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Abstract

This thesis discusses how the representation of women, specifically the princess, in contemporary fairy tale media adaptations has changed when compared to the traditional representation of women in fairy tales. This will be done by first specifying traditional ideals of female characters in literary tales, outlining the key ideas of theorist Jack Zipes, among others. The next chapter considers feminist interpretations of women in fairy tales from the 1970s onwards. These findings will then be compared to contemporary media adaptations including film, television, and comic books. Finally, this dissertation will end with a detailed analysis of the TV show Once Upon A Time (Horowitz & Kitsis, 2011-2018). The princess characters from the show will be analysed through the shows plot and narrative. This thesis concludes that in modern media the princess characters have more agency, however, many texts still rely on traditional fairy tale gender roles as a benchmark.

Course: Film Industries - BA - C2651S

Date Deposited: 2022-08-10

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13977.html