light, crackly voice permeated through the room.
He shut his eyes. He knew who had come, but he could not turn around to face her. Not just yet.
"Centuries of waiting, and not once have you returned to reverse your curse," he accused, though his voice was already giving way to resignation. He knew why she couldn't come back to him. He had been young and angry then. Impulsive.
Yet she stood there now. The enchantress who did this to him.
"I'm not exactly in the business of reversing curses," she replied. He could hear her settle down comfortably on his armchair, situated just beside the window, facing away from the fragile glass. "Besides, it's taken you a ghastly amount of centuries to stop raging about like you usually do. Was this her doing?"
1001 Viewpoints
Keeping the elements of fairy tales and being inspired by cultural folklore and mythology doesn't necessarily mean you have to write a new story altogether (though, yes, an original fairy tale is excellent). There is the option of taking an old fairy tale and making it your own. For those who opted to do Extra Credit option A in the previous assignment, you will have had a taste of how it is to retell an old tale.
A great thing about fairy tales is that the tale will often--if not always--reflect that of the teller. Simple idea, yet true to this day. Because of the oral nature of fairy tales, it usually becomes the narrator's (or narrators', if the activity calls for a group of people delivering the story piecemeal) job to convey the story from start to finish. Because of this, it is the narrator who controls the tone of the story.
If the storyteller wishes to do this by sitting her audience around a campfire, by using different voices to indicate character speech, by utilizing gestures and movement to breathe life into the action, she can certainly do so. If she wishes to sit there and simply narrate animatedly, that's a choice as well. Whatever the case, though, the fairy tale is being told and the audience--whoever he, she, or they may be--is listening in.
That, I think, is why fairy tales will always be retold, and differently by as many voices as possible; it is always a different retelling. You will see many authors changing their accounts of Beauty and the Beast by adding or leaving off a simple magical item, will see others depicting the tale of Cinderella in a plethora of viewpoints (the stepsisters included). Some authors alter situations or add backdrop to an otherwise simple tale.
Others ask the "what-if"s that result in an altogether parallel dimension fairy tale.
What becomes important to remember, then, that writing expresses your point of view, and yours alone. Maybe you think there's a reason for why Rumplestiltskin asks for the daughter's first-born child. Maybe you see something different come to play when Briar Rose pricks her finger upon a spindle. Maybe Aladdin is no hero at all, and it's up to his unhappy wife to restore her kingdom to greatness.
So, with that said. What's your viewpoint?
A great thing about fairy tales is that the tale will often--if not always--reflect that of the teller. Simple idea, yet true to this day. Because of the oral nature of fairy tales, it usually becomes the narrator's (or narrators', if the activity calls for a group of people delivering the story piecemeal) job to convey the story from start to finish. Because of this, it is the narrator who controls the tone of the story.
If the storyteller wishes to do this by sitting her audience around a campfire, by using different voices to indicate character speech, by utilizing gestures and movement to breathe life into the action, she can certainly do so. If she wishes to sit there and simply narrate animatedly, that's a choice as well. Whatever the case, though, the fairy tale is being told and the audience--whoever he, she, or they may be--is listening in.
That, I think, is why fairy tales will always be retold, and differently by as many voices as possible; it is always a different retelling. You will see many authors changing their accounts of Beauty and the Beast by adding or leaving off a simple magical item, will see others depicting the tale of Cinderella in a plethora of viewpoints (the stepsisters included). Some authors alter situations or add backdrop to an otherwise simple tale.
Others ask the "what-if"s that result in an altogether parallel dimension fairy tale.
- What if Cinderella is cursed with the gift of obedience? Gail Carson Levine answers that question in Ella Enchanted.
- What if the princess in "Donkeyskin" harbors a darker past, much more than what the original tales have told? Robin McKinley answers that in Deerskin.
- What if both sisters in "Toads and Diamonds" are both amiable, talented girls? Heather Tomlinson answers that question in Toads and Diamonds.
- What if, just what if, the Goose Girl's handmaiden becomes the heroine of the tale? It's a different story altogether, isn't it?
What becomes important to remember, then, that writing expresses your point of view, and yours alone. Maybe you think there's a reason for why Rumplestiltskin asks for the daughter's first-born child. Maybe you see something different come to play when Briar Rose pricks her finger upon a spindle. Maybe Aladdin is no hero at all, and it's up to his unhappy wife to restore her kingdom to greatness.
So, with that said. What's your viewpoint?
Now onto your Final Project!