Acknowledgement

Above all I would like to thank my BA thesis supervisor Mgr. Zenó

Vernyik, Ph.D. for the time he spent with me during consultations and also for his

patience and valuable advice.

And I would also like to thank my family and friends for their support.

Anotace

Bakalářská práce se zabývá hledáním klasických pohádkových motivů

v moderním pohádkovém filmu Shrek. Nejprve je definována kouzelná pohádka

jakožto literární žánr a jsou vymezeny její znaky. Dále jsou uvedeny některé

možnosti klasifikace pohádek, především dělení na lidové a moderní pohádky.

Poté je Shrek analyzován podle Proppovy teorie pohádkových funkcí, stejně jako

lidová pohádka, kterou lze pokládat za předlohu k tomuto filmu. Oba příběhy jsou

zde porovnány. Součástí práce jsou také vzorce obou pohádek vytvořené na

základě již zmiňované Proppovy teorie. Dále jsou uvedeny motivy převzaté

z lidových pohádek, které se ve Shrekovi vyskytují do různé míry přepracované.

V závěru práce je Shrek analyzován jako parodie na žánr lidové pohádky, ale také

na pohádkovou tvorbu Walta Disneyho.

Klíčová slova

Shrek, pohádka, film, motiv, analýza, parodie.

Annotation

This bachelor’s thesis focuses on the identification of classical fairy tale

motifs in the film Shrek. It begins with the definition of the fairy tale and its

recurring features. Some aspects of classification of fairy tales are presented,

especially its division into folk tales and modern tales. Then the story of Shrek is

analysed according to Propp’s theory of functions, just as a particular folk tale

which is considered the basis of the plot of this film. The two stories are thus

compared with one another. As a part of the thesis, schemes of both stories are

also drawn on the basis of Propp’s theory. Some motifs borrowed from folk tales

are also established in Shrek and it is illustrated with examples whether and how

these motifs are transformed in Shrek. Finally, Shrek is analysed as a parody of

the folk tale as a genre, and at the same time a parody of Disney’s works.

Key words

Shrek, fairy tale, film, motif, analysis, parody.

Content

1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 9

2 The Fairy Tale as a Literary Genre ................................................................ 10

2.1 The Polarization ...................................................................................... 10

2.2 Stereotypical Phrases Used in the Beginning and at the End .................. 12

2.3 The Happy Ending Principle ................................................................... 13

3 The Classification of Fairy Tales ................................................................... 15

3.1 The Folk Tale .......................................................................................... 17

3.2 The Modern Tale ..................................................................................... 18

4 The Folk Tale as a Frame in Shrek ................................................................ 21

4.1 The Original Story ................................................................................... 21

4.2 The Analysis of Shrek Using Propp’s Concept ....................................... 23

4.3 Elements and Motifs Borrowed from Folk Tales .................................... 31

4.3.1 The Spell .......................................................................................... 32

4.3.2 The Dragon ...................................................................................... 36

4.3.3 The Quest ......................................................................................... 40

5 Parody ............................................................................................................ 43

5.1 Shrek as a Parody of the Folk Tale as a Genre ........................................ 44

5.2 Shrek as a Parody on Disney’s World ..................................................... 45

5.2.1 Walt Disney’s Influence on Animated Fairy Tales ......................... 46

5.2.2 Shrek: Breaking Disney’s Stereotypes ............................................. 48

6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 51

Literature ................................................................................................................ 53

Appendix ................................................................................................................ 55

9

1 Introduction

When I was thinking about the topic for my bachelor’s thesis, my interest in

fairy tales played a crucial role. This started when I began attending the subject of

“Literature for Children and Youth” at the Department of Czech. At that time I was

mesmerized by classical fairy tales; mainly by those collected and adjusted by the

brothers Grimm. This is also the main reason why I use their versions in my thesis.

I decided to compare these classical fairy tales with a modern tale, but I did not

explicitly think of Shrek until the first consultation with my BA thesis supervisor.

Shrek, in the end, proved to be an excellent example of a modern fairy tale, with the

big ugly green ogre as the hero who goes on a quest for an enchanted princess. Thus,

it seemed a great challenge to me to analyse it.

The thesis itself begins with the definition of the fairy tale and its important

recurring features. It focuses on some aspects of the classification of fairy tales,

especially on their division into folk tales and modern tales. This is to help

in understanding the difference between them. Then this knowledge is applied

in identifying the features of the folk tale in the story of Shrek itself. The story of

Shrek is analysed according to Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale. The aim of this

is to discover the folk tale which could serve as a template for the film. The analysis

showed that, indeed, such a story exists, and it is no other than the oft-analysed “The

Dragon Slayer.” Having found the original story, it is compared with Shrek itself.

Some additional motifs, taken from other folk tales, which appear in Shrek, are also

discovered and illustrated with examples, and special attention is paid to how these

motifs are transformed, if they are. This comparison of different folk tales with Shrek

provides further allusions to various classical stories and helps in revealing that

Shrek is a parody of classical fairy tales and also a parody of Disney’s works.

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2 The Fairy Tale as a Literary Genre

“A fairy tale can be defined as a funny, usually prosaic genre of folkloric

origin with a fantastic story which contains magic motifs”1 (Mocná et al. 2004, 472,

my translation). In other words, the fairy tale creates a magic world that defies the

laws of nature and includes supernatural beings or subjects (Thompson 1977, 8).

Characters are displayed clearly, details are omitted in order to easily

distinguish a positive character from a negative one (see “The Polarization” below).

This is also why they are rather typical than unique (Bettelheim 2000, 12). In some

cases, they are even addressed according to what is typical for them (Mocná et al.

2004, 473). Cinderella is a typical example of this, since she received her name

because “she had to huddle by the hearth near cinders. From all this she was forever

dusty and dirty” (Daniel 2011, 102). One could also mention Snow White who was

“as white as snow, as red as blood, and with hair as black as ebony” (184).

There are also some recurring features in fairy tales, such as distribution of

characters into good and bad, almost the same phrases used in the introduction and in

the closing of a story, or the happy ending principle, as all is to be illustrated in more

details below.

2.1 The Polarization

Characters are clearly “divided into good and bad and also into villains and

helpers” (Mocná et al. 2004, 473). Evil can be symbolized differently, for example

by a powerful giant or a witch or a tricky queen. An evil character always suffers the

consequences of their behaviour. The purpose is to convince a child that it is

disadvantageous to commit crimes. The manners of the hero must be attractive

1 “Zábavný, zpravidla prozaický žánr folklorního původu s fantastickým příběhem.”

11

enough for the child to identify with them. Thanks to this identification the child

acquires the moral attitude (Bettelheim 2000, 12 – 13). The difference between the

characters should be obvious and understandable, this is why fairy tale creatures

should not share good and bad characteristics at the same time, as it goes in real life.

They are either good or bad, nothing in between. The first one is clever, the second

one is stupid. The first one is hard working, the second one is lazy. The first one is

beautiful, the second one is ugly (13). This polarization is important, character

opposites appear in almost every fairy tale, for example in “Cinderella” the two

stepsisters were “pretty and fair in appearance, but evil and dark in their hearts”

(Daniel 2011, 102), they were evil, greedy and lazy, while Cinderella was nice,

helpful and hardworking (101 – 113) or in “Mother Holle” where a widow has two

daughters “one of them was a hard worker and very pretty, while the other one was

ugly and lazy” (116).

This division into polar opposites, as mentioned by Mocná, can also be seen

in Shrek, where Shrek is the hero, whose repellent appearance and behaviour at the

beginning may give the spectator the impression of a negative character, but later he

proves to be a good one. The bad character in contrast to Shrek is Lord Farquaad,

who desires for power and wants to achieve it at any cost. He is also a kind of villain,

he commits more forms of villainy not only against Shrek, he for example offers

a reward for each of the fairy tale creatures because he wants to transport them to

a designated resettlement facility (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 04:44), he torments

the Gingerbread Man for the purpose of finding the other fairy tale creatures (15:46),

he wants to marry Fiona in order to gain bigger power (18:45) and when he reveals

her ugly form caused by the spell, he wants to lock her back into the tower

(01:15:36). The talking donkey, who accompanies Shrek, is the helper. He is on the

12

run from Lord Farquaad’s guards and Shrek saves him accidentally (07:15). In return

for this the donkey helps Shrek to set the princess Fiona free and they become

friends. The dragon, who keeps the princess in a castle and thwarts the knights’

attempts to free her, is the villain.

Yet, the distribution of characters in this case is not as simple as it may seem.

Characters in Shrek are not as typical as those in many folk tales, and the spectator’s

point of view can also change during the film, because some of the characters make

some kind of progress. For example, the role of the female dragon changes in the

film, she is a villain at first, since she guards the princess locked in a tower (31:52),

but once she falls in love with the donkey, she becomes a helper – at the end she

devours Lord Farquaad (01:15:45).

