Essay: Trickster and the Fool in English Fairy Tales

In this weeks reading, a story that had a trickster and fool was the story about The Rose-Tree. In this story the evil stepmother is definitely the trickster and the beautiful step daughter is the fool. The stepmother hated the beautiful daughter of her husband because she had lost her candles. She was also jealous of the girls beauty. So pretending not to be angry, the stepmother tells her stepdaughter to lay her head on her lap so that she can comb her hair. Although, she says that she cannot part her hair without wood and an ax. So the foolish daughter gets the supplies for her stepmother, which ultimately leads to her demise. In the end, though it seems like the characters switch places and the girl becomes the trickster and the stepmother becomes the fool. At the end of the story, the girls brother buries her and cries over her grave everyday until she turns into a beautiful tree. The tree then sings a song, and the bird listens and sings the song to three millers, jeweler, and a shoemaker. So somehow this very strong bird is able to carry a gold watch and chain, red pair of shoes, and a millstone around its neck. When the bird gets to the girls home, it knocks the house with millstone and the boy and father come out and receive their gifts. However, the foolish stepmother thinks she is getting a gift and runs out the door only for the bird to drop the millstone on her, which also leads to her death.

The bird dropping the millstone on the stepmother