The Frog King or Iron Henry by Grimms - Research Paper Example

The Frog King or Iron Henry by Grimm’s Most fairy tales and folklore are works of fiction and figments of the writers’ imagination. It is extremely difficult to choose one over the other to illustrate one’s point, as all of them are wonderful reading material. Grimm’s tales’ is a collection of stories’ which enjoys worldwide popularity. The chosen story is about a beautiful princess, the youngest daughter of a King, who ruled in ancient times at an undisclosed location. The story is not set in any particular geographical location and can be well understood by children from all parts of the world. The second title of the story, ‘Iron Henry’, however suggests that the tale has European origins. The plot is built around the beautiful but vain princess, and the manner in which she is taught a lesson in honesty and being true to one’s promise, by her own father, the King. The story has four main characters, the Princess, a Frog, the King, and Henry, the prince’s faithful servant. The only name mentioned in the story is that of the servant, who is called Henry by the writer, and probably the basis for the story’s second title. At the outset, the story reveals that the princess is fond of going to the deep forest adjacent to the King’s palace, where she plays with her favorite golden ball as a daily routine. She does so adjacent to a deep well and as can be expected, one fine day, the ball falls into the well while she is playing. The princess is saddened by the loss of her favorite golden ball and cries bitterly. This prompts a frog from the well to make an offer to the princess. The offer, however, has some terms associated with it. The terms are that if the frog is able to bring the ball back, the princess will allow it to remain by her side permanently. The princess agrees reluctantly, thinking that it would be impossible for the frog to do so. However, the frog actually brings back the ball and the princess is enthralled. However, she fails to keep her promise and runs back to the palace, leaving the frog behind, the latter left crying in vain for the unfulfilled promise. The frog, however, is a persistent character and knocks at the palace door the following evening when the princess is preparing to have dinner along with the king. The princess opens the door and is dismayed at finding the frog, prompting the king to ask her the reason for her bad mood. Upon hearing the anecdote in the forest, the king is shocked at the betrayal by the young girl and orders her to do as the frog says. The princess is forced to share her food in the same plate with the frog, after which she leaves for her bedroom. The frog reminds the king that he was entitled to sleep with the princess as partial fulfillment of her promise. The king agrees that the promise must be kept by the princess and sends the frog to the young girl’s bedroom. The princess is disgusted. In a fit of rage, she throws the frog forcefully against a wall, in order to avoid sleeping with the slimy creature. However, to her surprise, the frog is immediately transformed into a handsome prince. At this juncture, it is revealed that the prince was transformed into a frog actually through a witch’s curse. As a result, Henry, the Prince’s faithful servant, had gone into depression, forcing him to encase his own heart in three iron rings to keep it from bursting from the resultant grief. This explains the second title of this fairy tale, ‘Iron Henry’. When the spell is broken, Henry is overjoyed and rides back with his hero, and the latter’s newly acquired wife, to their own kingdom. The story is a reminder of the importance attached to maintaining healthy human relationships. Keeping one’s promise is an honorable human trait. The present generation is driven too much by professional ambitions’, relying purely on electronic gadgets and artificial aids for entertainment. Human socialization has denigrated to communication on social networking sites like ‘Facebook’, ‘MySpace’ and ‘Twitter’, relegating direct face to face interaction to a secondary position. Keeping one’s promise is an honorable human trait which has been neglected by modern youth. This story serves as a reminder to the reader that keeping one’s promise is important, and one should do so, irrespective of consequences. The Story –Retold for a Modern Audience There lived once a young girl whose father was the designated head of an oil rich country in the Middle East. The girl was the only daughter of her proud parents and they lavished great gifts and provided her with the best and the latest gadgets available in the market. The young girl was extremely beautiful and was taught by a private governess who made her learn foreign languages, science and mathematical skills. As the girl grew up in an insular environment, she did not learn how to relate to her peer group and often maintained a distance whenever she had a chance to meet guys and gals her age at official parties, or functions at the local public school. The girl was fond of driving alone to the beach on weekends and really enjoyed the wind in her air and the cool breeze on the ocean front when she walked on the private beach alone. One fine day she went for a long walk along the beach and saw some seagulls frolicking in the waves. She was enraptured by the games the birds played and forgot that she had to return home before sundown. The growing darkness shook her out of her reverie and she hurried back to her car. As she turned the ignition switch, the car remained silent. Try as she could, she was unable to start the car engine. As she had forgotten to bring her cell phone she was unable to call for help. It was then that she noticed a tall, handsome man walking past her car towards the beach. The man noticed her distress and offered to help her. As the girl never mixed up with people her age, she was reluctant to talk to the strange man. However, she noticed that the man was extremely handsome and had a perpetual, kind smile on his lips. The man was stunned and enamored by the girl’s beauty and during the conversation while fixing her engine; he mischievously mentioned that he would fix the car only if she rewarded him with a kiss. The young girl agreed reluctantly and in a few minutes, the guy had the engine of her car jump to life. While he stood cleaning his hands, the girl quickly got behind the wheel and pushing the gas pedal frantically drove away without even thanking the guy, the promised kiss forgotten. The following day, the girl’s father informed the family that he had received a phone call from a long lost friend, and that his family was visiting the house and that they would be having dinner together. Everyone was instructed to dress well and a sumptuous meal was prepared by the cooks. In the evening, when the family arrived, the girl was stunned to notice that the young boy with the couple was the same handsome guy who had fixed her car the previous evening. The girl’s father met his friend with great gusto as they had studied together as children. After the introductions and during the dinner conversation both families were surprised when the young guy said that he already knew the girl from last evening’s encounter. The father then revealed that as is traditional in the region, the two family heads had decided to marry their children, if any of them had a daughter or a son or vice versa long ago. However, keeping up with modern times, they said that the marriage would be solemnized only if they liked each other. The girl was shy initially, however the young couple was allowed to share privacy in the balcony facing the sea front while rest of the members spent time chatting with each other indoors. Once the couple was alone in the balcony, the boy mischievously reminded the girl of the unfulfilled promise. The young girl blushed and as now she knew who the boy was, and finding him too attractive to resist, she readily agreed for him to be her life partner. She then fulfilled her promise by planting a soft kiss on the boy’s cheek. Their decision to marry was conveyed to the parents and the marriage was planned to be solemnized the next month. Discussion The retold story is built upon the Grimm’s fairy tale summarized above. It is intended for modern audiences in my native country, though it is relevant to the American context as well. The emerging theme in both stories is the importance attached to the social norm of keeping one’s promise, and how even strangers can turn out to be good persons, and even life partners, if fate has twisted circumstances to accomplish such an objective. Mutual trust and love for fellow human beings are fast disappearing in modern society and history is replete with such anecdotes and fairy tales which remind modern generations about the importance of honesty and its contribution towards a satisfying and fulfilling life. Works Cited The Frog King, or Iron Henry, Fairytale retrieved and read at: Read More