The passion of creation-Leonid Pasternak
source: Wikimedia Commons
Rumplestiltskin. This is a classic literary story that
sticks out to me from my childhood as one that was a favorite of mine. The
attempts in guessing the strange man’s name are certainly entertaining to read
along with as the woman tries to save her future child from belonging to this
despicable man. Hearing the man brag about his cleverness in hiding his unusual
name while dancing around a campfire is almost too simple and takes away from
his prior cleverness in drawing the woman into an almost impossible situation.
For me this seems to be a cop out for the author in regards to not having to
explain how the main character was able to outwit the more cunning and senior
individual of the story. Aside from changing the manner in which
Rumplestiltskins name is discovered and thus his plot foiled, I believe the
setting of the story could easily be transitioned into the modern day or
potentially even a future date. This would retain the key points of the
original story in terms of a deal being made essentially with the devil, while
bringing the story to the modern day where can be more easily connected with by
modern readers. Instead of having to exchange your first-born child in exchange
for aid from Rumplestiltskin, potentially it could be something that is less
extreme, while still being of huge importance for younger individuals of this
generation. An issue that arises when making a major change such as this is the
alienation of older readers who may not connect to this new exchange as well as
younger readers. So why would I as the writer decide to alienate a large
portion of my potential audience? Well, I would not do that; upon further
pondering it seems silly to change one of the key components of the original tale.
I think retaining the original story’s key components and simply updating the
setting would be the best decision for me as the writer to make.
I think this would be such a fun story to retell. I love that you want to set it in modern times. I think if you do this, you may have to change the circumstances surrounding Rumplestiltskin so that it is more realistic. I'm not sure that a grown man would be asking for a woman's child, so unless you can make that work, like having him be related in some way to the woman, it may not work in modern times. Now, of course this is just my opinion and I bet you can write a really amazing story the way you want, so I'm excited to see how your story turns out.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool story idea, Cole! I love that you wanted to make sure to still include a majority of your audience by keeping the story relatable and easy to follow. I agree about it being a cop out for the main character to not have to explain himself so I appreciate that you strive for continuity and thoroughness with your story. I look forward to reading what you end up writing because it sounds like a good idea making it into a more modern and realistic premise!
ReplyDeleteI do think it is a good idea to put this story in a more modern setting. I agree that it is probably best to keep most of your story similar to the original tale, but maybe you could come up with an alternative to giving away the first born that was still not as extreme but would also still appeal to most of your audience? Just a thought! I always thought that aspect was a bit intense anyways. I think you have a really well thought out plan though, and I'm sure your story is going to be great!
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