2.2 Stereotypical Phrases Used in the Beginning and at the End

In almost every fairy tale one can find some stereotypical phrase in the

introduction: “Once upon a time there were Three Bears” (Jacobs 2005, 6), “Once

upon a time, deep in the middle of winter” (Daniel 2011, 184), “There once were

a husband and wife” (50), “There once was a rich man” (102), “Long, long ago, there

lived a king and queen” (172). Likewise, endings are also often formulaic: “They

lived together happily until the end of their days” (47), “They lived for many, many

joyous years, happy and contented” (57), “He ruled wisely for a long, long time”

(211).

These opening and closing clichés make the stories indefinite (there is no

specification of the time or place they are set in) and everlasting (final words evoke

the feeling that the hero’s life is long, happy and may has not ended yet) (Mocná et

al. 2004, 472). Yet, according to Bettelheim these ending formulas, as for example

“they lived happily ever after” do not tell that eternal life is possible. What they show

13

is that only if someone has a satisfying relationship with another person, they do not

have to be afraid of death (2000, 14 – 15).

Shrek also begins with one of these opening phrases “Once upon a time there

was a lovely princess” (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 00:46), at this time, Shrek does

not believe in fairy tales, he says “Like that’s ever gonna happen” (01:23). But later

when he meets Fiona, they fall in love with each other, in other words Shrek finds

a satisfying relationship with her and the film ends with words which promise

eternity: “And they lived ugly ever after” (01:20:48).

2.3 The Happy Ending Principle

One of the most typical features of fairy tales is that they tend to have a happy

ending. This means that good triumphs over evil, and in many cases evil is punished

at the end. Traditionally, the hero is rewarded and the evil character suffers

a miserable end which satisfies the child’s expectation that justice wins (Bettelheim

2000, 142).

In various fairy tales evil can appear in many different shapes. In “Snow

White,” for example, it is an evil stepmother who is jealous of her stepdaughter and

tries to kill her. As a punishment, “she was made to walk in red-hot shoes, and dance

in them. She did so until she fell to the ground, dead” (Daniel 2011, 199). In “Hansel

and Gretel,” the wicked witch wants to eat two children, but in the end Gretel bakes

her in the oven: “the godless witch was burned miserably to death” (68). In “Little

Red Riding Hood,” a wolf swallows up a little girl and her grandmother, but

a huntsman saves them: “He grabbed a pair of shears and began cutting the sleeping

wolf’s belly open” (131). As revenge, they fill his stomach with stones and when he

wakes up, he falls dead.

14

Shrek is not any different in this respect. The negative character in this case is

Lord Farquaad, who wants to dominate the fairyland, including all of the fairy tale

creatures that he wants to enslave. He sends Shrek to save the princess because he

needs to marry her to become the king, but he is too coward to go to rescue her

himself. Actually he does not love her, for him she is only the mean to gain bigger

power. They stand at the altar, but before he tells his yes, he is eaten by the dragon.

The princess gets married to Shrek instead, who really loves her (Jenson & Adamson

2001, 01:15:45).

15

3 The Classification of Fairy Tales

Fairy tales can be divided into different types from various perspectives. One

of these perspectives is the geographic one which also Thompson (1977, 13 – 20)

deals with. This perspective, however, is not one that would fit the focus of this

thesis, and will not be elaborated on any further. For the purposes of analysis, issues

of content and form are of primary importance, and thus the paragraphs below are

dedicated to the classification of fairy tales according to Thompson and Propp.

Thompson (1977) distinguishes several types of folklore stories (7 – 10).

Here are some examples: “The novella” is the story where “the action occurs in a real

world with definite time and place” (8). “The hero tale recounts a series of

adventures of the same hero” (8). “The local tradition” is the story “of some

historical character” (9). “The explanatory tale” gives the explanation of the

occurrence of some animals or plants (9). “Myth” is “connected with religious beliefs

and practices of the people” (9). “Animal tale” shows “the cleverness of one animal

and the stupidity of another” (9) and “a fable” which is very similar to the previous

one, but unlike it, this one has a “moral purpose” (10). Another one which is the most

frequent according to him, he calls “fairy tale”, or “household tale”. This category

includes stories as “Cinderella” or “Snow White”. Germans call these stories

“Märchen” and Thompson considers this title better. He defines the content of these

stories as follows: “It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite

characters and is filled with the marvelous” (8). He further subdivided this type of

stories according to the relevant elements which form the plot of the story. One of

these types is a fairy tale which includes “supernatural adversaries” (23). Many kinds

of supernatural adversary are presented, for example “ogres and witches” (35) or

“vampires” (40) and so on. Another type includes “supernatural helpers” (47), e.g.

16

“helpful dwarfs or fairies” (49), “animals” (55) etc. The following one includes

“magic and marvels” (67), e.g. “magic objects” (70), “marvelous skill” (81) etc.

These elements are often combined in one fairy tale, not only one of them has to be

included in one story. According to this list of categories and subcategories almost

every fairy tale can be classified.

Propp (1968) also gives some examples of classification, but he considers

most of them inaccurate or even incorrect. According to him “The most common

division is a division into tales with fantastic content, tales of everyday life, and

animal tales” (5). This kind of division shows “the distribution of tales into

categories” (7). But they can be divided also “according to theme” (7): “(1) about

those unjustly persecuted; (2) about the hero-fool; (3) about three brothers; (4) about

dragon fighters;; etc.” (8). Propp focuses on a specific type of folk literature called

wonder tale which has the same definition as the fairy tale, the definition and some

characteristic features can be seen above in the chapter “The Fairy Tale as a Literary

Genre”. His method consists in trying to distinguish between “constants” and

“variables” (20) and he says that “the names of the dramatis personae change (as

well as the attributes of each), but neither their actions nor functions change” (20).

He divides the fairy tales “according to the functions of its dramatis personae” (20).

Shrek can be also analysed on the basis of these functions, which can be seen several

chapters below.

One can also divide fairy tales into two basic types according to their origin

(Mocná et al. 2004, 473). The first of these two types is the folk tale where the

original author is unknown. “Folklore works […] never have an author, and this is

one of their specific features” (Propp 1997, 6). But there are many famous collectors

of folklore who are used as substitute “authors” when referring to the stories. Perhaps

17

the best known of these are the brothers Grimm, whose versions of fairy tales are

used in this thesis. Many folk tales and also those collected by the brothers Grimm

are today considered classical. The second one is the modern tale, also called as man-

made, because the author is known. Both of these types are specified in the following

two subchapters.

3.1 The Folk Tale

Folk tales belong to the oldest forms of folk literature. This type of fairy tale

was spread orally and every other narration brought a new modification of the story.

This is why there are more versions known for most fairy tales these days. A typical

example of this is “Sleeping Beauty”. A very old version of this tale, which is named

“Sun, Moon and Talia,” comes from The Pentameron. Stories in it were collected by

the Italian Giambattista Basile. In this story, Talia is raped in her sleep by a king and

while she is sleeping she gives birth to twins. But the king is already married and his

wife hates Talia, so she tries to kill her and her children. She is not successful,

however, and she gets punished and the king marries Talia. Another version comes

from the collection of the Frenchman Charles Perrault. His version adds an offended

fairy who utters a curse and there are also some other minor changes. The version of

the brothers Grimm, named “Briar Rose,” is a bit simplified and ends with the

moment when the prince kisses the princess, everything and everybody wakes up and

they get married (Bettelheim 2000, 222 – 231).

As the story “Sun, Moon and Talia” shows, folk tales were originally

intended for adults, motifs were often cruel (the queen orders the cook to kill Talia’s

children and serve them to the king) or erotic (Talia is raped while she is sleeping)

(223).

18

3.2 The Modern Tale

This kind of fairy tale is younger in terms of its evolution than the previous

one. Some principles are the same as in the folk tale, but it includes many real and

updated elements. Magic motifs, for example, can become a part of everyday reality

or they can be completely omitted. It also often refers to some folk tale, and it

borrows its motifs and methods, which it assumes are well-known to readers (or

spectators), but its composition and structure is usually more complicated (Mocná et

al. 2004, 473).

Some of these modern tales are also addressed to adults. One of them is

“Bluebeard’s Egg” written by Margaret Atwood. This is an example of a modern

story which borrows some elements from a folk tale. The type of folk tale used in the

story talks about the consequences of violating the prohibition of entry into a

forbidden chamber. In other words, this means a betrayal of trust, specifically sexual

infidelity (Bettelheim 2000, 293 – 295). In “Bluebeard’s Egg” the protagonist’s trust

is betrayed by her husband, when she sees him touching her best friend. “Ed is

standing too close to her, and as Sally comes up behind them she sees his left arm,

held close to his side, the back of it pressed against Marylynn, her shimmering upper

thigh, her ass to be exact” (Atwood 1996, 161). Atwood uses the folk tale as a source

for her own story, she sets it into the everyday life of a modern age and she leaves

out all of the magic elements. But some references to the original story are obvious,

for example the husband may be an allusion of Bluebeard, because he is married for

the third time and he remains being mysterious for his wife, whose attempts to

understand his inner world are unsuccessful (151).

