• takeheart@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    25 days ago

    That but it was also just a depiction closer to reality: for instance famine and starvation were a common theme in Grimm’s collection of tales (Hänsel & Gretel, the star money, etc). But in the modern world [industrialized west] we know longer have a direct cultural experience of it.

    Similarly gone down have:

    • corporal punishment, mutilation (the girl without hands, Cinderella)
    • indentured servitude, slavery (Rumpelstilzchen)
    • cannibalism (Hänsel & Gretel); note that this in the context of a famine
    • austerity at old age (the Bremen town musicians)
    • despots abusing their power (Snow White)
    • maternal death, parental absence (Cinderella, Snow White)
    • child labor (Cinderella, Mother Hulda)