Contemporary female characters in fairy tales : a cultural analysis of characters in story re-tellers Rebecca Solnit, Malorie Blackman, and Henry Selick

Abstract

In this dissertation, the ways in which the female character has progressed through different media is analysed. Critics Jack Zipes, Maria Tatar, and Marcia R. Lieberman are fundamental to this study. The dissertation discusses a set of four books, published under the title of Fairy Tale Revolution and three films coming from very different backgrounds, a Bollywood film, an adaptation of an epic poem and a Hollywood film. The contemporary films, Bulbbul, Sita Sings the Blues, and Coraline were chosen as they are more realistic than Disney’s fairy tales in terms of relatability for the audience. The analysis of the contemporary books, written by female authors, focuses on the characters' clothes, language, and actions. For film, evaluation of the different forms of female representations and the use of male characters are explored. Findings show that when comparing the books to the films, there has been a significant change in the representation of women in books, however, this has not been echoed fully in films. These findings are consistent with the conclusions of the World Economic Forum, which showed that in 2013, only 15% of protagonists were women. The World Economic Forum noted that although progress was made since then, more still needs to be done to close the gender gap in Hollywood. In turn, further research could determine whether the portrayal of female characters in films is one of the primary reasons why women’s emancipation has not progressed in the way it should have.