19

Many other modern tales, however, are written for a child recipient, and these

use motifs of the folk tale in a much more gentle way – they do not contain any cruel

or sexual scenes. An example of literature oriented simply towards children could be

Winnie-the-Pooh (Milne 2000). This book is full of stories talking about adventures

experienced by Christopher Robin, his teddy bear named Winnie-the-Pooh and their

friends – Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Eyeore, Kanga and Roo. These stories, where child’s

toys are brought to life, are narrated in a naive tone, understandable for young

children and they are free of any rough scenes.

Alternatively, they count on a double-audience, and are thus composed in a

way that different elements or features of the story appeal to different age groups.

“An example here can be Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market’ (1862), which was quickly

perceived to have two levels of meaning for the two distinct audiences” (Banerjee

2007).

Shrek is also a kind of story which counts on a double-audience. Some funny

messages can be perceived differently from the child’s and the adult’s point of view.

To give an example: When Shrek and the donkey come to DuLoc and Shrek sees

how gigantic it is, he says: “So, that must be Lord Farquaad’s castle. Do you think

maybe he is compensating for something?” (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 19:30)

Children have already seen Lord Farquaad before (15:33) and they know that he is

small in stature, so they may understand Shrek’s words this way or they may not

understand it anyway. But Shrek has never seen him before, so he may think what he

said a bit differently. Adults know that when one says that a man compensates when

he has got, for example, a big car they refer to a sexual lack. This implicit meaning

remains a secret for the children.

20

Shrek contains all features characteristic for modern tales. It has many

common features with folk tales, for example the principle of the happy ending, as it

has been already mentioned in the previous chapter. There can be found motifs taken

from many well-known fairy tales and combined into one new story.

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4 The Folk Tale as a Frame in Shrek

The film begins by Shrek sitting on the toilet reading a book of fairy tales. It

is a classical fairy tale of a princess to be rescued:

Once upon a time there was a lovely princess. But she had an enchantment

upon her of a fearful sort which could only be broken by love’s first kiss.

She was locked away in a castle guarded by a terrible fire-breathing dragon.

Many brave knights had attempted to free her from this dreadful prison, but

none prevailed. She waited in the dragon’s keep, in the highest room of the

tallest tower, for the true love and the true love’s kiss (Jenson and Adamson

2001, 00:46 – 01:23).

At this moment Shrek rips a page from the book and laughs at the fact that something

like this could ever happen. This initial scene of reading on the toilet becomes a brief

recapitulation of what is going to happen to him during the following eighty minutes

of the film. And at this time the story from a book of fairy tales, which he was

reading on the toilet at the very beginning, comes to his real life. He in order to

regain his swamp, travels along with an annoying donkey for the purpose of bringing

a princess to a scheming lord who wishes to become a king.

4.1 The Original Story

“In nearly all complicated fairy tales there is some kind of conflict. The hero

must overcome obstacles in order he may at last win his reward. A large series of

stories […] confront the hero with some type of supernatural adversary” (Thompson

1977, 23). In Shrek a dragon is considered the adversary. This kind of story is

probably related to the one which in Thompson (1977) is called “The Dragon Slayer”

(24). Thompson thinks that this version is “a form of the tale which would seem to

22

include all the original elements” (24), and, in fact, “from this form, or one very

much like it, all the other thousand or more variants seem to have been derived” (24).

What is more, in terms of Shrek, the film, Hande and Birkalan (2005) in their study

also present that “Shrek puts a twist on the dragon-slayer type” (78). This is why it is

discussed in details in the following paragraphs.

For subsequent comparison, it is necessary to see the basic plot of the story:

A boy whose parents died sets out into the world. On his way, he gets a kind of

magic sword from an old man. “Everything that he strikes with it will fall dead. […]

He arrives at the royal city” (Thompson 1977, 24) which was threatened by a dragon

“who demands periodically a maiden as a sacrifice. […] and one day the lot has

fallen to the princess” (24). The king promises a reward to anyone who saves her.

The boy kills the dragon with his magic sword, “but he wants to experience some

adventures, so he agrees with the princess upon a definite time when they will see

each other again” (25). But there is the coachman “who threatens the princess with

death if she does not agree to tell the king that it is he who has slain the dragon” (25).

On the day of the wedding the boy (the real rescuer) appears at the castle. He brings

a proof of being the real rescuer, gets his reward and “the impostor is punished” (25).

There can be found many similarities between Shrek and the above cited story

called “The Dragon Slayer”. The most obvious one is the princess who should be

rescued from the dragon’s keep. But Shrek does not have a magic sword and he does

not kill the dragon in general. He finds the princess imprisoned in the tower and they

run away with the donkey (his assistant), who was until then entertaining the female

dragon.

Lord Farquaad could be compared to the coachman. He is also a kind of false

rescuer, he sends Shrek to save the princess instead of himself and then he wants to

23

be rewarded for something he has not managed. The justice comes on the wedding

day when Shrek is found being the real rescuer. He gets his reward (Princess Fiona)

and Lord Farquaad is punished – he is eaten by the dragon.

4.2 The Analysis of Shrek Using Propp’s Concept

Some elements of the fairy tale are changeable and some of them are

invariable. The names of characters and their “attributes” change, but the way they

act and also their “functions” remain the same (Propp 1968, 20). This means that “a

tale often attributes identical actions to various personages” (20). The substitution of

a prince or a knight by the character of Shrek might be explained by this. Also the

way characters fulfil their functions may alter (20). For example, although the dragon

should normally be killed, Shrek does not kill him. Yet, he still fulfils his function –

he saves the princess. In the following paragraphs the story of Shrek is analysed

according to its functions one after another.

“A tale usually begins with some sort of initial situation” (25). A hero is

introduced. In Shrek the hero is an ogre who lives in his swamp. After this initial

situation, several other functions appear. Although not all of the functions mentioned

by Propp can be found in Shrek, many of them can. Propp defines one of the most

important of them as “villainy” (30), and this function determines the direction of the

story. Many “forms of villainy” are known, since in almost every fairy tale a villain

appears. In Shrek, it is a dragon and the form of villainy may be called the

imprisonment of the princess. The spectator is not acquainted with the things which

preceded the imprisonment, whether it was an abduction, or a sacrifice, for example.

The spectator is told that “She was locked away in a castle guarded by a terrible fire-

breathing dragon” (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 01:00), but how she got there remains

unknown. Only one reason can be possibly assumed: she probably waits there for the

24

true love’s kiss which can break the spell (the enchantment of Princess Fiona will be

also discussed several paragraphs below).

Another function is “mediation, the connective incident” (Propp 1968, 36),

the hero comes to action. Two types of hero are distinguished. The first one is the

hero who goes to rescue someone, for example a kidnapped girl. This type of hero is

termed “seeker” (36). When a narration is focused on a fate of a victim, the same

example of kidnapped girl can be used, then a victim is the hero, the second type is

called “victimized hero” (36). Shrek might be a kind of a hero who is called

“seeker”. He goes in quest of the princess Fiona. He is sent by Lord Farquaad, who

wants to marry her for the purpose of becoming the king. Shrek wants to get his

swamp back, so he agrees with this task. And the “counteraction begins” (38).

The next function is “departure” (39). Shrek leaves his swamp and goes to

fulfil his task. This can be called the way of the “seeker”. On this way a new

character enters the tale – “the donor” (39). The donor gives “a magical agent” (43)

to the hero, but the moment when the hero receives a magical agent is preceded by

some situations. By these preceding situations several other functions which “prepare

the way for the receiving either magical agent or helper” (39) are meant. Usually the

hero has to stand the test to receive a magical agent or helper. After these situations,

another function, called the “provision or receipt of a magical agent” (43) follows.

Types of magical agent: “(1) animals” (43), “(2) objects out of which magical

helpers appear” (43), “(3) objects possessing a magical property” (44), “(4) qualities

or capacities which are directly given” (44). Several “forms by which they are

transmitted” (44) are known. For example “the agent is directly transferred” (44) or

“various characters place themselves at the disposal of the hero” (45), in the second

case the role of the donor is omitted, because the agent comes directly to the hero –

25

“It often happens that various magical creatures, without any warning, suddenly

appear or are met on the way and offer their services and are accepted as helpers”

(45 – 46). This case is exactly the one which appears in Shrek. Shrek meets the

donkey, who runs away from Lord Farquaad’s guards, and he unintentionally helps

him to get rid of them. By this good deed he deserves his future assistance.

According to Propp, the type of the magical agent which appears in Shrek is the first

one mentioned above – the animal. So it is the donkey who later helps Shrek to

accomplish the task, he is a magical helper here. Propp characterizes the magical

helper as a character with “extraordinary attributes” (46) or “characters possessing

various magical qualities” (46). The donkey in Shrek has one important extraordinary

attribute – he can talk and he talks very much.

