Introduction to Ever After

Introduction to “Ever After”

Three major themes are discussed in this pre-screening lecture: (1) Fairy Tales; (2) The Renaissance; and (3) Leonardo da Vinci. The purpose of the lecture is to give students enough information to place the movie into a historical perspective, to appreciate some of the scenes that relate to historical events, and to understand the role of fairy tales.

Review the Helpful Background Section of the Guide and adapt this introduction to the needs and capacities of your class. (For example, for higher grades you may want to eliminate the first two questions.)

This introduction is designed to mix questions for class response with comments by the teacher. Questions are in blue. The information after the question contains the materials that the class discussion should cover.

I. Fairy Tales

Q: What is a fairy tale? -- A story for children involving fantastic forces and beings – usually they are from folklore but authors have created modern fairy tales like The Wizard of Oz.

Q: Give some examples of fairy tales: Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Q: Why do children love fairy tales so much? -- They help children deal with their childhood fears or concerns.

Teacher Comments: There are Cinderella stories from England to China. [Show the distance covered by the story on a map or satellite image. See, for example, MSN Encarta Map Center or the Map Machine at Naional Geographic] All of these stories deal with a fear that children have: “What happens if my parents die and I am left with a parent or caretaker who doesn’t love me?” This movie gives a very interesting psychological insight into the cinder girl tale. Look for it.

Also look for differences between the story told by this movie and the classic fairy tale. In the classic fairy tale Cinderella is rescued by the Prince. How is this dynamic treated in Ever After?

II. The Renaissance

Teacher Comments: There is a little historical fiction in this movie. This movie takes place in the Renaissance in France. There really was a King Francis who had a son named Henry. [Show location of France on the map and its relationship to where the class is held. Show portraits of Francis I and Henry II ] -- Francis ruled the country between 1515 and 1547. He brought to France many great works of art and artists from Italy (show Italy and Europe on the map), which at the time was the center of art and learning for all of Europe.

Q: What was the Renaissance? – The ancient Greek and Roman classics which had been forgotten in the Middle Ages were rediscovered → flowering of art, literature, science at the end of the Middle Ages -- Review with the class the "Ever After" Time Line in detail.

Q: Has anyone heard about the book called Utopia? What was it? Utopia was an important work of Renaissance literature written by Sir Thomas More. (He was appointed Chancellor of England by English king Henry VIII until Sir Thomas refused to go along with Henry’s plans to divorce his wife and Henry cut off his head.) Utopia described an ideal society ruled by scholars. Wealth, the nobility, private property, and money had been abolished. Everyone worked the same number of hours. Goods were distributed equally and all property was held in common. All religions were tolerated. In Europe, before about 1700, religious tolerance was virtually unknown. People of different religious beliefs killed each other in ingenious ways like burning at the stake or cutting off their heads.

Q: What was the class structure in the Renaissance? From top to bottom: royalty, aristocracy, and commoners. Royalty could marry aristocracy but never a commoner. In this movie the stepmother is aristocracy and the cinder girl, Danielle, is a commoner.

III. Leonardo da Vinci

Q: Who was Leonardo da Vinci? -- He painted the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. In addition to being one of the world’s greatest artists he was a renowned scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, architect, musician, and writer. Leonardo drew many designs for inventions that weren’t built for hundreds of years. He thought up a helicopter, boat shoes that would allow people to walk on water, suspension bridges, and a kite that could carry a human. Leonardo is one of the most famous geniuses in history.

King Francis brought Leonardo to his Court in 1516. See self-portrait of Leonardo.