Right On Darnton

If you are to look at both Bettelheim and Darnton's essays, it is easy to see that Darnton's view on fairy tales is of a much more intellectual, and less insipid view than Bettelheim. Bettelheim views fairy tales as a vessel of knowledge to reach adulthood. He talks of how they teach children to deal with growing up, and their place in existence. That may be so, but these stories should not just be viewed as symbolic lessons to relieve children of part of the burden of maturing. Darnton's message gives a more broad and academic view of fairy tales. He traces them back to their roots of oral tradition, and their many different primary authors such as Perrault and d'Aulnoy. He tells about how tales are not from one specific area, but rather many different cultures have the a similar basis for their version of the tale. Darnton's essay in general seemed much more informed and rooted in scholarly knowledge, rather than Bettelheim's pseduo-psychological use of psychoanalytic nonsense (not that I am bitter about psycho-analysis, just that I don't think people really apply it to much anymore... maybe they do?). At any rate, the essay which helps me think of fairy tales as more than children's tales is the one whose main purpose is Not to show how fairy tales help enrich and broaden the lives of children.