Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Ogre and the Ogress

Ogres have been shown in many different ways in popular fiction. I suppose the one that is fresh on everybody's mind was from the movie series "Shrek." That movie showed an ogre to be a fat slob who preferred living on his own. He had no problems being nasty and was only moved to heroism by the plot of the movie. I liked those movies, but I am here to give you a different perspective on this classic creature.

By and large, I believe that the term ogre does refer to a large and ugly creature, possibly with protruding teeth or fangs. Although, the latter is optional. The one aspect that you may not consider when you hear the term ogre is that they may actually have been civilized. They might have lived in houses with all the nice luxuries included. They may have also had their own class system separating the wealthy from the poor among them. All this, and they are still monsters of a sort.

Ogres have been presented in this manner in many of the old tales. The most famous of these is arguably "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood" by Charles Perrault. Most versions of "Sleeping Beauty" end it shortly after she is revived by a kiss. However, the most profound versions include what happens after Sleeping Beauty is married. Her mother-in-law is an ogress. The prince's father fell in love with her and married her despite the fact that she was a monster.

So this brings up two very important items. Number 1: The ogress is considered of high enough class to marry into royalty. Remember that, in those olden days, a king did not just go out and date a monster. Monsters were often slain at the mere sight of them. Here a king seems to have no problem in marrying a monster, and the story does not suggest that anyone else considered it to be at all strange. It is entirely conceivable that she came from the upper class of her own society.

Item number 2: The king finds the ogress attractive. Perhaps she was. Who is to say that an ogress cannot have their own form of attractiveness, even to a human. I can imagine that, as big boned as these creatures seem to be, the ogress may have been profoundly busty. She may have even had a pretty smile to go with it.

Now that we have settled those two points, let us look further into the more familiar territory. Namely, the fact that she is still a monster.

When we hear the word monster, we think about an ugly creature who is willing to do horrible things. If the ogre is civilized, does that mean they are above being monstrous? Quick answer: No. Whether the ogre is presented as civilized or not, one thing seems to tie them all together. They love to devour little children. Human children are much preferred.

It's about to get worse. Pay attention.

When ogres are portrayed as civilized, they still like to eat human children. But you see... they prefer the children specially cooked and seasoned. They want them prepared by a classy chef and laid out on a large dining table with an apple in the mouth. A classy affair from beginning to end. Presentation is everything. I hope I am not turning your stomach too much, but the connotations of this are extreme for a reason.

In "The Sleeping Beauty of the Wood," the princess's ogress mother-in-law hated her. She asks her steward to prepare Sleeping Beauty's son and daughter for her meal as a matter of revenge. She even explains how she wants them prepared with great detail. The steward was bound by duty and under the threat of execution if he denied her this request. He takes out a knife and goes into the children's bedrooms. They were only 4 years old. However, his heart would not let him do it, and he fakes the meal by killing an animal in their stead.

Take a moment to think about what I have told you so far. I know it's hard. I do sometimes come across as odd the way I often link fairy tales with reality. Do I personally believe that ogres were once real? The answer is yes. And it is such a terrible thing that it ever happened. I personally believe that these ogres were a particular type of demon that started the trend of child sacrifice that has lasted up unto this day. At the time, the children were killed and eaten after being born. Today, we kill in the womb. Same reasons, I assure you. The ogres got it started, and we became the ogres. We took up a craft started by monsters and became the monsters ourselves.

We aren't eating them, but look at it from the perspective of the ogres. They were living it up in high class society. They treated little children like fine delicacies. They were only thinking about themselves. Today, we kill our babies for different reasons, but the selfishness is still there. A simple shunning of personal responsibility. To live life as if there were no problems at all. It was always about us. It was never about the children.

The ogres are monsters and, as far as I can tell, they are evil. Their legacy of child sacrifice have lasted to this very day. In a sense, they are still among us. They masqueraded as our comely humans and continue to perform their gruesome ritualistic murders. They feast as if life was simply one big party, and the lowly can die and never be known to them. We would be better without them.

Did you like my blog? Did you hate it? Either way, you can comment below or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Happy New Year!