Why are nursery rhymes and fairytales so dark?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
  
  

A Gustave Doré engraving inspired by Charles Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood
A Gustave Doré engraving inspired by Charles Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood. Photograph: PHAS/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Why are so many traditional stories for children, be they folk stories, fairytales or nursery rhymes, so dark, creepy or macabre? Rachel Parks, West Yorkshire

Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

CAPTCHA

*