The women in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm

In this essay the point of interest will be the portrayal of women in literature. In the belief that gender roles can influence children in their childhood, four fairytales written by the brothers Grimm will be analyzed. These four short stories mentioned are Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and Mother Hulda, which are all well-known and have been adapted into movies. The purpose is to examine possible gender stereotypes in these four short stories and patterns in the portrayal of women. The fairytales have been criticized by feminists for being very stereotypical and the intention with this study is to explore this aspect in a new light. Are there strong female role models that are not evil and why do some bad women not get punished even though they deserve it