The fairy tale "Donkey skin" by Charles Perrault authorship will appeal to every child and will lead to the thoughts of an adult. This work is made in a light form, but with a specific subtext and main idea. To read a brief summary of this story, analysis, to understand deeper than the main characters will help this article.
The beginning of the story
The plot in the tale "Donkey Skin" begins in a standard way. Without indicating a specific place, the richest and most powerful king is told. Everything with her wife was wonderful, but only they could not give birth to children. They decided to take care of a young princess, whose father was a friend of the king, but recently died. The girl was immediately mistaken for her own daughter, and she grew up under the strict supervision of new parents. Her beauty could overshadow any other woman. The joy of this helped quench the pain of the inability to give birth to her child. Soon, a new misfortune visited the king’s house in the fairy tale "Donkey Skin" in Russian. The queen became ill, and doctors said that she could no longer get out of bed. The woman herself felt this, and therefore she asked the king to marry a second time only to that person who would be better and more beautiful than herself. The man promised to fulfill a desire, after which the queen died. The funeral was held, and the ministers began to ask the head of state to choose a new wife for themselves. By this they wanted to pull him out of a state of constant grief and drunkenness.
New solution
In the work “Donkey Skin”, the king replied to all his assistants in management that he would never marry. The reason for this is a dying promise, but he’d better not find a woman. Then the chief minister pointed to the adopted princess, who was not in vain considered the most beautiful girl in the state. Then the king took a closer look and really decided to tie the knot with a child. When the daughter found out about this, she was in despair. She wanted to find a lover for herself, and the thought of marrying her father was horrifying. Then the girl went to the sorceress, who promised to help if she agreed to follow all her instructions. The first of these was a request to the king for a dress of the color of the sky. The head of the state immediately ordered all the masters to make it, or, in punishment, everyone would face hanging. They managed to do this, but the result only frightened the princess and testified to the determination of the king. She again ran to the sorceress, and she said to order a moon-colored dress. The king again gathered a menacing order of the best professionals in the field of tailoring, and they were able to fulfill the princess's desire. This only further upset the young pupil, who again decided to turn to the sorceress. A woman with magical skills named Lilac came up with a new task - the dress is so shiny as the sun itself. In the tale "Donkey Skin", the author shows the reluctance of the princess to put up with her fate.
Continued resistance
In the fairy tale "Donkey Skin", the sorceress wanted to buy time to think about further actions. Meanwhile, the king again fulfilled the princess's request for a third dress. Everyone was delighted with such products, but the beautiful heroine did not share their joy. For the fourth time, she had to ask Lilac for help, and she again agreed to do so. This time the sorceress guessed to advise the girl to ask the king to kill his beloved donkey. The girl was triumphant, because such a crazy desire to fulfill the head of the country would refuse. The king was surprised at first, but then he instantly gave the order to kill the donkey and bring the girl his skin. The princess was completely desperate, but just at that moment a sympathetic sorceress appeared again, who ordered to leave the palace immediately. The dress chest will follow the girl underground, and to call it, you should hit the magic wand that Lilac gave. The only condition for the princess is to don a donkey skin. In gratitude for the help, the pupil of the king kissed a good woman, complied with the requirements, and left the palace. The king was frightened by the disappearance of the future bride, and he ordered the servants to go in pursuit. Then the sorceress again came to the rescue, and made her invisible to the eyes of all the envoys of the head of state.
Search for a new home
In Charles Perrault's fairy tale Donkey Skin, the princess tried to find a home for herself where she could at least serve. Due to the ugly appearance, no one wanted to take her to her, but in one big house the mistress nevertheless agreed to accept the princess. The girl was sent to work in the kitchen, where everyone laughed terribly with her because of her appearance. The kind housewife forbade this to be done and protected the new worker. Once in the lake, she saw her appearance, which terrified her. She cleansed of dirt, but again put on the skin, in order to remain unrecognizable. On holidays, when there was no need to serve in the kitchen, the princess dressed up in dresses, but in public everyone saw her only in a donkey cape. That is why in the work of Charles Perrault's “Donkey Skin” she was given the nickname of the same name. Once on the day of the holiday, the prince visited the house, who was traveling from the hunt. During the rest, the guy began to wander around the house and in a dark corridor noticed an inconspicuous room. For the sake of curiosity, he decided to look through the crack and saw a girl there with dazzling beauty. Then the prince ran to the mistress with questions about that princess in a dress. He was told about a dirty servant who wears donkey skin instead of clothes. Out of pity, she was taken by the mistress for housework. The guy went home, but the image did not go out of his head. He regretted that he did not come in to get acquainted then, and because of such thoughts he soon became completely ill.
The torment of the young heir to the throne
In the fairy tale "Donkey Skin", the parents of the prince in every possible way wanted to help their own son. To their questions about what he wants most, the guy replied that the girl baked a pie. By the nickname, the court immediately realized that the speech was about a servant from a house nearby. A messenger was sent to her with a wish for a pie for a young man. Then the princess closed in her room, kneading the dough, but dropped the ring there. A man from the yard took the product and carried it to the heir to the throne. He eagerly ate it and almost choked on the ring. The guy realized that he was from the finger of the same beauty that opened his gaze in that room. Then he began to kiss him in every possible way and hide him under the pillow. Such a hobby caused bewilderment among doctors. He could not think of anything other than Donkey Skin, but was afraid to report this to his family. Mental torment only served as a catalyst for the disease. Doctors could not understand the symptoms for a long time, but later guessed that the reason was in love. Parents, without thinking for a long time, began to ask their son about the chosen one of the heart. The king promised him a marriage with the girl who made him suffer so much. The guy was moved by the desire of mother and father to help, but because he told them everything. The prince told that the owner of this ring is his lover. Immediately after this, messengers were sent that they called the girls to the palace to try on jewelry.
