Fairy tales are fictional stories about fantasy and magic. These tales are widely understood to be fictional and typically have the same story structure. Despite the name, these tales rarely contain fairies, however, they contain other supernatural or fictional creatures. While fairies aren't the focus of most fairy tales, the stories take place in a fictional magical world where fairies could exist. Talking animals are very common in fairy tales, and more than often characters will see this as a normal thing. Things like magical spells, enchantments, and transformations are also commonplace and typically set up the story. Stith Thompson says a fairy tale is a “tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never ending land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdom and marry princesses.” (The Folktale, 1977, 8). Rather than through oral transmission, Fairy Tales are written by a specific author through an artistic language and take place during a specific place and time. In the original, older Fairy Tales, an unsatisfying/bad ending is possible, whereas in Folk Tales it is usually a happy ending. Fairy Tales are also not very formulaic, the characters are multidimensional and there is a complex worldview. While the standards of fairy tales may have changed over time, the general principle is still the same. Fairy Tales are stories about magic and fantasy taking place in fictional worlds.
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