The fairy tale reaches its peak when “the initial misfortune or lack is

liquidated” (53). This function is fulfilled when “the villain is defeated” (53). So the

hero has to come to the place where the object of the search is to be found. Then “the

hero and the villain join in direct combat” (51). There are more forms of “struggle”

(51), for example a competition or a fight in an open field. Fights with dragons

belong to the second category. In Shrek the fight has a fairly specific shape. When

the dragon appears (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 31:52), Shrek starts to fight with him

and he is catapulted by the dragon’s tail into the highest room of the tallest tower

where the princess is imprisoned (32:37). Then the dragon continues to chase the

donkey. The donkey fulfils his function of the magical helper, he uses his

extraordinary attribute – his ability to speak. He flatters the dragon (33:04), he

discovers that the dragon is a female (33:18), he captivates her and she falls in love

with him.

26

In the meantime Shrek finds the princess Fiona, who is “the object of a quest”

(Propp 1968, 54). According to Propp, there are some possibilities of obtaining the

object of a quest, for example “with the help of enticements” (54) or “through the use

of magical agent” (54), but in the case of Shrek it can be said that “the object of a

quest is obtained as the direct result of preceding actions” (54). There is also

a possibility of breaking a spell in order to obtain the object of a quest (55). Fiona is

also enchanted. She is waiting for her true love to kiss her, because only the true

love’s first kiss can break the spell. When Shrek appears in the tower, she expects to

be kissed by him. This is why she pretends to be asleep (Jenson and Adamson 2001,

35:07), because she wants him to kiss her as it happens in “Sleeping Beauty”. But

Shrek does not do it, he is in a hurry, because the dragon is not dead. So the function

of breaking a spell is not fulfilled yet.

The outcome of the battle between the hero (or his magical helper) and the

villain should be the victory of the hero. The villain is supposed to be defeated, in

other words the dragon is supposed to be killed (Propp 1968, 53). But in Shrek the

dragon remains alive. Shrek, the princess Fiona and the donkey escape from him – in

this case it is better to say “her”, because the dragon is a female, which is a crucial

thing (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 39:25).

The following function is the “return” (Propp 1968, 55), but this function is

not considered as a special one. In Shrek the return takes a relatively long part of the

film (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 37:45 – 01:04:26) and some important things

happen through this interval of about twenty five minutes. This part of the film

begins with another two functions, the first one is the “pursuit” (Propp 1968, 56).

The form of the pursuit is that “the pursuer flies after the hero” (56). The dragon tries

to catch Shrek, Fiona and the donkey, but the attempt to catch them is unsuccessful

27

(Jenson and Adamson 2001, 39:30). The result is the second function, called

“rescue” (Propp 1968, 57): they escape. Here is a brief recapitulation of what

happens on their way back: Princess Fiona reveals that Shrek is an ogre (41:10 –

until then he wore a helmet). At the beginning she is a bit disappointed (she awaited

a knight or a prince), she is told about Lord Farquaad for whom Shrek rescued her.

Later she and Shrek become closer, it appears that Fiona is not a typical princess –

for example when she fights with Robin Hood and his crew (50:21). The donkey

discovers that Fiona is cursed (59:32). Shrek thinks that she does not want him,

because he is an ogre, but she wants him, but she is afraid to say it to him because of

her spell. When they start talking about it, Lord Farquaad appears (01:04:30). There

is a misunderstanding among them, Fiona is offended so she leaves and Shrek is sad

(01:06:18).

Lord Farquaad can be marked as a “false hero” (Propp 1968, 60). He did not

rescue the princess himself, nevertheless he “presents unfounded claims” (60) – he

takes the princess to his castle and organizes a wedding ceremony. The wedding is

interrupted by Shrek, who comes to DuLoc to tell Fiona that he really loves her. He

is “recognized” (62), Fiona realizes that his feelings are true. And the “false hero is

exposed” (62), Lord Farquaad appears as an insincere and selfish coward – when

Fiona changes into her ugly form, he is disgusted and he calls the guards on her and

on Shrek (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 01:15:54). This is followed by a “punishment”

(Propp 1968, 63). Lord Farquaad is eaten by the dragon. The fairy tale ends with the

“wedding” (63), Shrek and Fiona get married.

It should be added that one of the functions is “transfiguration” (62). Fiona is

supposed to be “given a new appearance” (62), the spell should be broken by the true

love’s first kiss. Shrek kisses Fiona and after that she is supposed to be beautiful. But

28

this function is not fulfilled – she remains ugly. To read more about this see the the

individual subchapter “The Spell”.

Beyond identifying the structure of Shrek in Propp’s formalist framework, it

may also be fruitful to see how the modern story is related to its pretexts, similar,

earlier fairy tales that are reworked by the film. As it was pointed out above, “The

Dragon Slayer” tale provides the basic story of Shrek. That story, however, has a

more complex initial situation:

A poor married couple have two children, a boy and a girl. When the

parents die, they leave behind them only a small house and three sheep. The

girl inherits the house, and the boy the animals. He exchanges these animals

for three marvellous dogs and sets out with them into the world (Thompson

1977, 24).

Then the donor appears, the hero meets an old man or woman. In Shrek the role of

the donor is omitted. The donor gives a magical agent to the hero. Also the type of

the magical agent is different in both stories, in Shrek it is an animal who appears

accidentally and has a role of a magical helper, unlike in “The Dragon Slayer,”

where it is “a magic sword or a magic stick” and “everything he strikes with it will

fall dead” (25), which can be classified as an object possessing a magical property

(Propp 1968, 43). The three marvellous dogs can be marked as magical helpers,

because they “help him [the hero] by holding the dragon fast” (25).

The part which follows can be called according to what Thompson (1977)

named the “Dragon Rescue Tale” (27) and it is similar to what happens in Shrek. The

hero is introduced to the problem which leads to a fight with a dragon. But there are

some differences. In “The Dragon Slayer” the princess is also imprisoned by

the dragon, but the connective incident here is different. “A call for help is given”,

29

the call here comes from the king, who “promises that whoever saves the princess

shall have her hand and half his kingdom” (Thompson 1977, 24). Propp (1968)

presents that “The villain demands or entices his victim” (32), in “The Dragon

Slayer” the dragon’s demand is the following: “A dragon demands periodically

a maiden as a sacrifice” (Thompson 1977, 24) so the reason of the imprisonment of

the princess is obvious unlike in Shrek, where the reason of imprisonment is not

known.

In “The Dragon Slayer”, the hero kills the dragon. They fight in an open field

and the hero uses the magical agent: “He goes against him and with his sword strikes

off all his heads” (24 – 25). The villain is defeated – he is beaten in open combat.

The hero is branded (Propp 1968, 52 – 53), this function is absent in Shrek. “The

hero cuts the tongues from the dragon’s heads and puts them into his pocket”

(Thompson 1977, 25), because he assumes that he will need them later. According to

Propp (1968), the princess is obtained as the result of combat (54).

But in “The Dragon Slayer” the hero does not return with the princess: “The

hero wants to wander about for a while and to experience adventures. They agree

upon a definite time when they will see each other again” (Thompson 1977, 25).

Now a false hero comes to the scene. In this case it is the coachman, “who has

accompanied the princess” (25). He presents unfounded claims: “He threatens her

with death if she will not agree, on oath, to tell the king that it is he who slain the

dragon” (25). The king is happy to see his daughter alive and the time for the

wedding is fixed. On the day of the wedding the hero returns and he is recognized.

He shows the dragon’s tongues as the proof. “The king and all those present

acknowledge him as the true rescuer of the princess” (25). The false hero is punished

and the real rescuer marries the princess.

30

For a better comparison of both stories, there are two patterns created

according to the Morphology of the Folktale written by Vladimir Propp (1968). Each

pattern represents the functions which are contained in each story. Every function has

its special symbol, superscripts and subscripts specify the process of particular

function. To understand the meaning of the symbols see explanatory notes organized

in a table which is situated in the Appendix.

**

411269

215 Pr WUExQLRsKIHGFCBA pnD

Figure 1: Shrek

**

42112118 WUExQLKJIHGFDCBA pnD

Figure 2: The Dragon Slayer

Comparing the two schemes it is revealed that their structure is with minor

exceptions the same. Both patterns include the same functions, only in the first one,

in contrast to the second one, there are two more functions – pursuit of the hero (Pr)

and rescue of the hero (Rs), and one function is absent – the function of the donor

(D). Also, the way the functions are fulfilled is in some cases different. For example,

see the function of villainy (A): it appears in both schemes, but the superscript is

different, which means that the villainy takes different forms in the stories.

From the schemes themselves, the specific character who fulfils a particular

function cannot be identified, only some roles can be recognized – for example the

hero, the villain, the false hero. It does not matter that in Shrek the hero is an ogre

and in “The Dragon Slayer” the hero is an ordinary boy. This is because Propp does

not consider it to be important for the structure of the story. In Propp’s system, the

“question of what a tale’s dramatis personae do is an important one, but the questions

of who does it and how it is done” is of only secondary importance (Propp 1968, 20).

