Young adult and middle-aged women’s perception of the archetype of romantic love in fairy tales

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to explore how women perceive fairy tales and to look into the influences the archetype of romantic love as manifested in fairy tales might have had on their expectations and perceptions when looking for love and finding a partner. Four semi structured interviews were carried out on a one-to-one basis with two young adult women and two middle-aged women. The data obtained was then analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2013), thematic analysis. Four overarching themes were identified: women’s expectations of romantic love, women’s expectations of men, fairy tales: are they deceitful? and gender stereotypes in fairy tales. This research study indicated that fairy tales, Disney in particular, do influence women’s perceptions when it comes to romantic love and looking for a partner. One significant result was how a middle-aged woman managed to work on her self-worth and make her way out of Disney’s indoctrination.