Fairy tales: the hidden meaning. True love stories aren't usually found on television; but it can be found in older fairy tale books. Fairy tales were not always written down because before people knew how to write, fairy tales were spoken and passed down from generation to generation. Although a large number of literary fairy tales were written in 17th-century France, most of the tales that are still told and retold today have a much older origin. The first published fairy tales occurred in 1667; a cycle of fifty stories was published by Giambattista Basile (Hasse 32). Of course, these publications weren't exactly the fairy tales created, as many of them were butchered during transmission. Although many people associate fairy tales with children, they were actually aimed at older generations because they were written by women and very few men. These stories have been adapted by different storytellers to meet the interests of their audiences and societies. Although these fairy tales circumscribe "societal ideals", Jack Zipes, Madonna Kolbenshlag and Jane Yolen reveal the hidden meanings of fairy tales. These authors carefully tested and examined many fairy tales in an attempt to prove their theories were correct. Back when fairy tales were written, if a person who was not a white man was to be considered an inferior person in the world; However, women become the protagonists of most written or spoken fairy tales. Where they may be the main character in fairy tales, they are portrayed as low-level, needy people who somehow figure out how to live a better life. They may seem to have a better life in the fairy tale, but they remain the same people they started with...... middle of paper ......135. Rep. in Literary Criticism from 1400 to 1800. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Flight. 171. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Library Resources. Internet. February 18, 2010. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CH1420094280&v=2.1&u=nape29724rpa&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=wZipes, Jack. “What makes a disgusting frog so attractive: memetics and fairy tales.” Journal of Folklore Research. (Vol.45). .2 (May-August 2008): p109. Gale Literary Resources. Gale of wind. Neuqua Valley High School. March 25, 2010. Zipes, Jack. “What Makes a Loathsome Frog So Attractive: Memetics and Fairy Tales.” Journal of Folklore Research. (Vol.45). .2 (May-August 2008): p109. Gale Literary Resources. Gale of wind. Neuqua Valley High School. March 25. 2010 .