31

4.3 Elements and Motifs Borrowed from Folk Tales

Many references to various folk tales can be found in Shrek. A major part of

the characters and also the way they act could be seen before in different fairy tales.

The cause of the occurrence of the identical motifs in more stories is explained by

Jack Zipes (2002) as follows:

With urbanization and the expansion of the publishing industry the

mediation and transformation of the folk tale as fairy tale took on greater

proportions and has affected the general public's view of the folk tales in

the twentieth century (18).

He also presents some of the most significant tendencies in the nineteenth century,

here are several examples of them: “Folk tales were rewritten and made into didactic

fairy tales for children so that they would not be harmed by the violence, crudity and

fantastic exaggeration of the originals” (18), “Folk tales were transformed into trivial

tales, and new fairy tales were composed to amuse and distract audiences and make

money” (18), “Serious artists created new fairy tales from folk motifs and basic plot

situations” (18). Also the reason why the plots of many stories and the motifs or

themes which appears there are so similar to each other can be understood in this

way.

The story of Shrek is also based on some motifs which were used in many

stories before. The first of these borrowed and reworked motifs which appear in

Shrek is an enchantment or a spell which appears in various forms in many famous

folk tales. Another motif which occurred before in a lot of folk tales is the character

of a dragon. And finally the motif of a quest is discussed, which also appears earlier,

before Shrek was filmed, in some tales.

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4.3.1 The Spell

A consequence of a spell can be called transformation which means that

“someone changes from one form into another” (Garry 2005, 125), a very important

point is that a person is transformed by another person, usually by a witch, and thus it

can be also called “enchantment or bewitchment” (125). A spell which caused a

transformation can usually be broken and an enchanted person changes back into

their original form. This is the case of Princess Fiona in Shrek (discussed in details in

the next paragraph). Otherwise a transformation may also be voluntary; the process

of this is called “shape-shifting” (125). This kind of transformation can be seen in

Grimms’ “Jorinda and Joringel” where an old woman who is a kind of witch changes

her form: “During the day, she took the shape of either a cat or a night owl, but in the

evening she returned to her human form” (Daniel 2011, 224).

There are many forms of transformation, for example an “ugly man can

become handsome” (Garry 2005, 125) or “people transform into various animals”

(125) and also the other way around. Fiona’s transformation in Shrek can be

explained by these words: “When Fiona was a little girl, a witch cast a spell on her.

When the sun goes down she becomes an ugly beast. She was placed in a tower to

await the day her true love would rescue her” (Jenson & Adamson 2001, 59:48 –

01:00:27). According to Garry’s essay written on the topic of transformation this

kind of transformation can be called “repeated transformation” (Garry 2005, 126), it

means that an enchanted person changes their forms – Fiona is ugly at night and

beautiful by day and it is repeated day after day until the spell is broken.

The motif of a curse of a similar nature can also be found in “Beauty and the

Beast”. The Beast becomes a prince only at the moment when Beauty tells him that

33

she cannot live without him and that she wants to marry him (Bettelheim 2000, 300).

In this case a spell is broken by true love, just as it was supposed to happen in Shrek.

A somewhat different kind of breaking of a curse occurs in “The Frog

Prince”. In this fairy tale a prince enchanted into a frog gets his original form back

when a princess, annoyed by his desire of sleeping with her in a bed, hurls him

against the wall (Daniel 2011, 28). In another version of this tale a frog becomes a

prince after it is kissed by the princess (Bettelheim 2000, 282). Fiona should be also

kissed by her true love in order to break the spell and become a beauty.

One of the most well-known illustrations of breaking a spell by a kiss is to be

found in “Sleeping Beauty”. One of the thirteen Wise Women casts a spell on

a princess and when she pricks her finger on a spindle, she falls into a deep sleep.

Then a prince comes to rescue her: “He bent to kiss her. Just as his lips touched hers,

she opened her eyes and awoke, and gazed at him tenderly” (Daniel 2011, 181).

A spell in Grimms’ “Snow White and Rose Red” is of another kind. It is not

broken by a kiss but by death of an enemy. A prince is enchanted into a bear: “I was

put under a spell by that wicked dwarf who ran off with my treasure. I was to remain

a wild bear running through the woods, and only his death could free me” (Daniel

2011, 264 – 265).

In Grimms’ “Little Brother and Little Sister” there can also be seen a kind of

spell when a man is enchanted into an animal and only the death of the person who

casted the spell on him causes his return to the human form, just as it happens in the

previously mentioned story. A boy drinks “from an enchanted stream and is turned

into a deer” (39). He returns to his human form when a witch who “cast a spell on all

the springs in the forest” (40), dies, she is burned and “turns to ash” (47).

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In “Snow White” there is not a spell in the true sense of the word. An evil

queen is jealous of her stepdaughter and she is trying to kill her several times, and

her last attempt is successful: she gives a poisoned apple to Snow White and she falls

dead. In Disney’s version of “Snow White”, “she returns to life when the prince, who

has searched far and wide for her, arrives and bestows a kiss on her lips. His kiss of

love is the only antidote to the queen’s poison” (Zipes 1994, 89).

In Shrek everything is revealed on the wedding day, when Shrek comes to

DuLoc to prevent Fiona from getting married and to tell her that he loves her. The

sun goes down and Fiona changes into her ugly form (Jenson and Adamson 2001,

01:14:40). This happens before she is given a kiss from Lord Farquaad. He is

disgusted by his future wife’s transformation and he wants to let her and Shrek

arrested by his guards. Fortunately, Shrek whistles at the dragon that comes to eat the

wicked Lord. Then he tells Fiona what he really feels for her and they kiss each other

(01:16:26). Fiona is told by a magic voice: “Until you find true love’s first kiss and

then take love’s true form.” The curse is broken, but Fiona remains ugly (01:17:25).

The film ends with the words “And they lived ugly ever after” (01:20:48).

Elizabeth Tucker (2005) writes about the sort of spell which occurs in Shrek

in her essay about bewitchment: “The movie Shrek (2001) reverses the usual

direction of transformation: instead of choosing to become beautiful by traditional

standards, the young woman who has been enchanted decides to keep her ogrelike

appearance” (169). This claim can be considered somewhat questionable because

Fiona looks surprised when she remains in her ugly form after the spell is broken. It

is evident that she has expected to be beautiful: “But I don’t understand. I’m

supposed to be beautiful” (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 01:18:30). She did not decide

35

to keep her ugly form voluntary, but there might be several reasons why it happens

just this way:

1) She remains in her ogrelike appearance because it is her love’s true form as it

can be heard in the moment of her transformation. She gets the true love’s

kiss from Shrek, who is an ogre, so she remains in her ugly form in order to

fit together with him.

2) It is comical for the audience that the princess remains in her ugly form and

with Shrek they make an odd couple.

3) The film aims to call the spectator’s attention to the maxim that physical

beauty is not important. When Fiona does not transform into a beauty, Shrek

tells her: “But you are beautiful” (01:18:36).

These three possible reasons are supported by the fact that in Shrek many

things happen in a different way than in other fairy tales, as it follows from this thesis

– for example the dragon is not killed but tamed, or the rescuer of the princess is not

Prince Charming, but an ogre. Similarly, the film ends with words which are used in

many fairy tales, but in Shrek they are a bit changed: “And they lived ugly ever after”

(01:20:48). So it is not unexpected that the direction of transformation is opposite

from the usual one.

To summarize this chapter, it should be pointed out that Princess Fiona is

enchanted, she changes her form – she is ugly at night and beautiful by day, and this

spell can be broken by true love’s first kiss. A motif of a spell occurs in many other

fairy tales, for example in “Snow White and Rose Red” or in “Little Brother and

Little Sister”, a curse of a similar nature to that in Shrek can be found in “Beauty and

the Beast”, where the spell is also broken by true love. A kiss breaks a spell in “The

Frog Prince” and in “Sleeping Beauty” and also in Disney’s “Snow White”. Yet,

36

while in all of the other examples when the spell is broken, the enchanted person is

transformed back into their human or beautiful form or is brought back into life, in

Shrek the transformation has an opposite direction – Fiona remains in her ugly form.

4.3.2 The Dragon

According to Thompson (1977) the dragon can be classified as a kind of a

supernatural adversary (23). Other possible examples of such adversaries are, for

instance, a horrible animal, or an undefined monster, yet the dragon can be marked as

a typical example. The confrontation of the hero with some type of supernatural

adversary creates the basic conflict on which the plot of the folk tale is usually built.

Thompson presents two folk tales where the dragon appears – “The Dragon Slayer”

which was also discussed above and “The Two Brothers”. The second tale is more

complex, but it contains the whole story of “The Dragon Slayer”, which is simpler

and this is why this story is supposed to be older from an evolutionary point of view.

