Analyse af 'Jack and the Beanstalk'

Analysis and commentary on “Jack and the Beanstalk” by Joseph Jacobs

You can use the Hollywood model to look at the development of the plot. The teaser is the classic beginning of most fairytales: “There was once upon a time…”. Then there is the elaboration of the story where it introduces us to the characters and the problem that needs to be fixed for it to have a happy ending. The point of no return is when Jack goes up the beanstalk the third time, because of greed. Jack already have enough wealth to support him and his mother for the rest of their life, but he goes up the last time because he is greedy and gets caught by the ogre. The climax is where Jack ended his old life in poverty, and started his new life in wealth and without the fear of being killed by the ogre.

Jack is more of a flat character, because we don’t really know much about him except that he is a small Englishman who is greedy. because he keeps going up the beanstalk and steal from the ogre. Even though he is stealing, he is still the protagonist, the good guy and the hero, because in the end he killed the ogre and he made him and his mother rich. His mother is a flatter character than Jack, we don’t even know her name. The ogre is the antagonist in the story, the bad guy. He is also a flat character, because we only hear about him being evil and wanting to eat children. The ogre’s wife is another flat character, but we know she is not all evil, because she helps Jack escape from the ogre.