The Magic of Fairy Tales: Psychodynamic and

Developmental Perspectives
Martin J. Lubetsky, MD
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic

ABSTRACT: The telling of fairy tales is one way to elicit a child's inner thoughts and
feelings, expose conflicts and frustrations, reduce anxiety, and gain mastery over devel-
opmental tasks. This paper will review the meaning, usefulness, and importance of
fairy tales by discussing three selections from the psychodynamic and developmental
perspectives.

KEY WORDS: Fairy tale, fantasy, child development, child psychotherapy, child psy-
chology, child psychiatry

Introduction

Fairy tales have been passed down from generation to generation

and "have stimulated the interest and warmed the hearts of human
beings since the beginning of history ''1 The recording of modern-day
fairy tales dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries with the French
writer Charles Perrault, German brothers Grimm, and Danish Hans
Christian Anderson representing the most popular.
The study and meaning of fairy tales have been investigated more
recently in the 20th century by Bettelheim, ~ Heuscher, 1 and oth-
ers? ,14 Cath and Cath 3 report that fairy tales have become a vehicle
in which child and parent can practice the mastery of certain devel-

Received August 27, 1985.

For Revision January 6, 1986.
Accepted July 20, 1988.
In memory of Peter Henderson, MD, an outstanding teacher, training director, and
friend whose love of child development and psychotherapy was an inspiration for this
paper.
Martin J. Lubetsky, MD, is Assistant Professor of Child Psychiatry at the University
of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Address requests for reprints to him at the Univer-
sity of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara St.,
Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

Child Psychiatry and Human Development, Vol. 19(4), Summer 1989

9 1989 Human Sciences Press 245
246 Child Psychiatry and Human Development

opmental tasks. It is the purpose of this paper to review the meaning

and usefulness of fairy tales in child development and psychotherapy
by discussing three selections through a developmental perspective.
The application to a parent-child shared experience as well as a ther-
apeutic one is implicit. The fairy tale approach of exposing the child's
inner thoughts and feelings through fantasy provides a tool for the
therapist or parent to assist the child in anxiety reduction and con-
flict resolution.
Gardner 4 has shown the efficacy of his mutual story telling tech-
nique for helping the child improve communication, gain mastery,
and resolve conflicts. Winnicott ~ has developed his Squiggle Tech-
nique to use drawing to aid in communicating with the child in a
short-term consultation. Claman 8 has combined the squiggle draw-
ing game with a mutual storytelling approach to provide a creative
means of enhancing communication.
Fairy tales convey meaning or stimulate thought in the mind of a
child. Their efficacy as an aid in psychotherapy will be presented
from the psychodynamic and developmental perspectives by review-
ing several short case vignettes.

Psychodynamic Perspectives
Anna Freud 7 observed that the young child's ego is too weak to op-
pose the outside world actively. Through denying reality by the use of
fantasy, the child regresses and allows his libidinal impulses to be ex-
pressed and later repressed. Then growth occurs through the identi-
fication and incorporation of ego ideals represented in the stories.
Heuscher 1 found that the child gains comfort from knowing that he
is not alone with his or her distressing or violent fantasies, and that
they can be meaningful and valuable sources of strength for useful
sublimations.
Cath and Cath 3 have found that both parent (reader) and child (lis-
tener) can regress "from the constant strain of reality testing, facili-
tated by the special camaraderie of a shared bedtime fantastic voy-
age. Fairy tales are usually read at bedtime when the ego is in the
process of relinquishing its grasp on reality and separation anxiety is
at its peak."
It is through the child's experiences in fantasy that he or she can
apply meaning to reality. Bettelheim ~ has observed how fairy tales
can be a context in which the child distances himself or herself from
the content of the unconscious and sees it as something external (i.e.,
fantasy/fairy tale) in order to gain any mastery over it. One way in
Martin J. Lubetsky 247

which the fairy tale allows this externalization to fantasy is through

the vague beginning of each tale. The introduction of "once upon a
time" removes all vestiges of any connection to the child's present day
home and reality. Bettelheim 2 believes that the unrealistic nature of
these tales is an important device in which it is obvious that the fairy
tales' concern is not useful information about the real world, but the
inner processes taking place in the child. However, the externaliza-
tion to fantasy also can provide the child with a safe means to deal
with realistic present day conflicts that corresponds to developmental
tasks.

