
Two different pieces of literature may have different genres, or a different theme, but they may both be relating to a similar purpose. Charles Perrault and Margaret Atwood achieve this phenomenon with their stories, Perrault’s “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” and Atwood’s “There Was Once”. Both stories relate to the traditional aspects of a fairy tale. They both elude to the basic stereotypes in a traditional fairy tale, and together both stories criticize the traditional fairy tale characteristics.

One major difference between these two stories, is that “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” is told in a third person narrative which relates to a traditional fairy, while “There Was Once” is told in a second person narrative that adds a humorous, sarcastic tone. This difference helps the reader understand the critical nature of Atwood’s “There Was Once.” Perrault’s “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” is a fairy tale that contains stereotypes that would be found in a traditional fairy tale. Perrault writes in the more traditional third person to introduce the traditional aspects in a fairy tale, which helps Atwood’s story make more sense to the reader when she criticizes those aspects. Atwood writes her story in a second person to emphasize its criticism of traditional fairy tales, having someone criticize someone else’s fairy tale in the story. Atwood writing in second person truly adds more meaning to her criticism of traditional fairy tales, and helps emphasize the common components in a traditional fairy tale that may not have been obvious to the reader beforehand. If the reader was to read “There Was Once” before “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood,” the reader might just think the character in “There Was Once” is just being critical of the other character’s story, when he is actually being critical of the frequent components in fairy tales. Perrault’s “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” must be read before Atwood’s “There Was Once,” in order for the reader to fully understand Atwood’s criticism of traditional fairy tales. 

The difference in tone and diction between the two stories help highlight the stereotypes in a traditional fairy tale. Atwood’s story is told in a humorous, sarcastic tone which pulls away from the traditional fairy tale, while Perrault’s style relates strongly to a traditional fairy tale. Atwood’s humorous second person narrative can relate strongly to a younger audience, which may not be very knowledgeable of traditional fairy tales. The tone in Atwood’s “There Was Once” helps explain the common characteristics often found in a traditional fairy tale, similar to the ones found in Perrault’s fairy tale. Perrault’s story is comparable to a traditional fairy tale, which helps a younger audience understand the criticism that is given in Atwood’s second person narrative. Perrault’s story may be used to inform a younger audience of repeating elements commonly found in traditional fairy tales, so Atwood’s criticism can be relevant and applicable to the audience. There may be a lack clarity in Atwood’s criticism if the audience is unfamiliar with the content of a traditional fairy tale, so Perrault’s fairy tale may inform the audience of the contents found in a traditional fairy tale. 

The main similarity between the Perrault’s fairy tale and Atwood’s story is the content relating to a traditional fairy tale. Perrault’s story is very similar to a traditional fairy tale, which include a princess, witch, the forest etc. On the other hand, Atwood eludes to these elements in her criticism of traditional fairy tales. In Atwood’s story, someone is presenting their fairy tale but someone is constantly criticizing everything in the story that relates to a traditional fairy tale. The storyteller mentions a forest, a common place for a fairy tale to take place, and the other character interrupts, “Forest? Forest is passé, I mean, I’ve had it with all this wilderness stuff. It’s not a right image of our society, today. Let’s have some urban for a change.” (Atwood 511). Atwood is eluding to the fact that a forest is too often mentioned in fairy tales and offers a sarcastic suggestion to future storytellers. She is not being critical of using the forest as a setting in fairy tales, instead she is being critical of the frequent appearances of the forest in fairy tales. The storyteller also mentions a girl whom is “poor…beautiful” and “lived with her wicked stepmother,” and the critique from the other character includes changing poor to middle-class, beautiful to average-looking, and stepmother to stepfather. Atwood is eluding to these common stereotypes often found in traditional fairy tales. She uses this story to evaluate the many characteristics that appear in many traditional stereotypes, similar to Perrault’s “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood.” 

Obviously both texts are fairly different in style, tone, and theme; but they both help each other express a specific purpose. Both stories help explain the stereotypical characters and typical idiosyncrasies of a traditional fairy tale. “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” illustrates the typical components of a traditional fairy tale by telling a fairy tale, while “There Was Once” criticizes and tries to modernize the stereotypical fairy tale, while a fairy tale is being told. Reading “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” first helps the reader better understand “There Was Once” because it reminds the reader of the components that are commonly used in a fairy tale, and “There Was Once” criticizes those consistent components. By having “There Was Once” in second person, it emphasizes a trend in fairy tales that some readers may not have noticed. Having these traditional components expressed in “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” helps “There Was Once” get its main goal and purpose across to its audience. If the reader was to read “There Was Once” before “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood,” the reader might just think the character in “There Was Once” is just being critical of the other character’s story, when he is actually being critical to all fairy tales. Charles Perrault writes “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” to introduce the major components in a fairy tale by writing a fairy tale, and Margaret Atwood writes “There Was Once” to explicitly point out those repeating components in fairy tales. These pieces need to be read together in order for Atwood’s major purpose to get across to her audience.