Grimm Rumpelstiltskin Moral

Values of Society Revealed Through Fairy Tales “The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are among the best-loved and most famous in all of literature” (Yolen 1). “Rumpelstiltskin”, by Wilhelm Grimm was written in Germany in 1857. The story tells of a miller who boasts about his daughter’s ability to spin straw into gold, when in fact, she is not capable of this extraordinary talent. The king hears of this talent and demands that she spin gold for him by the next day or she will die. The miller’s daughter is then overcome with despair until Rumpelstiltskin lends a hand. However, she has to pay a great price for his help. The story of “Rumpelstiltskin” by Wilhelm Grimm, reveals the values of the author and society during the time of 1857. …show more content…
“Rumpelstiltskin demands the miller’s daughter’s first born child as payment for saving her life and spinning the straw to gold for her” (www.pitt.edu). It is proven that children were highly valued because of how Rumpelstiltskin asked for her first born child. He could have asked for anything else, but he decided on a child. “I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold” (Grimm 221). The miller is boasting to the King about his daughter’s talent even though she does not actually have this ability. The miller’s boasts to the King prove how much children are valued. “The Queen was horror-struck, and offered the manikin all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. But the manikin said, ‘No, something that is living is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world,’ ” (Grimm 222). Here, it is evident that children are very much valued because of how Rumpelstiltskin passed up the riches for the child. He was offered all the riches of the kingdom and he still chose the child. In summary, the society and Grimm value children, because the story would not have been told this way if Grimm and the rest of society did not very much cherish

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