Fairy tales have been a part of our lives from the early 1700s and they continue to be popular among children. Fairy tales provide a means of temporary escape from the actual world. Additionally, they teach us valuable life lessons on how to deal with challenges in daily life. It may surprise you to learn that many of the fairy tales you love have deep histories, dark origins and hidden meanings. Let’s take a look at five fairy tales and their hidden meanings.

1. The Tinder Box

The 1835 fairy tale, The Tinder Box, is about a soldier who earns money after climbing into a hollow tree to retrieve a witch’s tinder box. The soldier takes her life because she didn’t tell him what the box was for. After enjoying his wealth for a while, the man eventually ran out of cash. This fairy tale isn’t so cut and dry. The author sought to expose the societal limitations and the clear division of social classes that still exist even today. It highlights the genuine challenges of those who were born into poverty and the lengths people go to acquire wealth.

2. The Little Match Girl

The Little Match Girl centers on a girl who sells matches for her father so that she wouldn’t get bitten. Whenever she lights a match, she feels a sense of optimism, hope and warmth. She is portrayed as a brave girl who in the end meets her demise in the cold. The narrative explores the hard, grim realities of life in the 1800s in dirty, cold, industrial Europe, despite the fact that it may appear charming and lighthearted to modern ears. It speaks of Hans Cristian Anderson’s encounter with a girl selling matches on the street during the Industrial Revolution when poverty was rampant and children had to go out in the cold winter to help provide for their family.

3. The Frog King

In the fairy tale, The Frog King, a princess befriends an ugly frog in return for a favor he granted her. In the end, she turns him back into a handsome prince. The moral of the story is that appearances are deceiving and the need to honor promises and be rewarded. This fairy tale seems pretty innocent but it actually isn’t. The author wanted to discuss the destruction of innocence. The frog symbolized fertility and the narrative depicts the transition from an innocent child to a mature adult.

4. Curious George

Children enjoy following the adventures of George, the curious monkey and the Man in the Yellow Hat. Readers are sure to be entertained by George’s antics. But there is so much more behind the scenes that readers don’t know. The authors, Hans Augusto and Margaret Rey were German Jews who before World War II experienced first hand the Nazi reign. Their books were actually a glimpse of their story of this horrific time when they often had to escape capture. Their close calls with danger and narrow escapes inspired them to keep penning the Curious George tales and gave running a humorous spin.

5. Snow White and Rose Red

This 1833 fairy tale was written by the brothers Grimm. This story is about two sisters who achieved their happy ending although they first had to go through some tragedy. The brothers Grimm really intended to bring to the fore the concept of tragedy and to show that no matter how good and happy life may be, there is always tragedy and sorrow. While some may agree with this idea, others think otherwise.