Fantasy, Tolkien says, is more suited to narrative than drama. Fairy tales are most often represented on stage as the peculiarly English Christmas pantomime.
Fantasy 'does not destroy or insult Reason, in fact, the best fantasy has clear reasons behind it.
Fairy tales deal with simple, fundamental things, like keeping promises and judging by appearances. No princess is going to literally marry a frog; fairy tale transformations beautifully illustrate how transient human perspectives of people are: changing instantly between good to evil, ugly to beautiful, rags to riches [and back again].
Fairy Tales 'go back to nature' chiming with our evolutionary origins as animals. Humans are different from animals; our link with other creatures has been severed but we must be aware that it once existed.
'Trees are more beautiful than mass-produced street lamps' to paraphrase Tolkien.
Escape and consolation are important functions of fantasy. They sidestep the ordinary in order to inspire us. Fairy Tales must have a happy ending, according to Tolkien
[though some mermaid tales and Grimm's 'Three Wishes' about petty marital arguments don't]. Reincarnation and survival are recurrent themes. The ending gives a beat and lifting of the heart.
Is it true? is often asked: if the secondary world of the fairy tale is well constructed the answer is 'yes, in that world, it is.'
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