How does Shrek subvert the conventions of a traditional fairytale Essay Example

and well mannered and is most commonly a prince. Shrek is none of these; instead he is actually a beast.

The heroine in traditional fairy tales is a well mannered sensible princess. However in Shrek Fiona is very rude and violent and this doesn't make her fit into the category of the traditional damsel in distress.

The hero's sidekick is meant to be loyal, trustable, quite strong and noble and would risk his life to safe his friend, the hero. The sidekick in shrek is Donkey. Donkey is not at al the usual sidekick you would get in a fairytale. He is no brave, he is defenceless and quite a funny character. Donkey is quite defenceless and hopeless. He depends on Shrek for security and his wellbeing. He's also quite annoying and it's why shrek and him don't like each other which is different from normal fairytales because the hero and the sidekick are usually very close.

The beast is often a creature that is evil and endangers the hero's life. This creature is normally killed by the hero. However in Shrek, the beast does not die; in fact, it turns out the opposite of a traditional beast, as during the end of the film, the beast helps out the hero, which is not seen in a traditional fairy tale.

The villain is meant to be physically imposing and cruel but in the film the villain is not scary at all, especially his appearance. He is a small guy, quite short and doesn't at all have a very aggressive/threatening type of appearance/personality.

The stereotypically expected look of the hero, the rugged, 'Knight in shining armour' look is not given to

the hero, Shrek. He is given a messy, ugly look. He is not good looking or appealing in any way.

The physical appearance of the heroine in Shrek goes along with traditional fairy tales at the start of the film but near the end we find out that she is actually an Ogre. She turns ugly and fat. Traditional fairy tales don't have any 'ugly' heroines.

The beast's appearance is quite fierce and scary to begin with but then we find out that she's a girl dragon. Her eyes are made very pretty and she almost looks attractive. In most traditional fairy stories, 'pretty' beasts are not shown.

The characters themselves acknowledge at various points that there is a set of rules they should be following. For example, when Shrek is trying to scare the townspeople, he knows that they should be scared of him, to show this, he says 'this is where you run.' this tells us that he knows what is supposed to happen.

Another example of the characters knowing what to do is when Fiona expects 'true love's first kiss' from her rescuer, as she goes back to sleep after seeing that he has come to her rescue This is what happens in traditional fairytales so we can tell that she is aware of her role.

The film 'Shrek' being unconventional is good because it adds to the humour of the film. It makes the film enjoyable compared to the boring old fairytales we have so much of. This is why I like shrek being unconventional.