CHAPTER 1

Introduction

The tie between nature and literature has always been strong, as seen in the poetry and

other writings of poets and other writers over the years in practically all global cultures. All

knowledge and development departments are currently analysing and emphasising the close

connection between the natural and social worlds.

The universe is made up entirely of all creations, and this universal spirit unites all things.

The writings of several environmentalists, scientists, and philosophers from the West and the

East all have this common perspective. Similar to how other academic disciplines are

represented, the majority of fairy tales fall within the category of literature.

A fairy tale is a brief narrative that falls within the folklore category. These tales sometimes

include magic, enchantments, and fantastical or mythical creatures. Most cultures can not

clearly distinguish between myth and folktale or fairy tale; these three combined make up

preliterate societies' literature. Initially, tales that are now categorised as fairy tales were not

designated as a distinct genre. The French contes, a literary genre of short stories marked by

fantasy or wit, are where the English phrase "fairy tale" originates. These stories frequently

feature fairies. The genre has its origins in a variety of oral tales that have been passed down

across European cultures.

Renaissance authors like Giovanni Francesco Straparola and Giambattista Basile first

defined the genre, and later collectors like Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm helped to

consolidate it. The phrase "Conte de fée," or "fairy tale," was created in the late 17th century

by Madame d'Aulnoy. A type of folktale is a fairy tale, which is typically told orally. Fairy

tale-inspired writing has been used by many authors. The literary fairy tales, or
Kunstmärchen, are those (german literary fairy tales). The oldest forms, from Panchatantra

through the Pentamerone (a seventeenth-century Neapolitan fairy tale collection by Italian

poet and courtier Giambattista Basile), show substantial reworking from the oral form.

The origin of fairy tales can be attributed to society's conflicting desires and worries.

They, therefore, deal with more than just myths and dreams and act as a window into society.

These tales not only serve as bedtime stories for the younger generations, but they also gently

introduce children to social realities. The portrayal of beautiful and ugly characters as

described in the tales, aids in their learning and aids in drawing distinctions between good

and evil. As a result, this influences how they socialise and broadens their understanding of

societal norms.

CHAPTER 2

Review of literature

It is often said that fairy tales can be read from three perspectives, that of a child, an

adult, and a critic. The task of a literary critic is to explain and attempt to reach a critical

understanding of what literary texts mean in terms of their aesthetic, as well as social,

political, and cultural statements and suggestions. One of the approaches used to analyse a

text is an ecocritical approach. Ecocriticism guides us to examine the world around us and

critique the mannerisms of society in the treatment of nature.

When fairy tales are considered one of the regularly used approaches to analyse them

includes psychoanalytical and feminist. Rarely another major component included in the fairy

tales which is nature and ecology is given any significance. However, this paper considers the

articles by research scholars such as Sajna Plawat and Dr. Bindu Karnwal who wrote “Fairy

Tales Offering a Harmonious Platform for the Human and the Nature: An Ecocritical
Analysis” which provides an ecocritical analysis of fairy tales as the medium through which a

moral lesson can be instilled along with providing practical solutions to the problem of

everyday environmental scenario. Another article named “Plucking the Rose: Attitudes

toward nature in the modern American fairy tale” by the scholar Susan E. Wood analyses the

“Beauty and the Beast” tale, to identify changing American attitudes toward nature and to

pinpoint prevailing trends of opinion in mainstream American culture today. The fairy stories

chosen, through characterization, identify a human main character with civilization and a

fairy main character with the wilderness. In this way, nature is made into an “Other,”

something supernatural and thus something different from humans. These two articles show

two extremes of nature and how it either is a boon or a bane. However, it lacks an analysis of

the reason nature acts as a boon or bane which depends on the interaction of nature with

society.

CHAPTER 3

Research Question and objective

Therefore, the objective of this paper is to deal with highlighting the ambivalence of

nature in fairy tales along with the interaction of society with nature and its consequences

(good or bad). Hence, the paper includes an analysis of three fairy tales namely, "Hansel and

Gretel", "Cinderella”, and "Snow White" from the collection called Children and Household

Tales, written by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. It will deal with the binaries of

nature questioning whether nature is a boon or a bane bringing out the pattern of action of

man and the reaction of nature; which is recurrent in three all-time popular fairy tales.

CHAPTER4- HANSEL AND GRETEL

between organisms and their surroundings. German physicist Ernst Haeckel first used it in

1866. It is an interdisciplinary field that examines how living things interact with one another

and their surroundings.

