1 of 9

Rumpelstiltskin Through the Critical Lenses

Terms & Information

​

2 of 9

CRITICAL READING LENSES

​

​

​

READER RESPONSE LENS - ask questions, make Text-Self, Text-Text, and Text-World connections, make predictions

​

PSYCHOLOGICAL LENS - what is the character thinking? feeling? How did his/her family of origin affect him/her?

​

MARXIST LENS - who has power? Community or individual?

​

FEMINIST LENS - how are girls portrayed? Gender stereotypes?

​

3 of 9

FAIRY TALES 

FAIRY TALES ARE FANTASTIC STORIES IN WHICH...

​

  • Oral  stories have passed down for generations...and CHANGED in the process,

​

  • Magic, animals that can speak, creatures like witches, elves, dwarves, and more, and damsels in distress are featured,

​

  • Royalty, such as Kings, Princesses, etc. are common,

​

  • Binary Ideas are part of the theme - examples:  GOOD conquers EVIL, or Those who are BEAUTIFUL and PURE have all their DREAMS COME TRUE, and those who are UGLY and WICKED lose everything.

4 of 9

FRACTURED FAIRY TALES

FRACTURED FAIRY TALES ARE DECONSTRUCTED or RECONSTRUCTED FAIRY TALES, IN WHICH...

​

  • There is a BASE traditional tale that serves as a "launching pad" for additions (characters, plots, conflicts, etc.) or subtractions (any story element) to create a whole new story

​

  • Often features absurd, weird, or humorous characters, situations, or conflicts

​

  • May or may not make much logical sense, but serves to entertain and allude to traditional tales

5 of 9

COMPARING TALES 

FAIRY TALES VS. FRACTURED TALES

​

​

​

CHARACTERS

​

​

​

​

Elves, Dwarves, Human Royalty, Regular Humans, Animals

​

​

​

​

Usually, characters are taken from traditional tales, but are mixed from several tales or changed

​

SETTINGS

Middle Ages, usually

in Castles and Countrysides

​

Modern Times, usually

​

PLOT

Clever characters trick stupid ones or magic transforms characters or events

Characters may come together in a new situation from traditional stories and interact in a funny way

​

CONFLICTS

Traditional Binaries - good vs. evil (evil often wins)

Predator overtakes prey

Beauty wins after struggle

Absurd, Unlikely Conflicts - Ugly man is a hero who rescues a maiden, then dumps her; dragon helps people

​

​

THEMES

Breaking into a house is wrong.

If you aren't smart, you'll get eaten/killed. 

Breaking into a house is just part of the action.

Funny and ugly people win, while those who take themselves seriously lose.

6 of 9

USING CRITICAL LENSES:

Rumpelstiltskin Tale - Character of Rumpelstiltskin:

​

  • Reader Response Lens: Rumpelstiltskin is a little man, just like Thumbelina is a little woman; I wonder why Rump. helped the Miller's Daughter?
  • Psychological Lens: Rumpelstiltskin is kind, but also greedy and uses magic and tricks to get what he wants. He thinks, "I will help, then get a baby in the end all for me."
  • Marxist Lens: Rumpelstiltskin has a lot of power, as does the King; he works alone, but helps the Miller's daughter.
  • Feminist Lens: Rumpelstiltskin, the King, and the Miller all have some power and the King especially is very tough. The Miller's daughter is powerless and cries until a man (Rump) rescues and saves her. Gender stereotypes are assumed.

7 of 9

EXAMPLES OF FAIRY TALES 

SOME TRADITIONAL FAIRY TALES:

​

  • Trickster tales - Rumpelstiltskin, Three Little Pigs, Three Billy Goats Gruff, Little Red Riding Hood, Elves and the Shoemaker, The Gingerbread Man

​

  • Romance tales - Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty (Rose Red), Little Mermaid

​

  • Adventure tales - Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, the Hmong Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Hansel & Gretel

8 of 9

EXAMPLES OF FRACTURED TALES

  • Shrek  (movie)

​

  • Chicken Run  (movie)

​

  • The Stinky Cheeseman (book)

​

  • Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza  (book)

​

  • The True Story of the Three Little Pigs  (book)

​

  • A Wolf at the Door  (book)

​

  • The Rumpelstiltskin Problem (book)

9 of 9

FIVE MINUTE QUIZ:

  • Name TWO DIFFERENCES between fairy tales and fractured fairy tales.

​

  • Using the MARXIST lens, describe the character relationships in Cinderella (for example, describe Marxist perspective on Cinderella & Step-mother, Prince & King, Prince and Cinderella)

​

  • How would you go about writing a FRACTURED fairy tale? Describe what you would do first, next, etc.

​

​