Happily ever after was a major theme in most of the stories, which is something that I like to see when I read fairy tales. I found this interesting because when you compare fairy tale Disney movies to their origins they are often made much happier and kid-friendly.
For example, Sleeping Beauty is raped in the original and "The Little Mermaid" ends up committing suicide after the Prince chooses to marry someone else. Not in Turkish fairy tales though, these original fairy tales seemed to have plenty of happy endings. Which as a reader, I greatly appreciated because no one wants to find out the depressing origins of their favorite fairy tale characters after thinking they lead beautiful lives.
Another interesting theme I discovered is that in many of the different tales it had characters turning into animals, mostly birds. I LOVE this. It just makes me think that back in the day people thought the world was so magical and that people turning into animals was something that actually happened. Could you imagine looking at a beautiful bird and legitimately wondering if it was a bird or maybe a fairy in disguise? That might be a strange thought, but I really wonder what it would be like to grow up in a time when wizards, fairies and magic were all considered very real.
I thoroughly enjoyed this week's section and if I ever see some Turkish fairy tales at a book store I will be sure to check them out. I seriously think these have been my favorite readings thus far.
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