In his article "Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism," William

Rueckert coined the word "ecocriticism" in 1978. It is the application of ecology and

ecological concepts to the study of literature. It incorporates ecology, literature, sociology,

and science and transcends all boundaries. The ecocritical approach seeks to transcend the

opposition between art and life, between humans and the natural world, and to focus on their

interconnectedness. The goal is to lay an ethical and aesthetic foundation for a fresh

understanding of both literature and ecology.

In many fairy tales, nature—in the shape of woods, flowers, trees, plants, animals,

birds, and insects—plays a significant, captivating, and illuminating role. Nature has the

ability to give indefinitely and the ability to correct humans when it is headed in the wrong

direction. when a person passes away and must have their body come back to the earth.

As a result, there is dependency, interconnection, and linkage. Thus, damaging one

component of this cosmos means injuring oneself.

When innovative authors compose fairy tales with exotic settings, imaginative themes, and

frightful animals, they can pique a child's imagination. These authors show an ecocritical

analysis of the potential interactions between nature and society by using natural notions.

Children's fairy stories can help them become more conscious of this. In fairy tales, the basic

unity of all beings is emphasized.

fantasy and depict nature ominously and enriching is called Children and Household Tales,

written by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The Brothers Grimm (die Brüder Grimm

or die Gebrüder Grimm), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo

of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who

together collected and published folklore. They are among the best-known storytellers of folk

tales, popularizing stories such as "Cinderella" ("Aschenputtel"), "The Frog Prince" ("Der

Froschkönig"), "Hansel and Gretel" ("Hänsel und Gretel"), "Little Red Riding Hood"

("Rotkäppchen"), "Rapunzel", "Rumpelstiltskin" ("Rumpelstilzchen"), "Sleeping Beauty"

("Dornröschen"), and "Snow White" ("Schneewittchen").

The environment is frequently referred to as an entity by academics doing ecocritical

analyses of texts when examining how it affects our culture. The Grimm stories "show crucial

cultural implications concerning the relationships that humans have with the empirical world

of the environment," according to Katherine Adler (2)

An ecocritical viewpoint sees nature as resembling a chaotic domain where cultural and

social standards are put to the test by looking more closely at the natural aspects present in

the Grimm fairy tales than the traditional motif.

The Grimm brothers were able to construct natural settings full of life lessons and

unconventional social views because to the fairy tales' distinctive origins in the local folktales

of this area. The allure of these tales, according to Adler, is that they "create a pleasant

atmosphere in which one might acquire life lessons from a talking tree or miraculous bean

seeds," thanks to their well-known plotlines and rich nature imagery (8).
“There is a great attachment for the forests in German culture, which can also be found in

fairy tales—not least since many plots are based there”, according to Gabriel Dürbeck, who

explores the ecological topic (304).

The Grimm brothers skillfully lead the reader away from the organised world of rules and

regulations and into the untamed forest, where the protagonists experience freedom and

anarchy.

Kids learn a different perspective on nature when they witness characters interact with

the forest and experience both joy and danger depending on how they treat the environment.

In the Grimm stories, nature serves as the backdrop for the characters' discussions on the

problems that the culture presents. In an ecocritical interpretation of "Hansel and Gretel,"

nature serves as a mirror to reflect society's heartlessness. This story illustrates a typical

challenge faced by the underprivileged in society who are unable to feed their entire family.

The stepmother offers the husband several options, one of which involves leaving their kids

behind to journey outside of society's safety and into the forest while making sure the

grownups endure famine. "We will take the kids early in the morning into the forest, where it

is thickest; we will start a fire and give each of them a piece of bread, then we will go to our

job and leave them alone; they will never find their way home again, and we shall be rid of

them," she says. The deep forest becomes her refuge from the social problems she

encounters, allowing her to flee the anguish she perceives is associated with her husband's

children and the inconvenience they cause by stealing food from her table. The treatment of

the children by the stepmother, who decides to just leave them in the wild to perish, allows

the Grimms to explore an uncaring, cold society.

Especially considering the starvation they experience both at home and when

exploring the outdoors, an offering of delicious sweets that follows the kids from the
dangerous society to the chaotic natural environment poses both danger and wonder for

Hansel and Gretel. The kids give way to their instinctual hunger and start consuming the

house's supplies. By being able to provide the kids with a treat, the strange house built of

candy symbolizes the virtues frequently seen in nature. They are enticed by the elderly

woman to enter the house for comfort and to pacify their hunger, “they found a good meal

laid out, of milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts … and Hansel and Gretel …

thought they were in heaven”. The amount of food the children find provides a contrast to

society's deadly surroundings in nature. According to Adler, "the rich nature imagery in these

tales in particular not only cements the idea that nature and human culture are interconnected,

but it also gives the reader a sense of responsibility and moral consciousness regarding the

development of human culture as it necessarily relates to nature" (9).

