This Week's Fairytale Reflections at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Well, I just realized my post about last week's Fairytale Reflections at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles didn't push so today I am actually featuring last week's about the Snow Queen (see the previous post) and this week's feature, too.

This week Fairytale Reflections (8) at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles features author Sue Purkiss who discusses The Wild Swans which appears to be most people's favorite variants of The Six Swans fairy tale type.  Here's some of my favorite parts:

But she is not a passive victim. We know that she is only allowing all this to happen to her because she is ferociously loyal and determined. Even when she falls in love with the king, she still doesn’t allow herself to be distracted. She loves her brothers and she is determined to keep to her commitment to save them, no matter how hard it may be. She may be a victim, but she’s far from weak.

We talk of ‘fairy-tale endings’ as if fairy stories invariably end well. True, in the end Cinderella and her prince live happily ever after. So does the Sleeping Beauty; so does Snow White. But it isn’t always so. In The Wild Swans, one brother is left with a swan’s wing instead of an arm. Perhaps this is one of the things that makes this particular story so poignant; there’s an admission that everything doesn’t always turn out all right, no matter how hard you try. Fairy stories may take place in an enchanted land, but they deal with situations we must face in real life.

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