In both "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood" and "There Once Was", the fairy tales end in the sense that there is not always a happily every ending after marriage. Perrault reflects on the classic story of sleeping beauty, but mainly focuses on the fact that your family does not always support love. On the other hand Atwood, an influential Canadian author, focuses on the female role in a fairy tale. Atwood presents her texts from the perspective of female characters as active roles, not like the classic princess waiting on her knight in shining armor. Although Perrault and Atwood suggest different conclusions behind the female role in a fairy tale, they both share the key belief, that in a story there is not always going to be a happy ending after all.

After fully reading Atwood's text and pondering on what the author is trying to leave the reader with a sense of, I came to a conclusion that right of the bat she contrasts poor and suburban lifestyles. The author clearly wants to make a point, that today the world is completely different than it is in a "fairy tale".  The female role is more than fantasy and fiction, not just a damsel-in-distress. While Perrault, focusing on the aspect behind the fairy tale, expresses to his audience in the end that fairy tales with marriages do not constantly stay happy forever.

These two texts both wrap around the notion of a character, and his or her physiognomies that make up the story. In "There Once Was" the two main protagonists constantly argue over the characteristics that make up the young woman in the story. Atwood's texts not only challenges postulations about class, race, and gender in todays time, but that the author tends to focus more on what the female shouldn't be. Whereas, Perrault's main focus on the woman's position in the story is just of a normal princess. The only problem is that the relationships with the characters in the story cannot always be trusted to promoter happiness. The Kings mother in "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood" did not like the Young Queen, resulting in her attempt to eat her children. In the end she takes her own life because her relationship with her son could no longer be the same, after coming home from war to his loves one hog-tied.

Perrault's short story, unlike any classic fairy tale, stands by itself when it comes down to end regarding the conclusion. When anyone thinks of a fairy tale they always associate it with a happy ending. This suggestion by the author makes the reader think past the ordinary tale, and truly reflect on what the true essence and love exactly is. The significance behind the Queens actions implies this, not only by the way she betrayed her son and eventual killed herself, but because there was no love present in the exposition. While, in Atwood's short story the sequence of events all leads up to one question in the end. So What? The author does relate in the text to marriage and love, but its main focus overall is based on the fact that women in stories are not described the same as people today. The story presented in "There Once Was" is in constant contradiction with what a typical fairy tale would sound like. The second voice, which for certain is a female, repetitively questions each excerpt in the way that makes the reader think about how the situation would differ in today's times. It seems that everyone now a days focuses too much on the little stuff, not only in the female's perspective, but in general.

When anyone thinks of a fictional story tale, they associate the text with extra ordinary people and the fact that they aren't normal. When Atwood wrote "There Was Once", she really wanted the reader to understand that fictional characters in these children's books are an inaccurate depiction of women in our society today. Not everybody is going to be able to experience this extravagant lifestyle and ambiance that surrounds the average princess. Throughout Atwood's writings, suffering is a common topic for the female characters. Fluctuating between the characters "life" on the street while living in the park, to being well more average in a sense compared to beautiful woman these days. The author never truly enlightens the reader in the text about the topic, just focusing in on each detail about the story being told.

When I concluded reading the written texts, both of the stories left me pondering what the author's main outlook on fictional tales really was. In both insistences however, the characters portrayed are nowhere near equal in the sense of personalities and living situations. Perrault begins of his version of Sleeping Beauty just like any other story, the only difference is what his moral of the story represented. You rarely see a fictional story end bad, but in the case of "The Beauty in the Wood", the family prevails while the mother kills herself in grief. Whereas, Atwood takes a entirely different angle on how the fairy tale is told. Not only does the author take into fact, the current status of average women, but also she helps the reader to understand why a fairy tale is a fairy tale. Your not going to end up like the princesses in the books, you are more than likely going to be living an average to bland life.  Bringing it all back to the idea that there is not always going to be a "fairy tale" ending waiting for you.

Another very significant similarity between the two written texts is that they both portray details surrounding the role of a woman in a fairy tale. Not only in the sense that women are not rightfully inclined to a fictional lifestyle like in the stories, but how sometimes in these fables they do not always end like the reader expects them too.  When Atwood initially starts off the story, the reader primarily focuses on what the second characters points out in the story. It seems as if the story being revealed is not up to par, and is not a description of the American life today. The text is almost as if it is being retold from the perspective of a female, who has very feminist feelings towards any traditional fairy tale. Perrault however, does not change his text based on the roles of the women characters, but wraps it around the fact that it will not always be a happy ending even after you find your prince.

All in all, both articles of text portray a fairy tale, surrounding its significance and importance around the role that woman partake in the story. Atwood is very keen on making her point clear, that the function of woman in fairy tales needs to be more realistic. The fact that the typical person in this world will never be able to experience a life anywhere near the ones depicted in the stories, really helps to support what her genuine message behind the poem is. Although Perrault and Atwood suggest different suppositions behind the female role in a fairy tale, they both share the vital idea, that in a story there is not always going to be a blissful and ecstatic ending after all.