The episode of the story where the dragon appears:

He [the hero] discovers that a seven-headed dragon who lives on a

mountain in the neighbourhood demands periodically a maiden as

a sacrifice, else he will lay waste the entire country. The sacrifice has been

agreed upon and the lot has fallen to the princess. The king promises that

whoever saves her shall have her hand and half his kingdom. The young

man goes with his animals to the place where the dragon lives and reaches

there at the same time as the princess, who has been brought by the king’s

coachman. He [the hero] approaches her, comforts her, and promises to

fight the dragon for her. The monster appears with a great roar, but the

young man does not let himself be frightened. He goes against him and

with his sword strikes off all his heads. In this action, the dogs help him by

37

holding the dragon fast. The hero now cuts out the tongues from the

dragon’s heads and put them into his pocket (Thompson 1977, 24 – 25).

There are more stories which contain the same central core: “the rescue from the

dragon, the impostor, the dragon-tongue proof, and the marriage with the princess”

(27), and therefore these tales are called “Dragon Rescue tales” (27). There might be

some connection between these stories and the legend of “Saint George and the

Dragon”, as well (Birkalan and Garry 2005, 28).

According to another publication, the dragon may be classified also as

a mythical animal (73). “The dragon slayer element” refers to “the Greek myth of

Perseus and Andromeda” (76). The dragon can be defined as a “reptilian monster,

often represented with wings, huge claws, and fiery breath. It is usually a male figure

as a composite of a snake and crocodile, its body covered with scales” (73). The fact

that female dragons appear rarely, is emphasized (73). But in Shrek it is revealed that

the terrible fire-breathing dragon is a female, which is an important detail. Initially,

she is a villain, but then she falls in love with the donkey and “[she] gradually

becomes positive character under the influence of the donkey” (Issina et al. 2012,

152), her role changes into a helper (in details discussed above, in the subchapter

4.2).

The fight with the dragon is also not a typical one in Shrek. It is generally

known that the dragon is supposed to be killed by the hero, as it happens for example

in such folk tales as “The Dragon Slayer” or “The Two brothers” (Thompson 1977,

24 – 25). The hero who kills the dragon is usually a knight or a prince. This fact is

also awaited by the princess Fiona. When Shrek comes to the room in the tower and

sees Fiona for the first time, she lies on her bed and she pretends to sleep, because

she wants to be kissed by him (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 33:48). Shrek is wearing

38

a helmet, which is an important detail. He asks her: “Are you Princess Fiona?”

(34:23). And she answers: “I am, awaiting a knight so bold as to rescue me” (34:24).

She addresses him “Sir Knight” (34:30). It is obvious, that she imagined their first

meeting differently. She tells him exactly what he is supposed to do: “Should it not

be a wonderful, romantic moment? You should sweep me off my feet… out yonder

window and down a rope onto your valiant steed” (34:31 – 34:45). A few minutes

later she wonders why he did not kill the dragon: “You didn’t slay the dragon?”

(35:26). She protests against his course of action: “But this isn’t right! You were

meant to charge in, sword drawn, banner flying. That’s what all the other knights

did” (35:30 – 35:36). But Shrek is not a knight, he is an ogre, which the princess

discovers after he takes off his helmet. She seems to be disappointed: “You’re an

ogre” and Shrek says: “Oh, you were expecting Prince Charming”, she agrees:

“Well, yes, actually. Oh, no. This is all wrong. You’re not supposed to be an ogre”

(Jenson and Adamson 2001, 41:16 – 41:31). So there are two unusual things in

Shrek, an extraordinary hero, and an atypical dragon fight - not only that the female

dragon stays alive, but she is also tamed by the donkey and she falls in love with

him.

A similar unusual hero and his fight with the dragon can be seen in the story

“Farmer Giles of Ham” written by J.R.R. Tolkien. The hero of this story is an

ordinary man who lives in a village. According to what is said in the beginning of the

story, he is no brave or fearless person: “He was a slow sort of fellow, rather set in

his ways, and taken up with his own affairs. He had his hands full (he said) keeping

the wolf from the door: that is, keeping himself as fat and comfortable as his father

before him” (Tolkien 2000, 10). One day, a giant strays to the village and he destroys

some houses and devours cattle. Farmer Giles, warned by his dog, causes the

39

departure of that giant and after this “heroical act” other villagers consider him a

hero. This is also why when a dragon which endangers the village appears, Farmer

Giles is supposed to fight with him and save his neighbours’ lives and property.

Giles is not enthusiastic about the possibility of a fight with a dragon and he

is looking for some excuses, for example: “Me go dragon-hunting? In my old

leggings and waistcoat? Dragon-fights need some kind of armour, from all I’ve heard

tell. There isn’t any armour in this house, and that’s a fact” (35). But later he is

forced to go into battle anyway. Giles manages to frighten the dragon with his sword

called Tailbiter, the dragon surrenders and he promises to bring his treasure to pay

damages which he had committed. When the king hears this news, he makes

demands on the dragon's treasure. But the dragon does not keep his promise and he

does not return with his treasure. So Giles has to go to the battle for the second time

and he makes an agreement with the dragon – the dragon wants to leave the rest of

his treasure and in return for this he promises: “If you will leave me what remains,

I'll be your friend for ever. And I will carry all this treasure back to your honour's

own house and not to the King's. And I will help you to keep it, what is more” (64).

When Giles returns to Ham with the dragon and the treasure, he becomes a

powerful, respectable and very rich man – “the man who has a tame dragon is

naturally respected” (74). And “in the end Giles became a king” (75). Finally he let

the dragon fly back to the mountains and “they parted with many expressions of

mutual esteem, and a pact of non-aggression upon either side” (78).

When this story “Farmer Giles of Ham” is compared to Shrek, specifically the

dragon fight, two similarities are obvious – the dragon is not killed in the battle, he

remains alive, furthermore he is tamed and he becomes the helper of the hero – he

helps the hero to defeat “a false hero who presents unfounded claims” (Propp 1968,

40

60). In the case of Shrek the dragon helps Shrek to defeat Lord Farquaad who wants

to gain bigger power and therefore he need to marry the princess who he did not

rescue himself, whereas in “Farmer Giles of Ham” the dragon helps Giles to dispose

the King who makes unjustified claims to the dragon's treasure which belongs by

right to Giles.

As I have pointed out, in Shrek the hero is supposed to defeat a dragon in

order to rescue a princess. According to Thompson, Shrek can be considered

a Dragon Rescue tale, as it has a similar plot as the folk tale “The Dragon Slayer”

from which it is probably derived. But in Shrek, some characters and situations differ

from the original story and also from what is considered standard. The most

important differences are the following: the hero is an ogre, he does not kill the

dragon, furthermore the dragon is a female and she is tamed by the donkey and then

she becomes a helper of the hero. With its peculiarities, the story of Shrek can be

likened to Tolkien’s story “Farmer Giles of Ham” which also contains an unusual

hero who tames the dragon.

4.3.3 The Quest

Vladimir Propp (1968) divided heroes into victimized heroes and seekers

(36), which has been already discussed above in the subchapter “The Analysis of

Shrek Using Propp’s Concept”. It is usually the type of the hero called seeker who

typically goes on a quest (Garry 2005, 249). A quest is typically connected with

fulfilling a sort of task which tests a hero “who must perform [it] in order to defeat

evil, restore order, and/or achieve union with a woman (or man)” (249). Tasks may

be of different forms, for example “impossible, contrary to the laws of nature,

paradoxical, tedious, or superhuman” (250).

41

Some kind of task appears in many tales, a good example here can be the

Grimms’ story “Rumpeltiltskin” (Daniel 2011, 201 – 205). “In this tale, an odd little

man helps a maiden spin straw into gold. In return, she must give him her firstborn

child, whom she can only win back by guessing the man’s name” (201). There are

even two tasks given in this story: the first one is the task of spinning straw into gold

which is a prelude to the second one – guessing the name of the supernatural helper

(Garry 2005, 250). Another example can be “The Devil with the Three Golden

Hairs” (Daniel 2011, 145 – 157). The king wants to prevent a boy from getting

married with a princess, so he gives a difficult task (which he thinks is impossible to

fulfil) to this boy: “the king challenges him to bring back three hairs from the Devil”

(145).

According to Thompson (1977), there are “some half a dozen” tales in which

the quest is the central event (105). “The Dragon Slayer”, which was mentioned

several times in this paper and which is most likely an original story used as a pattern

for the story of Shrek, belongs to the category where the quest constitutes the main

part of the story (Garry 2005, 250). The kind of quest here is based on searching for a

princess who is imprisoned by a dragon, and the task here can be specified as

defeating a villain (a dragon in this case) in order to rescue the princess. The quest

which figures in Shrek is exactly of the same kind.

