From fairy tales to disney movies: gender roles and stereotypes then and now

Abstract

This thesis studies classic fairy tales of the seventeenth, eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries by Charles Perrault, the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen to observe how gender stereotypes and gender roles are portrayed. These tales not only indoctrinate gender roles for men and women, but also reflect the value system of contemporary patriarchal society. The paper will also explore different Disney films to understand how much the modern representations of classic fairy tales changed gender stereotypes and role models with the passage of time. This paper has six chapter. The first chapter is the introductory part. The second gives a brief history of fairy tales. Then the third, fourth and fifth chapters analyse different fairy tales and character. Finally there is chapter six which is the conclusion.