Developmental Perspectives
The understanding and importance of fairy tales relies heavily
on the age and developmental level of the child. 8 Under the age of
five, the young child has much difficulty separating reality from fan-
tasy. It is at about the age of five that fairy tales become truly mean-
ingful.2
The child under one year of age is learning to distinguish himself
from the outside world, described as the sensorimotor stage by Piaget.
He gains pleasure from oral gratification (as described by Freud) and
learns a healthy sense of trust through experiences with his care-
takers (the first stage observed by Erikson).
Next, the two- to three-year-old experiences everything in the
world revolving around him, and is referred to by Piaget as the ego-
centric child in the preoperational stage. He begins to use language,
coordinate motor development, and sees his parents as the dominat-
ing force. The child fears abandonment and struggles with control in
gaining autonomy in his life (the second Eriksonian stage), and over
his bowel function, as seen in the anal stage of "holding on and let-
ting go."
Then the four- to five-year-old struggles with conflicting feelings
towards his parents. He learns to identify with the same sex parent
as a w a y to possess the opposite sex parent without fear of reprisal as
described by Freud in the Oedipus complex. This corresponds with
the growth of initiative, rather than guilt feelings.
Next, the six- to twelve-year-old enters school and the long period
of latency in which Freud reported repression of libidinal impulses.
This allows energy to develop into industrious activity, rather than a
sense of inferiority, and development of basic concrete operations for
mental growth. The school age child develops a superego that allows
him to follow a pattern of parental rules and thus separate from the
248 Child Psychiatry and Human Development

home into a world of friends and school. Occasionally, anxiety may be

displayed in symptoms such as nightmares, enuresis, encopresis, or
phobias.
For the school age child, fairy tales may begin to seem too unreal-
istic or childish, and other forms of the fantasy repertoire may ex-
pand to include comic books, cartoons, and video arcade games. Many
comic book or cartoon themes allow children to identify with powerful
superheroes who triumph, encourage anger expression through bat-
tles, or facilitate interpersonal conflict resolution. These aid in the
development of initiative, industry, and confidence. Video arcade
games are another form of fantasy that may facilitate sublimation of
aggression, expression of anger, thoughts of power or control. In addi-
tion, video games may facilitate development of a competitive spirit,
increase self-confidence, and promote peer socialization if done as a
group activity rather than isolative play. TM
Finally, the pubertal growth of adolescence causes physical changes
as well as arouses the libidinal impulses Freud reported to be latent.
Ego identity, role conformity, and social interaction grows as does for-
mal operational thought processes (Piaget's last step in cognitive de-
velopment). The adolescent learns to sublimate drives, and gain inde-
pendence in thought, action, and feelings, leading to intimacy and
mate choice. It is the fairy tale that confronts the child faced with
mastering many developmental tasks.
For the adolescent, fantasy serves as a vehicle for mastering anxi-
ety, facilitating separation and individuation, and separating ego
boundaries of "inside and outside me," or "what is me and not me." 17
Blos comments on the use of fantasy and daydreaming in the adoles-
cent, serving to "help the adolescent to assimilate in small doses the
affective experiences toward which his progressive development is
moving. Fantasy life and creativity at this stage are at a peak; artis-
tic and ideational expression make it possible to communicate highly
personal experiences which as such become a vehicle for social partic-
ipation."17 Often personal fantasy or fairy tale's romantic themes as-
sist the adolescent in preparation for initiating interpersonal interac-
tions such as dating.
In addition to fairy tales, other forms of fantasy may facilitate con-
flict resolution, independence, and self-esteem. For example, music
lyrics often create a sense of control or power against adult authority,
aid in resolution of parent-child conflicts, and encourage development
of friendships and dating. Music lyrics are a form of communication
between peers and between adolescent and adults. Also, poetry, nov-
Martin J. Lubetsky 249

els, movies, television shows and music videos all may serve as simi-
lar fantasy vehicles for developmental progress.

