Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Into the Woods Review - The Frame Story

Using the example of Into the Woods, explain 1) what a frame story is and 2) how it works. Use specific examples from the stories that were incorporated into the play/film and select one story in particular (Cinderella, Jack & the Beanstalk, The Baker & His Wife, and Little Red Riding Hood) to show how it is related to the larger frame story itself (hint: who is narrating the story and what "story" is he trying to tell by using the other ones?).


Click Here for the trailer to the film version

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57 comments:

Kealani Beltran said...
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Kealani Beltran said...

In the play, Into the Woods (italicized), there is a variety of well known Grimm fairytales that all come together to embark on a unique adventure with a musical twist. This is considered a frame story, which is a narrative structure connecting otherwise unrelated stories to one another. The play takes one particular life lesson and links multiple fables by intertwining the characters with each other so they cross paths throughout the story. The distinctive lesson that one determines their own happiness is essential in the outcome of the journey. For instance, in the case of Cinderella, she originally believed whole heartedly in a fantasy made up of the undying affection of the Prince, while leaving her nightmarish life of scrubbing floors behind forever. Because she had reached the point, (before she was “saved” by the Prince) where she had the notion that life could be flawless, she strived for that more than anything else. Initially she believed she was living her fantasy life, but later became bored. Later, any lasting happiness was shattered when she discovered her Prince was having multiple rendezvous in the woods with other women. She wanted to reach a happy medium, which was somewhere in between a dream and a nightmare. Cinderella also felt she was no longer satisfied and ultimately created a new fantasy even greater than the last. Only after tragedy struck through the giant did she cease creating her own boredom and sadness. Through these extremities, each of the other fairytale characters experienced similar delusions, therefore envisioning a perception of happiness. Their wants were separate from their genuine needs and made all of them believe in something that seemed ideal when in reality, it was merely an illusion created in their minds. So in the end, each character from each story ended with the same realization that what they originally wished for was not perfect in every sense.

Amanda said...

A frame story is a narrative with many smaller tales woven into it to create one large story with a certain moral or message. Into the Woods is a frame story because it has many stories, including Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and His Wife, and Little Red Riding Hood, all working together to tell people to be careful what they wish for. At the end of Into the Woods, the four main fairy-tales really only have one character left, showing that their wishes really did not make things better for anyone. In the story of the Baker and His Wife, they wish for a child. They ask a witch to give them a child, but like all witches, she makes them do something for her first; to make a potion, they must get four items: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold. These four items relate to the stories of Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, respectively. Although the baker and his wife do get their child, it eventually causes the death of the baker’s wife and many other deaths. The tale of the Baker and His Wife wraps all the narratives up in each other, so that it is almost impossible to tell where one story ends and another begins, which is part of the definition for a frame story. This frame story is about telling people to be careful what they wish for. Throughout Into the Woods, all the characters learn this as one or more people from their individual fairy-tales die or leave the remaining character on his or her own while teaching the characters that they should be happy with what they have and making sure that they are careful about what they wish for.

Missy Smith said...

A frame story is a secondary story or stories embedded in the main story with
a narrative providing the framework for connecting a series of otherwise unrelated stories. Into the Woods blends various familiar fairy tales with a main story of a childless Baker and his Wife, who starts the action of the story by attempting to reverse a curse on their family in order to have a child. In a way to connect all the stories, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, ect. The Baker and his wife have to find various items, red cloak, golden hair, golden slipper, and a white cow. As to the true moral of the story, many people see different things that stand out to them, I see the crossing of good and evil and the chaos that happens when you do not know what's right anymore. In the woods bad things can happen that will lead to good things.

Jessica Wirth said...

