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Michael Cunningham "A Wild Swan"

Michael Cunningham's short story "A Wild Swan" reimagines the classic fairy tale by following the characters after "they lived happily ever after". It depicts the challenges the characters might face in ordinary life despite achieving their fairy tale endings. The story suggests that fairy tale endings are not as carefree as imagined, but rather the difficulties of life continue. While childhood fairy tales should have happy endings, "A Wild Swan" is meant for adults and shows that even princes can struggle with problems. The story grips readers to the end by depicting the reality behind fairy tale endings.

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Viktoriia Pyniak
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221 views2 pages

Michael Cunningham "A Wild Swan"

Michael Cunningham's short story "A Wild Swan" reimagines the classic fairy tale by following the characters after "they lived happily ever after". It depicts the challenges the characters might face in ordinary life despite achieving their fairy tale endings. The story suggests that fairy tale endings are not as carefree as imagined, but rather the difficulties of life continue. While childhood fairy tales should have happy endings, "A Wild Swan" is meant for adults and shows that even princes can struggle with problems. The story grips readers to the end by depicting the reality behind fairy tale endings.

Uploaded by

Viktoriia Pyniak
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Viktoriia Pyniak

Filologia angielska, grupa A3

Michael Cunningham "A Wild Swan"

A fairy-tale world is a given for a child and most parents read fairy tales about magic,
fantasy, kindness and humanity to their children. Generally, these stories have a happy ending, but,
do we actually know the truth from childhood, how do the heroes of fairy tales live on? Did
everything really work out so well for them? If you tell the same stories for the first time to an
adult, he, probably, will have a lot of questions.

Michael Cunningham gives a new look at the usual fairy tales, sometimes placing the
characters in our time or telling the stories of people whose lives in some way resemble the plots of
fairy tales. He is a brilliant storyteller, he knows how to captivate the reader and awake the
imagination. Cunningham’s renderings of famous fairy tales have a deep expression, inner charm
and a modern socio-psychological color.

“A Wild Swan” is not just a continuation or another interpretation of fairy tales familiar
from childhood; this is a new world, a new trend, or perhaps the most ordinary life with unusual
plots. The child, most likely, after reading the fairy-tale will not ask the question how did the prince
live with one half-enchanted wing, but adults, probably, will think about it. In “The Wild Swan” the
story doesn't end after the words "And they lived happily ever after". After these words, the most
difficult, tough and difficult begins. We see the fairy tale itself not so airy and carefree, but harsh
and real, with real adult meaning and problems.The endings of these stories are natural. They
usually follow from the actions of the characters, from the existing situations and the setting of the
story. It seems that the sequel follows, that this, like an endless story, will go on and on, because
there is something to talk about.

From my standpoint, it is good that in childhood all fairy tales had a happy ending, because
you could hope that in the most difficult moment everything will be corrected and everything will
turn out as it should. If such fairy tales as “A Wild Swan” were put on our table and offered to read,
I think such children would grow up to be sad adults, turning society into a sad gray world.
Therefore, these fairy tales need to be approached consciously. But their purpose is to help people
take off their rose-colored glasses and face the truth and see that even a prince can feel lousy.

Michael Cunningham’s “A Wild Swan” is a strange fairy tale, which not everyone is able to
understand, but it does not let go until the very end, and it makes the reader want to know what
really happened.
References:

Cunningham, M. (2015). A Wild Swan and Other Tales. New-York: Picador.

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