FutureLearn

Fairy Tales: Meanings, Messages, and Morals (FutureLearn)

Offered by The University of Newcastle, Australia,
Fairy Tales: Meanings, Messages, and Morals (FutureLearn)

Build your skills in literary analysis and creative writing by exploring the meaning of fairy tales. Discover the fascinating circumstances and meanings behind fairy tales. On this course, you will look deeper into the enchanting and surprisingly dark themes of several well-known European fairy tales. What were the authors thinking? What were the cultural and personal concerns that have shaped these stories? What are the readers being asked to believe?

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

By considering the historical context of fairy tales and examining the characters, styles, and plots, you will discover that the intended morals of the original stories may not be exactly what you first thought.

What topics will you cover?

  • Exploring fairy tales
  • Interpreting literary narratives
  • Cultural context in literature

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Demonstrate close acquaintance with three famous fairy tales.
  • Explain the significance of cultural contexts in shaping fairy tales.
  • Interpret narratives at basic level.
Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Old Norse Mythology in the Sources (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

Old Norse Mythology in the Sources (Coursera)

Humanities History

This course is an introduction to the religion of the Vikings as it is recorded in Old Norse and Scandinavian literature from the medieval period. You will learn about the different written sources and what they can teach us about pre-Christian religion in northern Europe in the Viking Age. The course surveys the primary collection of Old Norse poetry about the pre-Christian Scandinavian gods, the Poetic Edda. We will also work with the main collections of stories about the Old Norse gods in prose: Snorri Sturluson's Edda and Saxo's History of the Danes.

Sep 7th 2026
4 Weeks
Literature Scandinavia Religion
Details
Poetry: How to Read a Poem (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of York

Poetry: How to Read a Poem (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Discover what poetry can tell us about human emotion and learn key ideas and techniques for understanding and interpreting verse. Dive into the wonderful world of poetry and learn how to analyse a poem. Humans have communicated their thoughts, ideas, and feelings through poetry throughout history. At its best, it tells us new truths about the human experience. However, it’s often presented as hard to understand without expert knowledge. On this course, you’ll build your confidence in reading and enjoying poetry.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Literature Literary Poem
Details
Jane Austen: Myth, Reality and Global Celebrity (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Southampton

Jane Austen: Myth, Reality and Global Celebrity (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Discover the fascinating story of author Jane Austen, from her own life in Hampshire to what she means to a global audience today. Jane Austen went from being a moderately successful anonymous novelist in her own time to a global celebrity in ours. On this course you will explore how that happened, exploring Austen’s own literary influences, and her reputation over time.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Literature Novel Jane Austen
Details
The American Renaissance: Classic Literature of the 19th Century (edX) EdX
DartmouthX

The American Renaissance: Classic Literature of the 19th Century (edX)

Humanities Languages & Literature

Explore the writings of famous American authors from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Harriet Beecher Stowe to Mark Twain, and examine the historic role Dartmouth College played in their formation. What is the American Renaissance? How did Dartmouth help foster the formation of the American Renaissance and its reevaluation and reinvention in the twentieth? Why should we, as twenty-first century readers, concern ourselves with this literature?

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Literature American Renaissance Literacy
Details
Masterpieces of World Literature (edX) EdX
HarvardX,Harvard University

Masterpieces of World Literature (edX)

Languages & Literature History

Embark on a global journey to explore the past, present, and future of World Literature. This literature course explores how great writers refract their world and how their works are transformed when they intervene in our global cultural landscape today. No national literature has ever grown up in isolation from the cultures around it; from the earliest periods, great works of literature have probed the tensions, conflicts, and connections among neighboring cultures and often more distant regions as well.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Literature Homer World Literature
Details
Penshurst Place and the Sidney Family of Writers (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Lancaster University

Penshurst Place and the Sidney Family of Writers (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Uncover the literary history of Penshurst Place, the 16th-century home of the Sidney family of writers and poets. Learn how Lady Mary Wroth and the Sidney family shaped the English Renaissance. In the 16th century, Penshurst Place was the home to the Sidney family, renowned for their literary works in the age of Shakespeare. The family, including Lady Mary Wroth and her uncle Sir Philip Sidney, wrote poetry and prose that still appeal to audiences today.

No sessions available
4 Weeks
Literature Poets Writer
Details
Leer a Macondo: La obra de Gabriel García Márquez (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Universidad de los Andes

Leer a Macondo: La obra de Gabriel García Márquez (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Explorar por qué el autor de Cien años de Soledad es uno de los escritores más importantes del siglo XX. Gabriel García Márquez es un escritor colombiano que ganó el premio Nobel de Literatura en 1982 y ha sido reconocido como uno de los escritores más importantes del siglo XX. Sus obras han sido traducidas a más de 35 idiomas, han sido adaptadas para televisión y cine y han inspirado múltiples obras de arte.

No sessions available
5-12 Weeks
Literature Gabriel García Márquez Writer
Details
A-level Study Boost: Unseen Poetry and the Creative Process (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Reading

A-level Study Boost: Unseen Poetry and the Creative Process (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Discover effective techniques to analyse unseen poetry and learn about the creative writing process. Improve your skills in analysis and creative writing. What do you do when you encounter a poem for the first time? How can the process of writing poetry help you to enjoy and understand the written word in new ways? On this course, you’ll explore strategies for close reading and creative writing using a poem called ‘Patagonia’ by Kate Clanchy as a case study.

No sessions available
2 Weeks
Literature Writing Creativity
Details
Shakespeare's Language: Revealing Meanings and Exploring Myths (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Lancaster University

Shakespeare's Language: Revealing Meanings and Exploring Myths (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

Demystify renowned Shakespeare myths and get introduced to corpus-based methods for analysing his use of language in context. Debunk and discover common myths surrounding the language of William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare is a global phenomenon, yet there is actually relatively little work specifically devoted to his language, and even less deploying the latest techniques from linguistics.

Jul 12th 2021
4 Weeks
Language Literature William Shakespeare
Details