Jessica Wirth
Period 4
The play, Into the Woods, is a perfect example of a frame story, which is a story that is a mixture of two or more stories that all intertwine to reveal a larger theme. In this play, there are four main fairytale stories: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and His Wife, and Little Red Riding Hood. Each of the characters are trying to find their own happiness but they need each other in order to accomplish that. However, none of the characters know what happiness is, and by the end of the story they realize that happiness is not having all your wishes come true, it's accepting whatever happens in life and finding the good in every situation. In the story The Baker and His Wife, they go into the woods in search of their happiness, having a child, but also have to solve some of the issues between them before they can be truly happy such as what it means to be a good husband/wife and what a marriage really represents. They come across the other characters who are also trying to find their happiness: Cinderella, who wants to find her prince, Jack, who wants to be able to support his mother and also find a friend, and Little Red Riding Hood, who just wants to take bread to her grandmother's house but ends up weaving in and out of the story. Halfway through the play, the characters do find what they think is happiness but when disaster strikes, they realize that their seemingly perfect lives aren't so perfect anymore. When the Baker's Wife dies, he has to learn to stop depending on his wife and start becoming a good father to his son. All the other characters also lose a person that was close to them throughout the course of the story and have to overcome their grief in order to see that they can make their own happiness even though they have lost everything.

Greg Thyberg said...

A frame story is many small stories that relate to one big story with a moral. Into the Woods is a prime example of this story telling format. Into the Woods starts out with Cinderella, the Baker and his Wife, and Jack all wishing for something that they lack in life.As each story progresses these main characters will attempt to get there wishes granted but each characters journey will converge to form one main plot. These individual stories together form one big story with the theme of change can lead more problems and pain in life.This can be seen through the sub plot of Cinderella. Cinderella is is living with her 2 step sisters and her stepmom, who abuse her. She is forced to do house work the whole day and all she wants to do is go to festival. Her wish is granted and she ends up meeting a prince there and marrying him. The marriage is ended when Cinderella catches him cheating on her. Ultimately this drastic change in her life lead to her being heart broken and disappointed. This frame story is about people who wish for change in their lives and this brings along conflict .The main characters will lose something of value to them because of another persons self interest. The main characters will put their interests aside and solve the greater problem. Cinderella lost her husband due to his self centered needs and she will team up with the Baker and Jack to kill the giant.This story shows that people from different places are all really same and have similar needs.

Bella said...

A frame story is a secondary story or stories embedded in the main story; a narrative providing the framework for connecting a series of otherwise unrelated stories. Into the woods is a frame story because it has many different fairytales working together to create a story with the moral of being careful of what you wish for. At the end of the story all of the characters had had something stripped away from them, showing that spending their time wishing for things they do not have takes away from the joy of things they do have. In the story of The Baker and His Wife, all they do is wish for a child. They don’t enjoy the company of just each other. So they ask a witch for help, and she has to have something in return: a red cape, a gold slipper, yellow hair, and a white cow. This is where all of the other stories come into place: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel. After they get the baby only disaster follows: the Baker's wife dies. This then makes the Baker realize that he needs to stop wishing and worry about being a good father to his son; that he should be happy with what he has and not what he wants. All of the characters that lose something had to come to the same conclusion: they need to get over their grief and move on to other things, like helping other in need. This is what the Baker does for his son, Cinderella, Jack, and Red Riding Hood. People need to realize if they stand around wishing for things, they are going to miss the good things right in front of them. The characters realize this in the end.

Zach N. said...

