Fairy Tales and the Narrative Self

Abstract: “Once upon a time.” Four famous words that have begun the stories that have shaped generations of people’s values, beliefs and morals. Fairy tales are a special sort of story that have a long history of being used to teach children the ideals of society through overly simplified characters, words and symbols. Yet, this does not mean they are not complex. They are designed to teach children the difference between right and wrong, how to act in a desirable way and what they should value, all of which is in accordance with the society they live in. Fairy tales have served this purpose for many years yet their influence in the development of one’s moral judgments is often underestimated and written off as rudimentary. However, I argue that fairy tales are fundamental to the foundation and development of humans as moral agents. In Cressida Heyes’ (2007) paper about Cosmetics and the Televisual Makeover, she highlights that cosmetic television shows, such as “The Swan,” use the fairytale act structure to make their show more appealing to audiences as the structure is familiar to them because they grew up reading stories that followed it. Essentially, the fairytale act structure has impacted these audiences, who are mostly adults, so much so that they feel inclined to search for stories that follow it. In this paper, I will expand upon that idea to further argue that fairy tales not only impact one on a surface level, but also shape both one’s moral and aesthetic judgments and therefore shape how one constructs one's narrative identities. I will first define what the fairytale act structure is and Cressida Heyes’ position on the fairy tales and their impact on the audiences. Then I will discuss how fairy tales shape both one’s aesthetic and moral judgments. Finally, I will explore why this impacts the construction of one’s narrative identities and how fairy tales shape how one tells stories about themselves.

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