The Struggle For Meaning by Bruno Bettelheim

This reading, The Struggle For Meaning, was particularly intriguing to me because it talks alot about life. Bettelheim expresses the important lessons fairy tales can teach and also the different forms of personality development that can be learned. I find it to be true that one's environment and the society they live in can shape the way they develop as a person. But I also believe that before a child can comprehend the environment they live in, a perfect idea of life can be grasped through the use of fairy tale stories as children try to relate themselves to specific events that occur and through the way in which they interpret these events. The direction of which a child chooses to take in the creation of their personality is uncontrolable; they may relate well with the good guy or the bad guy. However, what is controlable is the overall message that is being sent to these kids. I am not saying that all your child needs is a nice fairy tale story and all work is done. But i am saying that with exposure to these kinds of tales, children are being provided with top quality building blocks that i think can be important for personality development before arrival into the "real world." What i learned and take away from this reading is that once a child has a genreal idea of what kind of person they are, they then can leave the confinments of their parents home, go out into the world and make a considerable difference. In the reading of fairy tales, without the clarification and explanation of each story by the parents, children will be given the opportunity to start developing a sense of who they really are as people.

Personal Response on Sleeping Beauty

In the three stories of Sleeping Beauty, Sun, Moon, and Talia, The Sleeping Beauty In The Wood, and Brier Rose, I see more than one message being sent to the readers. However, there is one that sticks to me in particular more than the others. Leaving aside the one story, Brier Rose, because of how short it was and because of the Grimm Brothers lack of expression when compared to the stories revealed by Basile and Perrealt, I think there is a corresponding moral found when looking at the character of the cook. This cook, in both stories, refuses the opportunity to gain recognition from the Queen herself when looking into his heart and finding that future torture and devistation of inocent lives is not worth self reward. When I see these moments of dignity and courage performed by the cook, it brings me back to my childhood. Growing up, my parents always impressed upon my siblings and I that there is no glory in being the bully. My dad always said "stick up for the weeker person, the underdog." Ever since very young, there has been an engravement in my head making permanant this code of ethics i have learned from my mother and father. When i see people torture, hurt, abuse other people, it just makes me think what happened to these people to make them so cruel that they misinterpret the ultimate fulfillment of life of just being a good person and have to resort to abuse of another human being to gain satisfaction. I like how in these two stories, Sun, Moon, and Talia, and The Sleeping Beauty In The Wood, there is man like my father, like who i have grown to be, who stands up for what he truly believes. In the end he is truly rewarded with the gratitude given forth by the King. I take away this important message that in being a good person, day in and day out, and making it a part of who you are, you will find a more real, ultimate, warm satisfaction at the end of the day.

Giambattista Basile Profile

Giambattista Basile was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector who was born in 1575 to a Neapolitan middle-class family. Basile, in his time, had created an original collection of 50 fairy tales titled Lo cunto de li cunti, or “The Tale of Tales”, of which he twisted and critiqued to create more of an adventure including popular culture and folk tradition. Basile has been extremely influential because of this unique assortment of stories as well as his style of work while he brings a new, loved and lively Neapolitan approach.

            While Basile was growing in his career, he really became fascinated with the Neapolitan culture. With his intense affection for this style of living; the literature, the customs, music, and dialect, he soon realized the necessity of incorporating this anomalous world that surrounded him into his work.

Basile’s infatuations for folklore and fairy tales were constantly put on hold or interrupted by other events. Throughout his enduring career, Basile had a copious amount of jobs. He even experienced phases in his life of being part of the Neapolitan army as well as a governor of several Italian states for examples. Because Basile had acted on his instincts for a more genuine career of folklore and short stories, he was lead to a more bountiful profession of success and envy.

Basile has been credited for being the source of many fairy tales, like Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Beauty and the Beast, etc. Modern day fairy tale authors like, The Brothers Grim and Perrault for instances, have developed their literary stories with much in part due to this courageous author. Not only did Basile show the world a new tone that could be brought to the short story business, but also modified it as well, giving future authors something to look up to and compete against.

            Giambattista Basile created something new and enterprising with the incorporation of his beloved Neapolitan culture. He realized the contingency of joining his two loves (the environment he lived in and short stories), and that he could create a legacy for his present day readers as well as his future disciples. Basile composed something new and revolutionary, leaving him as merely a remnant of the fairy tale and folklore world.

(MLA) Citations:

1.      "Giambattista Basile." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/55102/Giambattista-Basile>.

2.    Jones, Steven, and Benedetto Croce. "Giambattista Basile." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 31 Jan 2011. Web. 28 Feb 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giambattista_Basile.>