| Summary: | Gender roles are one of the elements that differentiate modern and traditional literature.
This research discusses the construction of female characters in Grimm Brothers' fairy
tales which are Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Beauty.
In these fairy tales, there is a skewed discrimination of female characters based on their
roles in society. In this qualitative study, the fairy tales were selected using purposive
sampling on the basis that they are relevant sources from Grim Brothers which can
provide clear insights into the biased construction of female characters. The texts were
approached from a social feminism perspective and analysed using thematic analysis.
The main finding is that women had limited gender roles confined in the homestead.
Authors' portrayals of the female characters create discrimination based on their
domestic purposes. Power relations between mal and female characters in the fairy
tales show that male characters have stronger economic, social and political power
compared to female characters. Male characters have authority over female characters
making them superior in the society. The fairy tales also present female characters as
having peculiar characters compared to male character . Female characters have
dominant characters of being naive, gullible, weak and stupid. Whereas the male
characters have superior traits such as being strong, intelligent and wise. The authors
present female characters with unique social characteristics making them diff r nt from
male characters. Female characters have social characteristics such as caring,
housewife, selfish and weak. The ocial characters of women subjected them to male
authority in the ociety. The power relation and characteristics of women in the fairy
tales shows female discrimination by a male-dominant society. The analysis on the
construction offemale characters in Grimm Brothers' fairy tales helps to understand the
challenges of women in the society. This research is hoped to contribute to the efforts
in empowering women by identifying their challenges in the society. It is recommended
that future literary authors need to write texts that presents both women and men as
equal players in the society with unlimited roles.
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