This shows how society struggles to feed all of its members, which forces the children

to be driven out and left to fend for themselves in the woods. Nature has the capacity to offer

a house made of cake with more excellent food and comfort richness. When the duality of

nature evolves from a deadly environment to a utopian escape for the main character. By this,

it becomes clear how nature responds and alters its behaviour depending on how civilization

or humans treat it.

CHAPTER 4- SNOW WHITE

In examining "Snow White," nature provides the escape needed for the heroine of the

narrative. Forcing a huntsman to say, "Send the kid out into the woods, so that I may set eyes

on her no more," the Queen is driven by her vanity. You must kill her, and as a token, bring

me her heart. Snow White finds refuge in the woods from society's injustice and the wicked

Queen's desire for her death. Snow White is made to appear as an animal for the huntsman to

kill when she is dragged out into the wilderness. The huntsman abandons his charge and
leaves her all by alone in the forest to be eaten by the monsters after experiencing an

unexpectedly empathetic change of heart. Her asking for her safety by showing respect to her

captor refers to an anthropocentric perspective on appreciating others that is frequently found

in fairy tales.

"Those who love nature and care for other beings will be rewarded," claims Dürbeck

(303). A passing animal is killed to stand in for Snow White in death because the huntsman's

heart finds hope in letting her go. In a similar spirit, nature makes a sacrifice so that the

helpless female might endure and seek safety from social threats. As she finds a cottage that

offers shelter and hospitality rather than cake, nature's role changes from being scary to

fulfilling. In many Grimms' fairy tales, according to Dürbeck, "girls tend to behave modestly,

gently, and uprightly and to be helpful towards others, be they animals, flowers, or humans"

(303). The mild and honest qualities that Snow White possesses enable her to find protection

from the dangerous environment present in civilization and a haven in the forests, much like

Gretel, the protagonist of her story.

Snow White is forced to seek safety in the forest by the perils there after her fear

causes her to run aimlessly away from society and be abandoned for death. She is forced

deeper into the woods during the escape as a result of her overwhelming fear, hoping to

survive the dangers lying just out of sight. "She felt full of terror, even of the very leaves on

the trees, and she did not know what to do for fright," the author writes. When she started

running, wild animals pursued her through thorny bushes and over jagged stones, yet she was

unharmed. The animals never harm her, only accompany her to the sanctuary nature gives

deep in the forest where the hospitality of dwarves provides safety. Her "flight to the forest

underlines her connection with her natural world, a realm protected from the malicious

intentions of the queen, a wicked and envious stepmother," according to Murray and
Heumann when considering this motif in the Disney version (68). Snow White finds refuge in

the forest from the corrupt society, which enables the transformation of a typically protective

relationship into a life-threatening threat. The Queen, who appears to be an elderly woman,

finds Snow White deep in the forest and pursues her relentlessly until an apple kills her in the

final effort. Nature is manipulated by the Queen to serve her nefarious purposes. The

civilization for Snow White continues to be the real antagonist and contains much more

hazardous beings, despite the fact that in the original story, the forest is crawling with

carnivorous animals who are only seconds away from killing her. "The forest is safe and

secure, whereas the human world represents danger," as Murray and Heumann put it (69).

The perilous aspect in this fairy tale stands in for the social structures that permit the evil

Queen to give in to her conceit and seek to murder an innocent girl repeatedly until Snow

White yields to her seductions. Snow White's last chance of surviving death is in the forest,

but when the Queen takes advantage of nature, she is unable to be saved.

Ecocriticism frequently analyses how the perception of nature and civilization are at

odds, with nature's traits being perceived as chaotic and unpredictable. Exploring the chaotic

aspects of nature as mirrors of the societal structure by concentrating on the intersection

rather than the binary. From one fairy tale to the next, nature's elements shift from nightmare

to utopian flora as a reaction to the societies depicted, which are frequently darker or deadlier

than the creatures the humans deal with.

