What is a Fairy Tale?

Basic Definition of Fairy Tales 
Oxford defines a fairy tale as "A children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands; a fairy story". But it is so much more than that. To correctly define a fairy-tale, we must look at all components. This will also ignore the Americanization that has occurred over the years as a direct result of Walt Disney and his cinematic empire.

Components of Fairy Tale
According to Max Luthi, there are 10 basic components of a fairy tale:
1. Formulaic expressions- "Once upon a time..""
2. No detailed descriptions- Abstract stylization
3. Isolation of characters- Singular hero and/or villain
4. Fond of extreme contrasts in people, objects- Good v. evil, sun and moon, etc
5. Delight in repetition
6. Many symbols/ motifs- the meaning of
7. Action driven- what happens?
8. Heroes return at the right moment- Victorious, just in time
9. Great need for precision and clarity- No "what if" or "perhaps"
10. Happy ending

There are many more than these basic 10 components when we begin to analyze fairy tales. Each tale has a lesson to be learned and a "falcon", which is essentially a motif that is related to the story whether it be in word or image. We do not question the talking lion in the story, nor do we question that the witch has magic. Although we want to comment on this, we do not question the not-so-smart decisions of the characters and heroes- much like a scary movie.


Working Definition of a Fairy Tale: 
I define a fairy tale as "A story involving magical and extraordinary characters and beings, with the intent to teach a lesson (moral or otherwise) to the audience through motifs, symbolism, and contrasts." It is important to correctly define this term because it allows cultures to see the true meaning and progression of fairy tales in our lives.