The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales

Cashdan, Sheldon. 1999. The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales. New York: Basic Books. Author Sheldon Cashdan's parents read the more popular fairy tales such as Hansel and Gretel and Jack in the Beanstalk to him as a child. Still, he admits his most vivid childhood memories of fairy tales were brought to him courtesy of Walt Disney. He recalls "sitting in a darkened movie theater watching Snow White and holding (his) breath as the gamekeeper prepared to cut out the heroine's heart" (Cashdan, 1). However, as an adult, teaching undergraduate courses; particularly a seminar titled "The Psychology of Fantasy and Folklore", he became aware of fairy tales as both a teaching tool and a forum for understanding child psychological development. In chapter one Cashdan discusses some of the myths concerning fairy tales. * Myth 1-Fairy tales are stories written for children. During his research of fairy tales Cashdan found that many of them "never made their way into children's storybooks" (Cashdan, 2). Of the hundreds of fairy tales Cashdan unearthed only a few, those free of incest, sexual innuendo, and other perversions, were appropriate for children. Their intended use, Cashdan asserts, was entertainment at adult social gatherings. * Myth 2-All fairy tales were written by The Brothers Grimm. Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm collected centuries-old stories, gleaned from the memories of and relatives, and created an anthology that "many consider the most comprehensive fairy-tale collection of all time" (Cashdan, 7). * Myth 3-The intent of fairy tales is to teach children lessons. Morality in fairy tales was added later by Charles Perrault. For example, the never talk to strangers caution in Little Red Riding Hood was not part of the original story, but added by Perrault for didactic purposes. According to the author Little Red Riding Hood is about "food and cannibalism" (Cashdan, 9). In chapter two Cashdan discusses why, although they were not originally intended for children, fairy tales are so appealing to children and why they are helpful psychologically. Fairy tales contain insight into feelings all children struggle to understand. Things such as loving and being loved, fear of abandonment, and even where they stand in the hierarchy of the family find a voice and a release through fairy tales. Chapters three through ten provide a breakdown of inappropriate behaviors and feelings all children struggle to overcome and compares them to the seven deadly sins; vanity, gluttony, envy, deceit, lust, greed, and sloth. Cashdan points to the witch-like character in various fairy tales; the evil step-mother in Snow White is vain, the witch in Hansel and Gretel is gluttonous, the evil step-mother in Cinderella is envious, the maid-servant in The Goose Girl is deceitful, the Sea Witch in The Little Mermaid is lustful, the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk is greedy, the evil step-sister in Mother Hulda is slothful; and associates the witch's

This is a very interesting book, I have recommended it to all of my friends...all of which are excited about borrowing my copy! It's very fun to read and hard to put down once you get started!

I read the book because of the interesting title and found it an excellent choice. It seems that it has been emphasized for it educational purpose, but I took it more entertaining and interesting. Something that just makes one think, sheds a new light on tales that are so familiar to so many of us. Whether or not the author is correct in all his theories (no one really ever is) I thoroughly enjoyed hearing them. I've read several other books on similar topics but none have held my interest like this one. Very well written in my opinion. Regardless of what the reviews say, pop into a bookstore to give it a peek for yourself. It's not necessarily what people are making it seem like.

As a child you are brought up on fairy tales like Cinderella,Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Pinocchio. We read aboutthe Mirror on the wall, the glass slipper, and the big bad wolf. Giants and magic beans and so many others. Now read the book that will have thinking differently about what the underlying message really means.What Cashdan does with this book is shows you how lust, greed, sloth and other deadly sins are ways in which children can learn about themselves and how to deal with reality. Cashdan's ability to create a convincing argument lends creditability to the book. Cashdan may just have hit upon the secret and unlocked it for everyone.Using the seven deadly sins to illustrate his points, Cashdan takes you on a magical journey down the fairy tale path to show that even the simplest good story has a message for each of us. Cashdan holds nothing back and gives the reader a complete look and in most cases also an understanding that what you read isn't always what you read.With chapter on deceit, using the Pinocchio and Greed, lust and envy with several different fairy tales the once used bedtime stories take on a whole new meaning. Also Cashdan's trip down the yellow brick road will have looking at OZ in a completely different light. Cashdan doesn't leave you hanging trying to figure out what to do after you have read the book, in fact he includes and appendix on using the fairy tales and choosing the fairy tales to read and explain to children. Cashdan's book is one that I found very enlightening and hove shared with several friends. The old school ideas about Jack and Beanstalk are about to be dispelled.

I would recommend this excellent guide to Fairy tales to everyone: parents who want to share the world of old tales with their children, teachers who want to share this tradition with their students, scholars and arm-chair folklorists alike! Over the last half of the Century, the study of folkore and fairy tales has become a game of censorship and interpretation. Unfortunately, the standards set for these practices are based soley on modern patterns of thought and emotion; it does not enter the mind of the modern commentator to consider that the people who carried these stories through the canturies thought differently than we do and had different concerns. But Sheldon Cashdan makes this the very basis of his book "The Witch Must Die". His terms are clear and logical, his approach pragmatic and realistic. Not only does Cashdan help us to understand the thoughts, feelings and concerns of those who recorded these stories, but he also accepts that the children's story of yesterday is the folklore of tomorrow. He is perhaps the first folklorist to consider L. Frank Baum side by side with the Bros. Grimm - Cashdan understands that they both did the same thing: took many folk traditions and created unfied stories from them. This is an exciting book which could breath life into the study of folklore as literature, a field which has become dead with politcally correct concerns.