A psychoanalytic approach to fairy tales

Psychoanalytic literary theory may be defined as applying psychoanalysis, which was founded by Sigmund Freud, to any literary work or text. Psychoanalytic literary theory examines the issues of the writer and the unconscious messages that are hidden in the layers of the text. Although it is not known exactly when and where fairy tales were first told, it is believed that they were initially told among adults. The developmental procedure of the child, which begins at birth and continues until adulthood, is said to be a difficult and sometimes painful process. Because of a lack of instruments to guide, relieve, and provide a kind of wish fulfillment throughout the developmental stages, fairy tales with these features become an important tool for the child. The reasons behind children's deep interest in fairy tales are examined theoretically and empirically in this work. Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folk Tale, in which he searched for the structural patterns of fairy tales and classified these patterns in a detailed way, is also one of the primary reference works guiding the analyses in this work. At first glance, fairy tales seem inappropriate for children because of their ferocious content. However, this genre is said to guide the child in coping with his/her inner issues, and prepare him/her for life. Although classifying fairytales according to the developmental stages of children is said to be partially possible, it would be wrong to say that a fairy tale can represent only one developmental stage.