STYLISTIC PATTERNS AND THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER IN ENGLISH FAIRY TALE NARRATIVES

Abstract

This study examines the stylistic patterns and discursive construction of gender in six English fairy tale narratives: Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty (contemporary reimagining), Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and Rapunzel. Using a qualitative stylistic and discourse-analytic approach, the research explores how linguistic features such as lexical choices, transitivity patterns, dialogue structures, and narrative organisation contribute to the representation of gender roles. The findings reveal that traditional fairy tales consistently construct femininity through passivity, beauty, obedience, and emotional labour, while masculinity is associated with agency, authority, and control. Female characters are often positioned as recipients of actions, with their success dependent on external intervention, particularly male rescue. In contrast, male characters drive narrative progression and resolution. However, the contemporary reimagining of Sleeping Beauty challenges these conventions by presenting a more agentive female protagonist and a more egalitarian model of masculinity. Across the texts, binary oppositions between “good” and “bad” femininity are reinforced, and marriage is frequently depicted as the ultimate resolution of female identity. The study concludes that while traditional fairy tales perpetuate patriarchal ideologies through stylistic and discursive means, modern reinterpretations offer alternative frameworks that emphasise autonomy, resistance, and gender equality.