No Fairy Tale

                                             No Fairy Tale                                   Neal Tougas

“Amazingly, the pounding heart is not always an idiot; some inner wisdom or instinct seems to guide many people to the right choice, and one they might never have made cognitively.” “Puce fairy book,” by Alice Major, and “Forget Prince Charming,” by June Callwood both explore the difficulties in relationships.  Alice explains how woman should not have to live up to the stereotype that men have created for woman today.  June elaborates on how challenging relationships can be and the difficulty in finding a life long partner.  Alice would respect most of the grandmother’s advice on relationships that she guides her granddaughters with. 

             “Puce fairy book” uses fairy tale allusions to explore the realistic imperfection of relationships.  She explains that “he wanted Rapunzal waiting in a tower,” but “[her] hair would never grow long enough.”  She shows that she will not “[cut] off [her] toe,” in other words, go out of her way to match the expectations of someone who “might have been the one true prince.” 

            June shows in “Forget Prince Charming,” that complications in relationships are completely unavoidable by stating that “no human relationship is friction-free.”  She names different methods in which lovers can attempt to develop a more sustainable relationship such as: “honesty…compromising… punctuality.” 

Alice would respect most of June’s advice she gives her granddaughters considering they both notably outline the hardships one must overcome while dealing with relationships and that it still can never be perfect.  Alice would not agree on June’s statement of compromising.  Alice wants men to lower their expectations for woman, while June shows that “all long term couplings survive on a mutual ability to compromise.”  Alice would agree with most of June’s advice though, because they both have similar ideas on couples and they both accept the fact that many hardships come with love.

Alice’s allusions to fairy tails are very similar to June’s idea of the reality of imperfection in relationships.  Alice would agree with most of June’s advice given to her granddaughters.  Through “Puce fairy book,” by Alice Major, and “Forget Prince Charming,” by June Callwood, the harsh reality of love is revealed, and proved “that [it] is no fairy tail.”