Initially, I thought this question was asking which essay is more helpful in illustrating that fairy tales can be more than children's entertainment - as in fairy tales can be geared towards adults as well. In this sense, Robert Darnton's essay, "Peasants Tell Tales: The Meaning of Mother Goose" was helpful because this essay started off with an 18th century French version of "Little Red Riding Hood." It was very Rated "R"-esque (or maybe PG-13 according to today's standards, who knows...) with all the cutting up bodies, draining blood, cannibalism, and the striptease. I've never heard this version of Little Red Riding Hood, and this version clearly illustrated that some fairy tales were definitely not geared towards children.

Darnton's essay also points out other, earlier versions of fairy tales like "Bluebeard" and "Sleeping Beauty." The subjects of rape, sodomy, incest, and cannibalism is definitely not suitable for children and through this essay, I can definitely see that fairy tales can be much more than children's entertainment.

But after reading Bettelheim's essay, I understood that the blog question for today was not just asking us to look for which essay helped to show that fairy tales could be geared towards adults as well as children, but actually meant for us to see which essay showed that fairy tales were more than children's entertainment - as in fairy tales could be educational/integral to the development of children as well as be entertaining.

Bettelheim definitely made a great point by showing how the content of fairy tales is at the same time entertaining and engaging but also stimulates children's imaginations, illustrate to children potential dilemmas and difficulties they might face in real life, and also help children to have confidence in their ability to face and resolve these difficulties.


So I guess my answer to today's blog question would depend on how you interpret it.
To me, Darnton's essay is more effective than Bettelheim's essay in showing that fairy tales can be geared towards adults as well as children, but Bettelheim's essay is definitely better at illustrating the educational as well as entertainment value that fairy tales have for children.