Search for the beauty
Since the young prince did not know who she was, the beauty captivating him, her search began with the help of a ring. Quotes from the Donkey Skin testify that the court ladies tried their best to make their fingers thinner in order to put a ring on them. Their attempts were unsuccessful, and therefore, after the famous ladies, seamstresses were invited. They also could not put a small ring on their fingers. The turn came to the servants who, due to work, could not put a ring on their coarse fingers. The same fate befell cooks and other ordinary working women. Not a single candidate passed the test, and therefore parents were already desperate to find a girl who was dear to her son’s heart. After the failure, the prince asked if the Donkey Skin had been brought in for fitting. He was told that she was not invited because of an inappropriate appearance. She is dirty, and her appearance only gives rise to jokes. Despite this, the offspring of the royal family gave the court the order to bring the girl to the palace without delay. The men laughed, but did not refuse to fulfill the order. At this time, the princess heard a drumming and guessed that the ring was dropped into the pie. Soon she found out that people had been sent for her. Then the girl chose the best outfit and began to wait for the envoys from the prince.
Fairy tale finale
The final content of Donkey Skin tells how people from the palace came to the girl and announced their desire to marry the prince himself. It was said with ridicule, but the princess did not pay attention to it. Together they went to the castle, where she was expected by the heir of the royal family. When a girl in a donkey skin appeared from above, she found longing for him. He could not believe that it was that dazzling beauty that so captivated his heart. Korolevich asked if she lives in that dark corridor in the landlady’s house and will receive an affirmative answer. Then the guy asked her hand to try on the ring. To everyone's surprise, the maidservant had incredibly fragile hands, and the jewelry easily sat on her finger. It was at this moment that the princess threw off her dirty outfit and showed true beauty. The prince recognized the love of his life in the princess, and therefore immediately rushed to her. Parents hugged the girl and asked if she wanted to connect her life with their son. She did not have time to speak in response, as the sorceress Lilac appeared from the ceiling on her lovely chariot. This woman told the people around her the story of the girl, which caused considerable surprise among all the nobles and servants present. The truth only added to the desire to give the girl for her son from the king and queen. The rulers of all lands were invited to the wedding, but the young ones were concerned only by themselves, and not by the luxury surrounding them.
Analysis of an important aspect
If we analyze the fairy tale "Donkey Skin", then the theme of external beauty can be noted as the first important thought. By poor dress and dirt, the author means groomed. Nature can give a person great beauty, but if you do not maintain it at the proper level, then no one will notice it. The princess knew about her attractiveness, but because of her father's desire, she was forced to put on a donkey skin. The girl guessed about her appearance only after looking into the water surface. After that, she already wore it in order to continue to hide from her father. The author skillfully demonstrates that people, by their very nature, are not able to discern beauty, if only the exterior is repulsive. By this, he also confirms that most members of society are used to judging by the cover and are not trying to discern anything more in a person. Charles Perrault beat this through a fairly simple children's story, where everything should end necessarily well. In real life, many people, under the pressure of certain factors, forget about self-development. By this they lose their inner and outer attractiveness, putting on the invisible skin of a dead donkey. From this we can conclude what the tale teaches. “Donkey skin” is a work for children, and it says that external beauty and internal should always be in harmony, but this is only one side of the analysis of this work.
Another important thought
In the tale, the author paid much attention to the first part, namely, the reasons for the appearance of a donkey skin. This demonstrates a case of blind obstinacy, which leads to disastrous consequences. The king clearly decided to marry his daughter, albeit a receptionist, and the girl always dreamed of love for another person. She seeks help from a sorceress who comes up with different ways to avoid a wedding. Sewing dresses of any color shows how strong stubbornness can be. This feeling does not allow the king to see the true desires of his daughter. He is only interested in the fact that she outshines her ex-wife with her beauty, and therefore he will fulfill the queen's death wish in marriage with her. The only way out is to escape from the palace, which the princess decides to do, and for shelter she changes her appearance with the help of the skin of a dead donkey.
Charles Perrault perfectly demonstrates the relationship between two people when one of them blindly strives for his goal. In this case, for another individual, flight from this stubbornness is the only right way out. Sometimes it can be a temporary departure to increase the distance, and often it happens that the relationship ends between people. That is why the main idea of the Donkey Skin is the need to pay attention to loved ones and listen to their desires. The author successfully defeated this topic, and also became one of the first to raise such a problem in literature.
The film of the same name based on the work
In 1982, the director Nadezhda Kosheverova made a film of the same name based on the famous fairy tale by Charles Perrault. The scriptwriters made their own storytelling and transformed a bit of the story. The main characters of "Donkey Skin" were only the princess, who received the name Teresa, and the sorceress. The plot begins with the fact that the evil witch predicted great troubles for the girl at birth. They began from the moment the princess escaped from her wedding. They wanted to force her to marry an unloved man, and she wanted to always be with Jacques, an impoverished prince from another kingdom. After her escape, the main character is forced to take the image of a poor maid and wander around the world like that. She is even looking for police across the earth in order to punish for misconduct. Theresa hopes with the help of the fairy magic ring to help Jacques and live happily with him until old age. About the film "Donkey Skin" reviews left a lot of people. The main advantage was the easy perception of the events. The picture was shot with a bias on the children's audience, and the kids will be pleased to watch this. The story is kind, without the presence of violence, which has become popular even in modern animated cartoons. The production is done with love, every aspect of the story is presented as simple as possible. The picture is recommended for viewing by parents with their children before bedtime or on a day off.