CHAPTER 5- CINDERELLA

The fairy tale "Cinderella" or "The Little Glass Slipper" has thousands of different

versions all throughout the world. A young woman who is living in desolate circumstances

unexpectedly finds herself in extraordinary fortune when she marries into the kingdom.
 Giambattista Basile wrote the first literary version of the tale in Europe in his

Pentamerone in Italy in 1634; Charles Perrault published the version that is now most well-

known in the English-speaking world in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in France in

1697. The Grimm Brothers later released a different version as Aschenputtel in their

collection of folktales known as Grimms' Fairy Tales in 1812.

"Of all the tales that the Grimm Brothers and Disney collaborated on, Cinderella was the one

that differed the most between its two iterations" (Lethologica). Although the name of the

main heroine and the title of the story vary depending on the language, Cinderella is a

mythical name in English-language folklore. By analogy, the term "Cinderella" has come to

denote someone whose qualities go unnoticed or who unpredictably succeeds after a period

of obscurity and neglect. Cinderella's still-famous tale permeates a range of genres, providing

plot points, references, and motifs that have a global impact on popular culture. Despite

softening their tales, the Grimm brothers chose to keep gore in Cinderella.

In this adaptation of Cinderella, the step-sisters treated Cinderella horribly, teased her,

and amused themselves by having her rummage through hot ashes for bits of vegetables.

Then, when it came to choosing who would attend the festival, neither of the stepsisters even

considered Cinderella as a possibility.

Instead, they forced Cinderella to tidy up and get ready for the celebration. So, the abuse

meted out to the two stepsisters trained kids to act differently.

Two significant elements from the Grimm Brothers' version were absent from the two

Disney adaptations of Cinderella. In the Grimm Brothers' version, not only is the father still

alive but the fairy Godmother was not mentioned.

assistance from outside powers, but The Grimm's Cinderella lacks the fairy godmother,

adoring animals, and singing mice of Disney (Lethologica). Although this version had a

happy ending, it went against Disney's notion of a simple path to happiness in the end.

Cinderella had to put forth a lot of effort not only to get to the fair but also to "earn" her food.

Unlike her two stepsisters, she did not receive expensive clothing, jewellery, or food. Instead,

in order to eat and sleep, she was compelled to finish a variety of chores and other duties

throughout the day.

Compared to other Cinderella stories, this one featured a more physically demanding and

harsh way of life. She was regularly asked to help out around the house at any time. She was

made to do a lot of housework and was also made to put up with painful physical labour.

When Grimms' version was written down compared to when Disney's version was put

on film in 1950, society's views on women were significantly different. The Grimm Brothers

lived at a time when society valued hardworking, religious women. On the other side, society

in the Disney world favoured docile, kind women who behaved like ideal housewives.

Cinderella persisted in working so she might procure food to sustain herself. She did not rely

on other people or the support of little, singing creatures from Disney's version to help her

with her everyday task.

The Brothers Grimm version of Cinderella portrays her as hopeful and having good

intentions, as well as being one with nature, allowing her to have faith in her fate by taking a

road away from the supernatural fairy godmother and emphasising nature and faith. It also

teaches that good will result if one upholds their own principles and does what they are

instructed.
In the first scene of the Brothers Grimm adaptation, Cinderella's mother, who is dead,

encourages her daughter to be virtuous and pray so that "our beloved Lord will always be

with you, and I shall gaze down on you from heaven and always be with you" (Grimm).

Cinderella is directed by her mother's instructions and lives by them, doing as she is

instructed. The Brothers Grimm retelling's central theme of Cinderella being one with nature

can be achieved by living by these words. The mother from heaven can be regarded as

Cinderella's fairy godmother even if there isn't a real fairy godmother in this version because

she manifests herself in nature and through the tree and bird beside her grave.

Cinderella first demonstrates her principles by asking her father for the "first branch that

brushes against hat on the way home" rather than pearls and jewels (117). By using this

allegoric piece of nature, Cinderella is able to take control of her own destiny while

upholding her moral principles and her mother's advice.

Cinderella from The Grimm's has possibly the strongest link to nature. The narrative

seems to underline Cinderella's common position as a servant in her stepmother's home.

Although Cinderella works hard on her own, she asks the birds to sort the lentils that her

stepmother had thrown into the fire, and she speaks to a hazel tree to tell it what to say when

she needs lovely garments for the ball. The hazel tree and the birds play crucial roles in

Cinderella's fate in the story, hence this quotation was very important. The hazel tree and the

birds serve as the fairy godmother in this adaptation of Cinderella. The birds assist her in

preparing the lentils for serving and force her to dress for the prince's ball, which is where she

really wants to go. The mother of Cinderella finds importance in the hazel tree. When in

need, Cinderella goes to the tree. At her mother's grave, a hazel tree has been planted. She

would visit her mother's grave every day, crying and praying. The hazel tree is a
representation of nurturing, and it is connected to her mother because she is aware of the

actual meaning of nurturing and supporting.