Shrek comes to it by sheer chance. He wants his swamp back and he comes to

DuLoc to talk with Lord Farquaad. When he comes there, he by chance becomes the

champion of a tournament. Lord Farquaad amazed by Shrek’s strength immediately

uses the opportunity and sends Shrek on the quest for Princess Fiona instead of going

on his own: “You’ve won the honour of embarking on a great and noble quest”

(Jenson and Adamson 2001, 24:39). Shrek answers: “Quest? I’m already on a quest,

42

a quest to get my swamp back” (24:44). Then Lord Farquaad offers Shrek to close a

deal: “Go on this quest for me, and I’ll give you your swamp back” (24:57). So

Shrek goes on a quest to rescue Princess Fiona who is “locked away in a castle

guarded by a terrible fire-breathing dragon” (00:46 – 01:04).

Unlike in “The Dragon Slayer”, in Shrek there is one more task connected

with the quest beyond defeating the dragon – the breaking of the spell which is

casted on Princess Fiona: “But she [Fiona] had an enchantment upon her of a fearful

sort, which could only be broken by love’s first kiss” (00:52 – 00:57).

A quest of a similar kind as in Shrek appears in Grimms’ story “Jorinda and

Joringel” (Daniel 2011, 223 – 227). The difference is that in this case a villain is not

a dragon, but a witch and also a spell casted on a victim has a bit different form. A

boy is searching for a girl who is enchanted to a bird and imprisoned by a witch in

her castle.

As it was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, in some fairy tales, the

hero is a seeker and he is supposed to go on a quest and fulfil a task. As it was

discussed above, Shrek is a seeker and he goes on a quest – he has to find Princess

Fiona and rescue her from the dragon’s keep. He does all of this in order to get his

swamp back, but later he falls in love with the princess and he also breaks the spell

which is casted on her. A very similar kind of quest can be found in the fairy tale

“Jorinda and Joringel”, where a boy also searches for an enchanted girl. In other

words, in terms of the quest, Shrek is a classical fairy tale, and does not significantly

modify the prototypical structure.

43

5 Parody

Dentith (2000) explains the nature of a parody as repeating someone’s

utterance, which, however, includes not only simply parroting what one has heard,

but also adding something of one’s own, including their attitudes, which in turn has

a disturbing effect on the utterance that is repeated (4). In Dentith’s opinion, it can

thus be simply said that “parody involves the imitation and transformation of

another’s words” (3). In his definition of parody, it “includes any cultural practice

which provides a relatively polemical allusive imitation of another cultural

production or practice” (9).

As it follows from the definition, a very important factor when talking about

parody is intertextuality, which means “interrelatedness of writing, the fact that all

written utterances – texts – situate themselves in relation to texts that precede them,

and are in turn alluded to or repudiated by texts that follow” (5). Authors of parody

make an intertextual allusion to a preceding text and repudiate it (5). Allusions are

made to elements of which individual texts are constituted – “their constant and

inevitable use of readymade formulations, catch phrases, slang jargon, cliché,

commonplaces, unconscious echoes, and formulaic phrases” (5) and represents them

in variously evaluative ways (5). When an author of a parody has a negative attitude,

the parody can be written in the “attacking mode” (9), this kind of parody can be

described as “subversive” (9) and has a critical function (32), it often “seizes

on particular aspects of a manner or a style and exaggerate it to ludicrous effect”

(32).

Dentith (2000) distinguishes between specific parody, which is “aimed at a

specific precursor text” (7) and general parody, which is aimed “at a whole body of

texts or kind of discourse” (7). According to this division, Shrek could be classified

44

as a general parody of the folk tale as a genre, and also of Walt Disney and his work

in general.

5.1 Shrek as a Parody of the Folk Tale as a Genre

As it follows from this thesis, Shrek is a modern fairy tale that fulfils the

requirements of parody which are pointed out in the previous chapter. The film is

based on motifs taken from several folk tales, these motifs are imitated and some of

them are also transformed, so they give a ridiculous impression. There can be found

many allusions to preceding texts, in this case to preceding folk tales and to the

motifs which are taken from them (these motifs can be seen in the subchapter

“Elements and Motifs Borrowed from Folk Tales”). The frame of Shrek is the same

as in the folk tale “The Dragon Slayer” (see the subchapter “The Original Story”),

the hero goes on a quest, he searches for a princess who awaits her rescuer while

imprisoned or guarded by a dragon. But in Shrek, things happen somewhat

differently than it is considered standard, according to folk tales.

The first thing which is peculiar on this film is the hero himself. Instead of a

brave knight or a noble prince the hero who is sent on a quest in this case is an ugly

ogre. His first meeting with the princess does not meet her expectations (in details

discussed in the chapter “The Dragon”). The princess herself is surprised by the

process of this meeting. She tells Shrek exactly what he is supposed to do, but

everything that Shrek does is a parody of what should be done. She wants to be

kissed by her rescuer, but he tells her that they have no time. A very comical moment

is, for example, when she gives him her handkerchief: “I pray that you take this

favour as a token of my gratitude” (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 35:15). And he wipes

his forehead with it and gives it back to her. Then the princess wonders if the dragon

45

is still alive, but Shrek does not care. When she discovers that she was rescued by an

ogre, she confesses that she awaited a bold knight or Prince Charming.

Another difference is the dragon itself. In folk tales, it is depicted as a

frightening monster who devours people and burns everything with its fiery breath,

but in Shrek it is a lovely female who falls in love with the donkey – Shrek’s helper,

and she becomes tamed and helpful.

The enchanted Princess Fiona who on the way back to DuLoc showed that

she can behave very unconventionally (in details discussed in the chapter “Shrek:

Breaking Disney’s stereotypes”) is in the end kissed by Shrek, and at this moment

the spell should be broken, but the transformation has an opposite direction and she

remains in her ugly form forever. With Shrek, they form an ugly couple and the film

ends with a parodied formulaic phrase: instead of “And they lived happily ever after”

comes “And they lived ugly ever after” (01:20:48).

From this recapitulation of peculiarities which occur in Shrek it should be

obvious that this film can be described as parody. Many relations to texts that

preceded Shrek are evident, whether one means the story of “The Dragon Slayer”

(the allusions to this story are clear, which follows also from the analysis according

to Propp’s theory of functions) or for example other folk tales which contain some

kind of spell, as it has been already discussed in chapters above.

5.2 Shrek as a Parody on Disney’s World

If one was talking about parody written in attacking mode (see the chapter

Parody), Shrek is also an example of this kind of parody. It imitates Disney’s perfect

world and exaggerates it to ludicrous effect. Shrek also breaks all of the stereotypes

which occur in Disney’s works.

46

The following subchapter aims to provide a catalogue of characteristic

principles of Disney’s fairy tale production, including the stereotypes which occur in

his famous animations. The subchapter after that then focuses on how Shrek breaks

these stereotypes and opposes this way Disney’s works.

5.2.1 Walt Disney’s Influence on Animated Fairy Tales

As Zipes (1994) presents in his publication Fairy Tale as Myth, it is Walt

Disney whose versions of fairy tales are perhaps best-known:

Disney employed the most up-to-date technological means and used his

own “American” grit and ingenuity to appropriate the European fairy tales.

His technical skills and ideological proclivities were so consummate that

his signature has obfuscated the names of Charles Perrault, the Brothers

Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Collodi. If children or adults think of

the great classical fairy tales today, be it Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or

Cinderella, they will think Walt Disney (72).

His animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs “became the first

definitive animated fairy-tale film – definitive in the sense that it was to define the

way other animated films in the genre of the fairy tale were to be made” (84). Disney

has dominated animation and mass-mediated fairy tales (Zipes 2002, 230).

In Disney’s animated films there can be found some features which connect

all of his works, one of them is “the common stereotype of a male character

perceived as an active hero rescuing passive heroines” (Jančík 2011, 62) and another

one can be that in most of his works “[c]entral protagonists are represented as

physically attractive, strong and powerful heterosexual human couples who win

against evil” (Jančík 2011, 64).

47

Zipes (1994) writes about Disney’s “reinforcement of patriarchy” (74), since

“his production has become a typical example of applying patriarchal archetypes”

(Dostálek 2011, 48). At the same time, “[Disney] shared patriarchal notions with the

Grimms” (Zipes 1994, 89). This can be seen, for example, “when Snow White

arrives at the cabin, she pleads with the dwarfs to allow her to remain and promises

that she will wash the dishes, mend their clothes, and clean the house” (89). In other

words, Disney depicted the female heroine as a gentle human being who stays at

home and cares about the household (for example Snow White or Cinderella). He

standardized female characters, he put them into two groups: “passive, good women

and active, evil women” (Dostálek 2011, 48). The heroines are “pale and pathetic”

(Zipes 1994, 90) unlike “more active and demonic characters in the film” (90).

Also the perfect external appearance of heroines is typical for Disney’s

animations. His heroines are also beautiful, “the Princess is represented as the

embodiment of perfect beauty” (Jančík 2011, 63) and they have perfect figure

“Disney exalts the ideal of the slim body in particular” (Hudec 2011, 19).