Three Fairy Tale Selections

One of the fairy tales dealing with the initial four years of child-
hood development is "Hansel and Gretel" from the Brothers Grimm
Collection? ,1~ After being abandoned in the woods by their
father and stepmother, Hansel and Gretel search for home and food.
Instead, they find a delicious gingerbread house that begins to satisfy
their hunger. However, the wicked witch, who lives inside, plans to
eat them. Gretel is able to kill the witch and free her brother. They
find their way back home and discover that their mean stepmother is
gone, and their unhappy father awaits their joyful return.
The pervasive theme is that of Hansel and Gretel experiencing
abandonment, rejection, and the anxiety of separation from their par-
ents. This loss of the nurturing maternal figure leads to a revival of
oral gratification needs, displayed as hunger. The anxiety of separa-
tion while progressing in development is reflected in Hansel looking
back over his shoulder while going deeper into the forest. Roheim 14
found that many young children realize similar fears when going to
sleep at night or awakening early in the morning.
In this fairy tale, oral needs were initially satisfied by eating the
gingerbread house, but the children were then confronted with the
fear of being eaten by the witch. The witch may be "a personification
of the destructive aspects of orality, ''2 and the stepmother may repre-
sent all of the bad attributes that a real mother would not, since their
father's wife was not the children's real mother but stepmother. This
fear of being eaten or destroyed may also represent the libidinal wish
to eat mother and thus incorporate all her nurturing aspects to ward
off separation2 4 It is interesting to note, that like many children,
Hansel and Gretel denied taking what was not their own, when dis-
covered by the witch to be eating her house.
Hansel and Gretel, like other preschoolers, do exhibit a sense of au-
tonomy and initiative. For example, Hansel drops pebbles as a way to
retrace his steps home, and gives the nearsighted witch a bone rather
than his finger to test his weight. Also, Gretel was able to push the
witch into the stove and free Hansel from the cage. When the chil-
dren cross the pond to get home, they take a maturational step to
separation-individuation, autonomy, and initiative. The reason for
each child going across the pond separately may reflect the differenti-
250 Child Psychiatry and Human Development

ation of developmental paths. The children also learn to work to-

gether and share in responsibility, with the reward being a happy
ending to the story. Thus, Hansel and Gretel, representing the devel-
opmental level of preschoolers under the age of five, endure the fears
of abandonment and oral deprivation to develop a sense of trust, au-
tonomy, and initiative.
The next step in our developmental path concerns "Little Red Rid-
ing Hood" or "Little Red Cap," initially written by Perrault 15 and re-
told by the Brothers Grimm. 9,1~ This tale has appeal for
school-age children. Little Red Riding Hood is given the task of tak-
ing food to her ailing grandmother. Because of a wolf's deception, she
strays off the path into the woods, giving the wolf time to consume
her grandmother and assume her identity. Little Red Riding Hood
questions her grandmother's strange features, but is quickly eaten. A
hunter is able to cut open the wolf and save both Little Red Riding
Hood and her grandmother.
The story begins with a good relationship between mother and
daughter. Mother trusts her daughter's autonomy, and Little Red
Riding Hood shows no concern for hunger, abandonment, or fear of
going into the forest, unlike younger Hansel and Gretel. She is de-
picted as egocentric and narcissistic, noting herself to be the prettiest
girl ever seen, as well as having a sense of curiosity and confidence.
However, like other school-age children, she is given a list of rules
to follow: not to peep into every corner, nor run off the path, "or you
will fall and break the bottle of red wine." This may represent a ma-
ternal warning about sexual curiosity ("peeping"), being led off the
virtuous path or losing one's virginity ("fall and break the bottle of
red wine"). 1 It may simply represent the developing superego with all
of its rules and warnings.
Another developmental aspect is the Electra conflict and its de-
scribed repression in latency. The father figure is split into one half
as the seductive wolf who eats her, representing the unconscious wish
to be seduced/consumed by father, and the other half as the saving
hunter, representing the powerful father who always comes to the
rescue. ~,2 It is interesting to note that the story never mentions her
father, allowing fantasies to be made about the father figure. T h e
young girl resolves this Electra conflict by saying that she "will never
again wander o f f . . , when my mother forbids it," thus identifying
with mother and resisting temptation to a father figure.
The child's growth of initiative is evidenced by her keen senses
used in questioning the wolf disguised as her grandmother. Her gath-
Martin J. Lubetsky 251