Cinderella not only uses the branch to grow a "beautiful tree" and constantly be in

touch with nature, demonstrating her good intentions and optimism, but she also meets "two

little white doves" who frequently drop valuables for her, such as a "dress of gold and silver"

or "slippers embroidered with silk and silver" (119). A common interpretation of the two

white doves, both of which are seen in nature, is that they stand for innocence and purity, or

for love and peace. The white doves represent Cinderella's own ideals—wishing for love and

peace—as well as her purity—in beauty and in intentions—drawing her nearer to nature.

They also serve as a reflection of her own beliefs. Instead of inserting a fairy godmother into

the story, the usage of nature and the white doves drives the themes of nature and faith. The

white doves can also serve as an ideal representation of Cinderella's mother in heaven. The

birds can also stand for truth because they inform the prince of the stepsisters' evil, deceitful

intentions. "Roo coo co, roo coo co, blood's in the shoe: The shoe's too tight, the genuine

bride's waiting another night," the doves crow to the prince (121). The prince never questions

nature or the outcomes that nature provides; instead, he always pays attention to the two

doves and aligns his own principles with those of Cinderella. He puts his trust in Cinderella

by paying attention to her white doves and lets the feminine, close-to-nature principles to

direct his decisions.

Even though nature is on Cinderella and the prince's side, the two white doves—

which are typically thought to represent peace and love—ironically peck the stepsisters' eyes

out, rendering them blind at the conclusion of the tale. This irony and parody of nature and

how it is seen supports the belief that people with good intentions and good nature will

receive the fate they deserve, just as those with malice and terrible intentions will.
CHAPTER 6- CONCLUSION

The notion that society is complex while nature is simple is one of the major fallacies

of anthropocentric thinking, according to Glen Love, and is consequently one of the cosmic

ironies (Love 206). Nature simply plays a chaotic role that requires our attention to find

equilibrium, in contrast to the human-built society that is depicted in literature as being both

intricate and clever. Nature merely serves as a setting for the characters to interact with or as

a hostile environment that needs to be subdued. "Nature displays adaptive mechanisms far

more complicated than any human mind could conceive," says Love in response to this error

(Love 206). The Grimm stories illustrate the complexities of this analysis of the binary held

by Nature by giving instances of its adaptability in punishing or rewarding the protagonists.

Viewing these fairy tales from an ecocritical angle offers a singular viewpoint on both

society standards and cultural influences on nature. The contrast between the natural imagery

in "Hansel and Gretel" and "Snow White" by Grimm illustrates this singular discourse about

the flexibility of nature's role in children's stories and the chaotic world found in forests. In

one story, a terrible witch tries to eat a group of siblings who have ventured deep into the

forest, while in another, Snow White is carried into the forest to perish but instead finds

refuge among the dwarves and other creatures. For kids who are reading these stories, the

chaos of forests varies according on the person and how they interact with the environment.

Further analyses of nature in other Grimm stories reveal a "grey region," as Peter Barry puts

it, where nature has the power to serve as both a caution not to stray too far from the safety of

society and an alluring escape from the oppressive class systems and regulations.

The erratic nature of the world and the unpredictable elements found just outside the

bounds of social conventions are reflected in fairy tales. Children find it difficult to resist the
allure of fairy tales, which draw them in with the phrase "Once upon a time" and feature

mystical creatures and the discovery of delights.

Works Cited

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Fairy Tales and Its Implications”. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2014.

Barry, Peter. "Ecocriticism." Beginning Theory. Manchester UP, 2017.

Dürbeck, Gabriel. “Ecological Thought in German Literature and Culture”. The Rowman &

Littlefield Publishing Group, 2017.

Lethologica. "Seeking Cinderella: A Brief Glimpse of the Evolution of Fairy tales." Serendip

Studio.12 Mar. 2011.

Love, Glen A. “Revaluing Nature: Toward an Ecological Criticism.” Western American

Literature, vol. 25, no. 3,UNP - Nebraska, 1990.

Robin L. Murray, and Joseph K. Heumann. “Animal Liberation in the 1940s and 1950s.”

That's All Folks?. UNP - Nebraska, 2011.

Tatar, Maria M. The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales. Princeton, NJ: Princeton

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