One, of course, has to acknowledge that in the latest works of the Disney

Studios the heroines changed: “passive princesses developed into independent open-

minded heroines who often managed to overshadow their male counterparts who

were frequently depicted either as aggressive individuals” (Jančík 2011, 65). At the

same time, one has to realize that this change appeared only contemporaneously

with, or after the production of Shrek and the appearance of other, CGI-animated

competitors. In other words, this change itself might be a reaction to films similar to

Shrek, and their critical reworking of the “Disney-model.”

48

5.2.2 Shrek: Breaking Disney’s Stereotypes

Lord Farquaad, who has to marry a princess to become a king, can choose his

future wife from the three princesses which are offered to him by the magic mirror.

The first one is Cinderella, who is introduced by the mirror this way: “Bachelorette

number one is a mentally abused shut-in from a kingdom far, far away. She likes

sushi and hot tubbing anytime. Her hobbies include cooking and cleaning for her two

evil sisters. Please welcome Cinderella” (Jenson and Adamson 2001, 18:53 – 19:03).

The second one is Snow White: “Bachelorette number two is a cape-wearing girl

from the land of fancy. Although she lives with seven other men, she’s not easy. Just

kiss her dead, frozen lips and find out what a live wire she is. Come on. Give it up

for Snow White!” (19:03 – 19:13). And the third one is Fiona: “And last, but

certainly not least, bachelorette number three is a fiery redhead from a

dragon-guarded castle surrounded by hot boiling lava! But don’t let that cool you off.

She’s a loaded pistol who likes pina coladas and getting caught in the rain. Yours for

the rescuing, Princess Fiona!” (19:13 – 19:29). In this advertising of future wives,

which is according to Zipes (2002) “a parody of the TV program ‘The Dating

Game’” (229), Lord Farquaad chooses Princess Fiona. The two remaining princesses

Cinderella and Snow White are protagonists of Disney’s famous animations, but

Fiona is not taken from Disney, she is different.

Although in Shrek the same basic stereotype can be found as in Disney, a

male character is perceived as an active hero rescuing passive heroines, it is revealed

later that Fiona is not as passive as the impression made by her fragile and beautiful

appearance might suggest. In the beginning, she plays her role of a typical princess –

she is waiting locked in the highest tower, awaiting a bold knight who comes to

rescue her. She also pretends to be asleep in order to be kissed by her rescuer who is

49

supposed to be her true love. Yet, the fact that she is not a typical princess can be

seen on the way back to DuLoc. She belches as Shrek does, in this moment Shrek

says “You know, you’re not exactly what I expected” (Jenson and Adamson 2001,

49:07), by these words he demonstrates that he expects different manners from a

princess. And she continues to amaze: she shows that she can do karate in a fight

with Robin Hood and his crew, she pulls an arrow from wounded Shrek, she is not

afraid of spiders nor snakes, she eats a weedrat (49:00 – 57:14). The princess who

behaves so unconventionally does not have much in common with Disney’s passive

heroines.

Fiona always looks for some excuses why she has to go to sleep before

sunset, once she is afraid of robbers in the woods, then she is afraid of the dark, but

the right reason of this is that she is enchanted and takes her ugly ogrelike form when

the sun goes down and she does not want to be seen. When the donkey reveals how

the princess looks at night, she tells him: “This is not how a princess is meant to

look” (01:00:54). Here another stereotype which occurs in Disney’s animations is

broken – as it was cited in the previous chapter “the Princess is represented as the

embodiment of perfect beauty” (Jančík 2011, 63). Fiona in her ugly form is not a

perfect beauty, she has not what is supposed to be a pretty face and she does not have

a perfect figure, but in Shrek these qualities are not considered important. This idea is

strengthened when in the end Fiona and Shrek get married. An ogre who stands on

the edge of society, because he is so ugly that people are scared of him, is not

considered an appropriate husband for a princess. Finally Shrek gives Fiona a true

love’s first kiss and Fiona does not transform into a beauty, but she remains in her

ugly form. The film ends with words: “And they lived ugly ever after” (01:20:48).

The couple of two ugly creatures could be resolutely refused in Disney’s animations.

50

This breaks one of Disney’s stereotypes which is also cited in the previous chapter:

“[c]entral protagonists are represented as physically attractive, strong and powerful

heterosexual human couples” (Jančík 2011, 64).

That in Shrek perfection is not important can be seen also on other examples.

Lord Farquaad is a paradoxical character, he is depicted as a person who longs for

perfection while he himself is not perfect. He is small in stature and has a

disproportionately big head which does not comply with Disney’s demands on

perfection. But he has a perfect castle called DuLoc and he also desires to have a

perfect kingdom. Zipes (2002) compares DuLoc to “the artificial Disney world”

(229). According to him, DuLoc is “depicted as a sanitized Disney world in perfect

symmetry” (229). If the world of Lord Farquaad which means primarily DuLoc is

taken as a symbol of the perfect Disney world, then the world of Shrek as a symbol

of freedom and imperfectness stands in opposition. This includes many contrasts: the

artificiality of DuLoc versus “the natural beauty of the swamp, conformists versus

outsiders, conventionality versus unconventionality, the tyranny of symmetry and

homogenization versus the freedom of unsymmetry and heterogeneity” (229). With

all this breaking of Disney’s stereotypes of perfection and exposing them to ridicule,

Shrek is in fact a critique and a parody on Disney’s works.

51

6 Conclusion

One of the aims of this thesis was to find some recurring features which

appear in fairy tales and subsequently ascertain if they also occur in Shrek. Recurring

features which were determined are the following: the polarization, stereotypical

phrases used in the beginning and at the end of the stories, and the happy ending

principle. These features can be applied on fairy tales in general. It was revealed that

Shrek is not different in this respect, although there are some reservations about the

polarization, because in Shrek the distribution of characters into good and bad is not

as obvious as in many classical fairy tales.

Then the original story from which Shrek is derived was discovered. It is the

folk tale “The Dragon Slayer”. From the comparison of both stories emerged that

they have much in common, but in Shrek some things happen differently, especially

the dragon fight. Both stories were analysed according to Propp’s theory of

functions. For a better comparison I created schemes of both stories (also according

to Propp) and their structure was with several minor exceptions the same.

Then I was searching for some further motifs in Shrek which were taken from

folk tales. As a result, I found three motifs: the spell, the dragon and the quest. I

illustrated with examples how each of these motifs works in various folk tales and

then I demonstrated how these motifs are transformed in Shrek. The quest maintains

its original form, but the two remaining motifs have an unusual course: the

transformation which follows after the breaking of the spell has an opposite direction

than usual – the princess remains ugly; the dragon who should normally be killed,

remains alive, it is a female, she falls in love with the donkey, she is tamed by him

and becomes his helper.

52

In the last chapter, the thesis focuses on Shrek as a parody. It is revealed that

Shrek is a parody of the folk tale as a genre, because there are many allusions to

different folk tales, some motifs are taken from these preceding texts and they are

imitated and transformed in a ridiculous way. I found it surprising that Shrek also

proves to be a parody on Walt Disney’s fairy tales and it is also a critique of them. I

am grateful for this finding to the book Breaking the Magic Spell (2002) written by

Jack Zipes. Disney’s works contain a set of stereotypes which are broken by Shrek.

In Shrek there are also some allusions to Disney, for example DuLoc as a symbol of

the perfectness of Disney’s world.

To summarize, all of the aims were achieved. I discovered many connections

between Shrek and various folk tales and some findings really surprised me. It is,

however, a shame that some fields of study could not be examined more in detail,

because of the recommended scope of the thesis. For the same reason, I also did not

use works and theories of more authors who deal with fairy tales which would be

probably beneficial. It could also be interesting to analyse the sequels to this film,

which I may venture to do in my master’s thesis.

53

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55

Appendix

Table 1: Explanatory Notes (Propp 1968, 149 – 154)

Α Initial situation

A

A8

A15

Villainy

Demand for delivery or enticement, abduction

Imprisonment

B

B1

B2

Mediation, the connective incident

Call for help

Dispatch

C Consent to counteraction

↑ Departure of the hero

D The function of the donor

F

F1

F6

F9

The receipt of a magical agent

The agent is transferred

The agent appears of its own accord

The agent offers its services, places itself at someone’s disposal

G

G2

Transference to a designated place

The hero rides

H

H1

The hero struggles with the villain

Fight in an open field

I

I1

Victory over the villain

Victory in open battle

J

J2

Branding or marking the hero

The transference of something

K

K4

The liquidation of misfortune or lack

Liquidation of misfortune as the direct result of previous actions

↓ Return of the hero

Pr Pursuit of the hero

56

Rs Rescue of the hero

L Claims of the false hero

Q Recognition of the hero

Ex Exposure of the false hero

U Punishment of the false hero

**W Wedding and accession to the throne