The moral authority of the child in two fairy tales

Although many studies focus specifically on the child's reception of fairy tales, few have considered whether the (step)child in the tales is more aware or more equipped with a knowledge of "moral authority" and "correct" conduct than the (step)parent. This thesis will consider the (step)parent/ (step)child relationship motif in two French and German fairy tales by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm: Perrault's Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre and Le Petit Chaperon rouge; and the Grimms' Aschenputtel and Rotkèappchen. In analyzing the genre's depiction of children, the thesis will examine the ways in which the narrative voice constructs the moral authority of the child (both as intradiegetic character and as extradiegetic reader), while simultaneously diminishing the moral authority of the parent as intradiegetic character.