Differences between folktales of Charles Perrault and the brothers Grimm

Class Activity

Comparison of folktales of Charles Perrault and the brothers Grimm 

There are mainly two differences in the folktales of Charles Perrault and the brothers Grimm based on the writing style and their influence towards the world of literature. 

Comparing to the brothers Grimm, the work of Perrault has a tone of strange and mysterious. The eerie world is created by magic and fictional creatures such as fairy. For example, in Cinderella, the Little Glass Slipper, Cinderella has a fairy godmother who has the ability to turn pumpkin into a carriage, helping Cinderella to attend the ball. On the other hand, the version of the brothers Grimm, is less eerie. Magic power and fairy godmother are nowhere to be found in their story. White bird, which is commonly found in forest, is taken place and acts as the media for Cinderella to participate in the ball. 

The influence that both folktale giants brought to the world, show a different degree of extension. Since Perrault was one of the ancient authors that recorded fairy tales into written form, he built a foundation of Western children literature, which is indicated by the article on the background of Charles Perrault - "It is often said that the Perrault versions of these tales have become the standard versions in the mind of the general populace". As for the brothers Grimm, they achieved the goal of spreading Western folktales world-wide. Work of the brothers Grimm have been translated into various languages including English and Vietnamese. Not only fairy tales can be told in the Western culture, but also shared in the Eastern world.  

Therefore, the differences between Perrault and the brothers Grimm can be measured in the perspective of writing style and their influence.