ering flowers and t a k i n g food to grandmother show an industrious

nature. Little Red's inclination to obey her mother shows a m a t u r i n g
ego state, with mother's warnings evidence of a developing superego.
Finally, she is freed by the h u n t e r cutting open the wolf's abdomen.
This transition from darkness into the light, corresponds with her
developmental progression, like crossing the pond in "Hansel and
Gretel. ''2 A moral to the story can be found only in the version by
Perrault. 15

From this story one learns that children, especially young lasses, pretty,
courteous, and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers, and it is
not an unheard thing if the wolf is thereby provided with his dinner. I
say wolf, for all wolves are not of the same sort; there is one kind with
an amenable disposition neither noisy, nor hateful, nor angry, but
tame, obliging, and gentle, following the young maids in the streets,
even into their homes. Alas! Who does not know that these gentle
wolves are of all such creatures the most dangerous!

The third selection portrays development from birth to inti-

macy in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" by the Brothers
G r i m m ? ,1~ A queen desired a child with "skin as white as
snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony." Soon after the
birth of Snow White, the real mother died and a cruel stepmother ap-
peared. After the age of seven, Snow White was abandoned in the for-
est because of the vain stepmother's envy for her stepdaughter's
beauty. The h u n t e r was unable to kill Snow White, and bring the
queen her heart to eat as ordered, so he sent her off over the seven
hills and brought the queen the heart of a wild animal. Snow White
found the home of seven dvcarfs and worked there caring for them,
until the wicked stepmother succeeded in putting her to sleep. Snow
White could not be aroused until a prince awoke her and took her as
his wife.
This tale successfully connects development from childhood into ad-
olescence. The story begins with birth, seen as a wish fulfillment, and
the child as pure and innocent as snow. The mother is replaced by a
cruel stepmother, as in "Hansel and Gretel," and the father is not
present, as in ~ Red Riding Hood," thus allowing emotional
distancing in the Electra rivalry. This stepmother sees her own nar-
cissistic adoration threatened by her stepdaughter's beauty, and
Snow White as a rival for the father's love. 2 The h u n t e r is seen as a
kind father figure who saves Snow White, and guides her on the "de-
velopmental" path. This occurs at the age of seven when Electra feel-
252 Child Psychiatry and Human Development

ings are thought by some to be repressed. This path over seven hills
brings Snow White to the age of fourteen, when she learns to care for
the seven dwarfs. They exemplify industry, sharing, and cooperation,
like perfect latency-age children. The dwarfs can represent the chil-
dren of a maternal Snow White or exhibit superego work ideals. 1
Now in adolescence, Snow White is tempted by artifacts of beauty
and vanity brought by the cruel stepmother, who is disguised as an
old peddler. This reappearance of the mother-daughter conflict is
clearly described by the stepmother's attempts to poison Snow White.
The poisoned apple, which arouses her oral and narcissistic impulses,
successfully puts her to sleep as well as these impulses. The apple
also represents the original sin and discovery of one's own sexuality.
In addition, Snow White's leap in a "glass box atop a hill" represents
a period of maturation, similar to crossing the pond in "Hansel and
Gretel," and being freed from the wolf's abdomen in "Little Red Rid-
ing Hood."
Characteristics of maturation are represented by the three birds
flying over Snow white: wisdom (owl), consciousness (raven), and
love (dove). ~,2 When the prince arouses the sleeping Snow white, she
has passed through developmental phases of role identity and for-
mal operational thought to now form an intimate relationship, mate
choice, and "live happily ever after."

