Blog Entry #3

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The definition of a fairy tale according to Stith Thompson is a “tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves an unreal world without definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never ending land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdom and marry princesses.” (The Folktale, 8)  
My definition of a fairytale must include a hero, villain, conflict and magic. It must include a hero of some sort, because that is the point of a fairytale, to inspire hope. Fairytales are an abstraction from reality. A cheerful and hopeful tale that lets you escape into a fantasy world. Along with that, you must include a villain in order for a hero to exist. The villain's job is to cause mayhem or a problem for the hero to solve. In the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty, we see Maleficent as the villain who didn’t get invited to the ceremony celebrating the birth of Aurora. Which caused her to become very angry and cast a curse on her to die at the age of sixteen when she pricks her finger on a spindle. Which in turn gave reason for the character, Prince Phillip, who Aurora met while she was out in the woods.
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When the curse was cast upon her, he fought Maleficent and her many obstacles, to rescue Sleeping Beauty with true love’s kiss. You also need conflict to make a fairytale possible, it’s the main point of the story, that lets the story further develop. Without conflict, you could have neither villain or hero. Last, but not least, you must have magic in a fairytale. Magic allows the impossible to be possible. Magic is a plot device used to move the story along by opening up more realms of possibility. It’s also used to add a whimsical and magical effect. Without magic, Maleficent wouldn’t have been able to set the curse on Sleeping Beauty and essentially cause the whole conflict that the story was based around. 
With all those elements combined, it creates a fairytale.  

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