The Fairies

The fairytale "Fairies" is one of the most famous works by Charles Perrault. The story begins with a mother that had two daughters. They weren’t much alike and the older one was more like her mother while the younger one was known as the most beautiful girls that were a lot like a father who was well known as a kind man.

That was one of the reasons why her mother and sister didn’t like her and made her do all of the housework and eat alone in the kitchen. Her life wasn’t easy and she started each day with a hard job.

All of it changed when she met a fairy dressed like a poor woman. She gave her an incredible gift and the mother wanted the fairy to give a gift to the older sister but due to her evilness, she only got snakes and frogs.

Genre: fairytale

Place: the house, river, forest

Book Summary

The widow had two daughters - the older one who was a lot like her mother and the younger one that was kind and good. Except for her kindness, she was also incredibly beautiful. She could fairly be called the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world and she was a lot like her father.

Nobody could stand her sister and mother because they were arrogant and rude.

She started her days by going twice to the river and carrying a jug of water home. She did her job and didn’t think a lot about the injustice she put up with. One day everything changed when she met a poor woman that asked her for some water because she was thirsty. The girl didn’t think twice before grabbing the clearest water of the river and holding the jug while the woman drank to make it easier for her. The poor woman was extremely happy.

The poor woman was nobody else but a fairy. When she was convinced of the girl’s kindness she gave her a gift. Every time the girl spoke a flower or a gemstone fell out of her mouth.

She was gone for a while and as soon as she came back her mother reproached her about coming home later than expected. The girl started apologizing but as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, gemstones started falling out of her mouth.

The mother was surprised and asked her and asked her about her current state and above all she called the girl her daughter for the first time. The girl told all about the fairy while flowers and gemstones came sipping out of her mouth.

It didn’t take long for the mother to send her other daughter to the river to get the same gift. The older daughter was offended by her mother’s order but her mother forced her to go, despite the fact that she was her favorite daughter.

When she finally reached the river she encountered the fairy dressed up as a princess. She asked her to bring her some water but the girl was rude to her.

She told the fairy she carried the jug for herself and that she should get some water on her own. The fairy saw the arrogance of the daughter and she gave her a different gift.

Because of all the bad words, she said to the fairy snakes and frogs came out of her mouth every time she spoke. The girl wasn’t happy at all and as soon as she wanted to say something two frogs came out of her mouth.

The mother was convinced that it was the younger sister’s fault and she decided to punish her but the girl managed to run away into the forest. There she met a prince who asked her about the reasons for her sadness. When she wanted to explain how she ran away from home gemstones and flowers started coming out of her mouth again.

The prince was surprised when she noticed it and asked her how that was even possible. She told him everything about the fairy and the gift she gave her.

It didn’t take long for the prince to fall in love with her and he married her later. You’re probably asking yourself about the other sister and the mother. The sister got so bad that the mother banished her. The older sister went far away and died alone.

Characters: kind younger sister, evil older sister, mother, prince, fairy

Characters Analysis

The kind younger sister - a good-hearted girl who was banished from the house after the fairy gave her an incredible gift of producing gemstones and flowers in her mouth every time she spoke. The young girl was alone but then she encountered a prince who married her and knew how to value her.

Evil older sister - an arrogant and rude girl who didn’t want to help the fairy when she was thirsty. The fairy realized she was an evil person and gave her a correspondent gift. Her evilness gave her a lonely life and a lonely death in the end because nobody wanted to marry her or accept her into their home.

Mother - a calculated woman that wanted to use the fairy’s gifts to please her own selfish needs. She didn’t love her younger daughter but when she saw the gemstones and flowers she wanted the older sister to produce them too. But the older sister wasn’t as kind as the younger one so she didn’t receive the same gift. The mother died alone in the end.

Prince - a young man who recognized the younger sister’s kindness and fell in love with her. He was well aware of her gift and when she told him everything about her life he knew he had to marry her because she was honest and truthful.

Charles Perrault Biography

Charles Perrault (1628. - 1703.) was born in Paris in a wealthy family as the seventh child. His father was very strict and imposed a certain kind of education upon him so he decided to study law. When he finished school he got a job in the public service.

Many consider him to be the founder of the most popular genre between children and those are the fairytales. He took his inspiration out of folks tales. Some of them were carried mouth to mouth and some of them were told by the Grimm brothers. The fairytales that Charles made famous: are Cinderella, Little red riding hood, Bluebeard and Puss in boots.

This famous writer from France published another interesting book and it is Tales of mother Goose. It consisted out of 8 fairytales.

Charles published this work under the name of his son. His fairytales were so popular that they were screen and TV adapted. The first fairytale The sleeping beauty was published in 1969.

Charles was considered to be one of the most influential people in the 17th century and a fighter for the younger generations. A conflict was going on back then between the old who believed that people should stick to the traditional way of writing and the young who were fighting for a new, fresh way of writing.