Fairy tales were passed down orally until the 18th century when the Romantics began collecting and writing them down. The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, are the best-known recorders of European tales. In the classic fairy tale the laws of nature are suspended, there is little description of space and time, reality and the supernatural coexist together, the language is magical and there is a theme or motif. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first component of the standard fairy tale, a suspended law of nature, refers to the magical world in which the story takes place. All Brothers Grimm stories incorporate some version of this feature. In “Hansel and Gretel” the children are captured by a witch who lives in a house made of sweets and keeps Hansel locked in a cage so she can fatten him up and eat him. In "Snow White", Snow White lives with seven dwarfs and other mystical creatures, and receives a poisoned apple from her evil stepmother who has taken a potion to change her appearance. In "The Water of Life", two older sons search for magic water to save their father, but along the way they behave rudely to a dwarf and get trapped in a ravine. There is also a dwarf in "The Seven Crows" who tells his daughter that her brothers will return. Another important feature of the typical fairy tale is that they all seem timeless and the setting is not important unless otherwise specified. A character could “sleep” for a hundred years and wake up looking the same age and appearance as they went to sleep; the characters could get lost in a forest that never ends. For example, Snow White is put into a deep enchanted stupor by a poisoned apple and cannot be awakened until she is kissed by the Prince. Hansel and Gretel are lost in an enchanted forest, but we know nothing about that forest. The age and emotional development of the characters are not important. Characters are influenced and evolved by external impulses, not through the reflection of emotions. The father of the “Seven Crows” does not transform his children into crows because he hates them; he does it because he thinks that they have disobeyed him instead. The older sons in "The Water of Life" tell their father that the younger son poisoned him so he wouldn't be embarrassed about not taking his medicine, not because he didn't like his younger brother. The evil queen in “Snow White” wants Snow White killed only because Snow White is more beautiful than her, not because she truly despises her. Another characteristic of fairy tales is that reality and the supernatural exist side by side. A dragon could live next to a common mouse, a sorcerer could live among farmers, or a magical road next to a normal road, without dissonance. Forces that would shock or awe normal people, such as fire-breathing dragons or benevolent fairies, seem common in these characters' lives. No one finds it surprising that everything happens exactly when it should. For example, a strange dwarf gives his youngest son in “The Water of Life” a magic wand to open the castle gate and loaves of bread to feed the lions so he can get magic water for his father. Any normal person might regard these events as peculiar, but he seems to regard them as a perfectly normal occurrence. In “Snow White,” she seems perfectly content living in a house with seven dwarfs and doing chores for them, never feeling out of place for a second. And the prince who comes to kiss her does not seem to be surprised that his kiss managed to awaken Snow White from her long, magical stupor. Magical words and phrases are a standard feature of fairy tales that have transcended to common knowledge, such as.