Toward an anthropological perspective of fairy tales

Prevalent theories premise that the popular Western fairy tale whose predominant motif is one of cruelty toward children by their closest kin or guardian is an expression of repressed parent‐child hostility and sexual complexes. This paper presents an alternative approach: fairy tales may also serve to introduce the child to the world of strangers and the noncommitted modes of behavior which often typify social encounters in Western society. In this respect they have an educational role in the growing‐up process similar to that of folklore in nonliterate societies.