Case Examples

Billy was a three and a half year-old boy admitted to a children's

hospital after an automobile accident. His parents visited weekly
since they lived several hours away. He chose to read "Hansel and
Gretel" most every time I stopped to visit him. When reading about
the children abandoned in the woods, he exclaimed, "No, no, that's
mean!" Reading about the mean old witch elicited a violent response
in which he hit the book and shouted "don't hurt them, don't poke
them!" When we role played the story, initially Billy wanted to be
the mean old witch so he could growl and "eat up all of those people!"
Many readings later he wanted to be Hansel, because at the end he is
saved and returns home. Billy achieved some mastery over his sense
of abandonment in the hospital by his parents, fear of hospital staff
and uncertainty about a safe return home. This is not to assume that
this repeated fairy tale reading was the only means to some anxiety
reduction, but it did provide one successful vehicle.
The second example is that of Tommy, a six and a half year-old boy,
Martin J. Lubetsky 253

seen in a day care setting. His father died when Tommy was two and
a half, and he was raised alone by his mother and her boyfriend. He
chose to read "Little Red Riding Hood" on several different occasions.
When role playing his story, Tommy said he wanted to be the wolf in
order to consume his mother. He added that he was afraid of the wolf
eating him up and knew that he should be careful. In a later reading,
Tommy wanted to be the hunter who "saved the mother and child,"
according to his version, because this was "what was fair." He was
adjusting to increasing independence while fearing abandonment,
and needing reassurance about his place in his family (his mother
and her boyfriend). The reading of this fairy tale, and allowing Tommy
to change it to fit his needs, is one context in which he can deal with
developmental tasks and gain some conflict resolution at his develop-
mental level.
The third case is that of April, a 10 year-old girl seen in an outpa-
tient child guidance clinic. April never knew her mother, who died af-
ter birth, and was raised by her father who remarried last year. April
frequently drew pictures of a family with both parents and a sister
present. She discussed them as "living happily ever after, just like
Snow White." I suggested that we read Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs which she agreed to after some laughter. April giggled and
said that she had worried her father would remarry and leave her.
This did not occur but she stated she knew that her real mother must
have been nicer than her new stepmother. April said that her father
was not around as much to be with her since he often went out with
her new stepmother. April commented t h a t " S n o w White's evil step-
mother should die" and then she stopped herself. She said "Snow
White should learn to like her and maybe the stepmother would take
Snow White to the movies or for ice cream instead of hitting her." A
few weeks after reading or drawing parts of the fairy tale several
times, April said that she liked her stepmother better since they went
clothes shopping and that she and her father went to an amusement
park together. This fairy tale was one of m a n y therapeutic tools used
to facilitate expression of worries and led to some resolution of intra-
family and developmental issues.

Summary

Children often do not respond to direct questions about their feel-

ings. Fairy tales not only provide entertainment for a child, but a cre-
ative w a y to provide anxiety reduction, fantasy fulfillment, reflec-
254 Child Psychiatry and Human Development

tions back on earlier times, and a window to the future. The stories
are represented as fantasy, yet may confront real conflicts in develop-
ment with hopeful, satisfying results.
The telling of fairy tales is an experience to be shared between par-
ents and child, and can be used in a therapeutic setting as well. Chil-
dren should take the lead in choosing the story, change it according
to their own sex and ego strength, and then hear it as often as needed
in order to gain meaning from it. 2 Fairy tales are one vehicle in
which child and parent or therapist can practice the mastery of cer-
tain developmental tasks and learn healthy, adaptive ways to cope. '8
Bettelheim put it well, "Each fairy tale is a magic mirror which re-
flects some aspects of our inner world, and of the steps required by
our evolution from immaturity to maturity. This is one of the mani-
fold truths revealed by fairy tales, which can guide our lives; it is a
truth as valid today as it was once upon a time."2

References

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Martin J. Lubetsky 255

15. Perrault C (Johnson, translator): Complete Fairy Tales. Dodd, Mead and Company,
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