Essay for Week 12: The "Bad Guys" of English Fairy Tales

Throughout English Fairy Tales, many treacherous and evil characters can be found. These "bad guys" share many traits with each other, but their tales often end in very different circumstances.

In the fairy tale Mouse and Mouser, the "Mouser," or the cat takes on the role of villain. At the start of the story, the mouse goes to visit the cat, who he finds spinning yarn behind the hall door. After making some small talk about the trousers the cat is making, the mouse begins to tell a story which the cat does not take kindly to. The mouse says that while sweeping his room, he had found some money and decided to buy himself a meat dish. He goes on to accuse the cat of swiping it from the windowsill on which he set it to cool. The "bad guy" cat admits to his crime, saying "and I'll eat you," before devouring the poor mouse whole.

  

(Cat: Wikimedia commons)

Much like the Mouser, the "bad guy" in Mr Fox preys on the weak and innocent. Unlike the Mouser, however, Mr Fox does not get away with his crimes. In the beginning of the tale, the fair Lady Mary, in spite of all her other suitors, picks Mr Fox as the man she shall marry. Mr Fox was brave and gallant, although no one knew much about him. One day, near their wedding day, Lady Mary decides to seek out Mr Fox's castle while he is away on business. Mary enters Mr Fox's castle, and much to her horror, finds a closet full of beautiful young women that Mr Fox has murdered. Just as Mary discovers this, she looks out the window to see Mr Fox dragging another one of his victims into the castle. Mary escapes, and informs her brothers of his crimes. The next day, this "bad guy" meets justice at the sword end of Mary's many friends and family.

Week 12 Reading Diary: English Fairy Tales

Here are a few of my favorite stories from English Fairy Tales.

The Old Woman and Her Pig In this tale, an old woman finds some extra money one day while sweeping around her house, and decides to go out and buy a pig. However, on the way back, she comes across a stile which the pig will not cross. She decides to seek a dog to bite the pig to encourage it over the fence, but the dog doesn't comply. Her problem compounds and compounds until she finally finds someone to comply with one of her requests, which sets off a chain of events until the pig eventually jumps over the stile.

Mouse and Mouser In this story, the mouse goes to visit the cat, who he finds spinning yarn behind the hall door. The mouse tells the cat that while sweeping his room, he found some money and bought himself a meat dish, which he set on the windowsill to cool. The cat plays coy throughout their conversation, until the mouse accuses the cat of stealing his treat. Upon this the cat replies "and I'll eat you," and pounces on the mouse.

Mr Fox This tale tells of the the fair Lady Marry and her brave and gallant lover Mr. Fox. One day, right before their wedding day while Mr. Fox was away on business, Lady Mary sets out to find Mr. Fox's castle. Searching through his castle, Mary finds a closet full of the bodies and skeletons of other young ladies! Looking out the window, she spies Mr. Fox dragging another one of his victims. Mary escapes, and the next day has her brothers kill Mr. Fox.

Mr Miacca This story tells of Tommy Grimes, a very bad acting young boy. Tommy is warned by his mother that if his behavior does not improve, he will be snatched up by Mr Miacca. Tommy doesn't heed this warning, and sure enough is grabbed by Mr Miacca. Mr Miacca eats little boys who behave badly, and chops off Tommy's leg so that he can both eat it, and prevent Tommy from escaping. Tommy, however, takes a leg from the sofa and runs home.