Jack And The Beanstalk.pptx

Jack and the Beanstalk It first appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 and was followed by numerous other versions. Joseph Jacobs rewrote it in English Fairy Tales (1890). Joseph Jacobs' version is most commonly reprinted today, and is believed to be closer to the oral versions.

By: Aini, Pinky, Adila

 An author points out that story is told in English Fairy Tales

Plot Summary

edited by Joseph Jacob in 1889. The story tells of a boy named Jack who was sent to market one day by his mother to sell their last possession, the cow. As Jack was on his way he met a stranger who offered to trade five "magic" beans for the cow. Jack accepted the trade and returned back home with the beans in his pocket. Jack's mother was angered that he had not obeyed her instructions to sell the cow and threw the beans out of the window.

 As Jack slept, the beans germinated in the soil, and a gigantic beanstalk grew in their place by morning. When Jack saw the huge beanstalk, he immediately decided to climb it. He arrived in a land high up in the clouds that happened to be the home of a giant. When he broke into the giant's castle, the giant quickly sensed a human was near:

Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell a visitor, yum, yum, yum. Fish or fowl, cold or hot We’ll cook him up inside my pot

 However, Jack was saved by the giant's wife and as he escaped from the

Plot Summary

palace, he took a goose which laid golden eggs. Jack desired to seek out more treasures from the castle in the clouds and climbed once more up the beanstalk. This time he stole a sack which makes gold coins when one said “roll out, roll out, roll out.”

 Again he was saved from harm by the giant's wife. Jack disregarded being nearly discovered by the giant twice and decided to go up the beanstalk a third time. This time, he stole a magical harp that played by itself. The instrument seemed like did not appreciate being stolen and called out to the giant for help. The giant chased Jack down the beanstalk, but Jack managed to get to the ground before the giant did. Jack, seeing an axe on the ground beside him, immediately chopped the beanstalk down. Giant couldn’t make his way to the ground, because he was scared of height. To this day, people hear booming up in the clouds. They say it’s giant, still upset about all the things Jack brought down the beanstalk and about the dry cracker that he’s been eating ever since his wife left with Jack.

 One major theme in the story is the concept of good versus evil.

 Jack is representative of the good and the giant is

Reader’s Response: Theme

representative of evil. When Jack chops down the beanstalk and kills the ogre, the good triumphs the evil.

 But…………….  Can a thief be a hero?

 This story tells the tale of an indolent boy who tries to escape his socioeconomic circumstance by betraying his family and give lessons of anything could happen in this world, growth and change of one boy and it's okay to steal from the powerful person.

 The real theme of this story is indolence, larceny and murder, and Jack is always "good guy" whatever he does.

 First, he's a lazy boy. When his mother sent Jack with the family's last bit of sellable property, the cow, our hero sells it to a man for beans! Mother is understandably angry and throws the beans out. Indolent Jack doesn't even pick them up and suggest soup. From that point Jack's career in crime tendency grows. Jack of course climbs, and the first thing he does is break into someone's house and our hero proceeds to steal anything.

 The climax of it all is that when the homeowner, the giant, discovers Jack and goes after him, Jack takes the axe to the magic beanstalk, and stops the furious homeowner. If the gentleman hadn't been a giant, would Jack have taken the axe to him directly?

Reader’s Response: Motive

Consistently climbing up and down the beanstalk is a major motif in Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack climbs up the beanstalk to reach the gold which will ultimately result in a higher social status. Climbing up the beanstalk is representative of climbing up the social ladder.

 The female ogre who is married to the child-eating ogre is representative of the friendly beast archetype because she is a non-human character who acts as a companion to Jack by providing him with food and safety.

 Jack is representative of two archetypes in the fairy tail. Jack

Reader’s Response: Archetypes

can be seen as the hero because at the very end of the story when the giant ogre is chasing Jack down the beanstalk, he chops down the beanstalk to save not only himself, but his mother who was worriedly waiting at the bottom of the beanstalk.

 Jack is also representative of the trickster archetype because every time he enters the ogre’s house, he doesn’t leave without stealing something whether its the bag of gold or a gold harp. He tricks the welcoming wife ogre into thinking that he is only coming in the house because he is hungry, but he is really entering the house to steal something.

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 The giant male ogre is representative of the creature of

Reader’s Response: Archetypes

nightmare because he is known for capturing small children and cooking them and eating them. The creature of nightmare is said to be a monster that threatens the lives of the hero/heroine and this is true Jack and the Beanstalk. The husband ogre threatens the life of Jack who is seen as the hero when he chases after him down the beanstalk.

 In the story, the beanstalk is representative of the magical weapon archetype. The beanstalk allows Jack to travel to the ogre’s house where he steals very expensive items that help him and his mother become prosperous.

 The beanstalk is identical with the tree in the Garden of Eden or in the Garden of Hesperides as both are solid vertical plants that grow upward and produce a type of seed or fruit.

Mythological Criticism: Beanstalk

 The beanstalk and tree should be considered a symbol of the human spine and nervous system. This tree appears in the Garden of Eden with the serpent encircling the trunk and offers Eve the apple. An apple that bestows immortality and knowledge of good and evil, just as the beanstalk is guarded by a monster Ogre the tree is guarded by the serpent as the prize of immortality must be won by great effort.

 The Goose that lays the golden egg is also a very

Mythological Criticism: Golden Egg

interesting symbol. It relates to the mundane egg, a wellknown motif in mythology found in creation myths. “Typically, the world egg is a beginning of some sort, and the universe or some primordial being comes into existence by "hatching" from the egg, sometimes lain on the primordial waters of the Earth.”(2)

 It is interesting to note that: “Legend says that Brahma was born in water, or from a seed that later became the golden egg. From this golden egg, Brahma, the creator was born, as Hiranyagarbha. The remaining materials of this golden egg expanded into the Bramanda or Universe. Being born in water, Brahma is also called as Kanja (born in water). Brahma is said also to be the son of the Supreme Being, Brahman, and the female energy known as Prakŗti.”(3)

 A singing Golden Harp is the last object stolen by Jack. It

Mythological: Golden Harp

has been observed and written in much of yogic literature about the internal sounds or music that is heard after a spiritual awakening. The golden harp which produces beautiful melodies is a symbol for the final stage of inner transformation, in that Pranic energy becomes visible as a golden light and sound. Sometimes this sound is described as a group of bees or an internal river.

 In the yogic tradition, the sound is called “nada” while the Chinese mystics called it “Hu.“ This internal sound varies it may deliver symphonic melodies completely finished when the bodies Pranic system is pure, as in the case of Mozart who stated he heard the specific melody of every symphony internally

 The ogre acts as a personification of Jack's unrefined

Mythological: The Giant Ogre

desires, which is a fitting metaphor and explains why the ugly giant is eliminated after obtaining the last piece of golden treasure. Jacks’ lower desires and negativity are reduced to a minimum and purified which is symbolically played out in the death of the ogre. In a number of fairytales Giants or wicked stepmothers, are obstacles on the path which the hero must pass through before achieving happiness.

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 The common interpretation that this tale hides a moral

Mythological: The Giant Ogre

lesson concerning greed belies the fact of Jacks' total lack of remorse and his Mother’s approval of murder and theft. If this is a moral tale just trying to instil honesty, Why are there no consequences for his greedy actions? A literalistic explanation ignores every sense of morality contradicting all accepted standards. Taken literally the fairy-tale becomes a dialogue that preaches that the greed and murder can occur without consequences, which surely could not be a morality tale for children. He steals the ogres precious gold three times without being caught and his mother notices nothing wrong or immoral while Jack continued greed eventually leads to murder.