In the 1991 play called “Into the Woods,” several well-known fairytale stories that seem unrelated combine together to reveal an entirely new story with an entirely new plot. The play is an example of a frame story; a narrative that combines seemingly unrelated tales to create a new story and plot. The play constantly has characters from different stories encounter each other as they travel through the play’s background, “The Woods”, each trying to solve their own problems. The lesson interpreted from this play is the question of what choices will a character have to make to achieve a happy ever after, and how will each character’s choices be affected. An example of this lesson takes place in the Baker and his wife, who long for a child but are unable due to being cursed by a witch next door. In order to have the curse lifted, they must gather several items that characters of different stories possess. As the couple searches for the needed items they must cross paths with the other characters such as Jack from the Jack and the Beanstalk story. The Baker and his wife needs Jack’s cow, and Jack needs to sell his cow, so the Baker gives Jack three magical beans (which he stole from the witches garden) in order to get one step closer to achieving their goal. What the Baker doesn’t know is that he just sent every character to their doom. Eventually after three difficult nights, everyone gets their “happy ever after”, or so they thought. Just as everything seems at peace, a threat occurs that destroys the baker’s home along with the other character’s homes as well. This shows that it takes a crisis for the Baker and his wife to realize the consequences of their actions, as it does for other characters in the story, and it must take all the characters’ cooperation in order to end their crisis. This shows that each character’s desire was not as good as first thought. The “Into the Woods” play shows many characters and stories that all help incorporate them into a bigger picture. This play fundamentally defines a frame story in one of the best ways possible.

K-Dog said...

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Sonia Mendonca said...

In the play, Into the Woods, it shows a secondary story or stories embedded in the main story, also known as a frame story. It is also providing the framework for connecting a series of otherwise unrelated stories. The stories of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and His Wife, and Little Red Riding Hood are frame stories because they all have their reasons for making their wishes come true. In one of the stories, The Baker and His Wife, wish upon a child of their own which causes all of the stories to intertwine. The items they intend to find, a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold, all relate to the characters in this play. Finding all of these items causes dramatic changes to the stories. Midway through the play, the characters seem to have found their happiness, but instead it is only the beginning for them. When the baker and his wife have been blessed with a child from the ingredients they have found in the woods, they thought that their wish has come true. On the contrary, once the giant strikes them, many of the characters die including the baker’s wife. You never know what could happen in the woods; anything is possible. Towards the end of the play one character remains from each story showing that making your wishes come true comes with consequences and does not always turn out as planned. Now that the baker does not have his wife to support him and his child, Cinderella steps in as the mother figure, and Jack and Red Riding Hood come as well to live with them. In the finally, everyone’s wishes came true. The baker had his child, Cinderella found her happy medium living with the baker, Red Riding Hood had made her mother and grandmother proud, and Jack found someone to take care of him, and a friend. Now, their ending was not a happy ever after like many of the stories end with, but now turns into a whole new fairy-tale with new characters. This frame story shows that you should be thankful for what you have and not wish for a change in your life because you never know what’s in front of you until you lose it and I think the remaining characters at the end figure this out when all they have is each other.

Cammie Gelbuda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cammie Gelbuda said...

In the play into the woods, is a whole bunch of plays put together to create one big story. This is considered a frame story. The play takes place in many families life's and having to cross each others problems. For example, Cinderella, she always wanted to live in a fantasy, where she would not have to scrub the floors and be treated like a slave. She has always wanted to live in a fantasy world, before you knew it she had found out that she was not the only love in her prince's life that he has been with others girls in the woods and he was still looking for more. So in the end, each character realized that they should not just stand around wishing for stuff, and waiting for it to happen. They should do what right in the first place and see what happens after that. They all realized that what they do first can cause some problems in the future. But they all realize this in the end, when all things so wrong and then become right

Quinn Wamsat said...

The frame-story behind the Tony Award winning musical "Into the Woods" written by Stephen Sondheim is a classic, yet often overlooked idea of how to behave oneself around children. With its inspirational song "children will listen" sung by Bernadette Peters, She explains that no matter what you say or how you say it children will listen, so be careful when you say listen to me. Stephen Sondheims interpretation of the short story "The Baker and his Wife" is a sublime example of how the "big-picture" frame-story relates to not only all of the idividual stories inside of the frame-story, but also everyday family life. Through the tellings of the narrorator, Tom Aldredge, The Baker and his wife are led through the woods to find various ingredients for a potion so the witch will break their curse of sterility brought on by The Bakers father, The mysterious man. The mysterious man, played by Tom Aldredge, Sets out to find some food for his pregnant wife, upon visiting the witchs garden, he comes upon magic beans. Being the naive and selfish man that he was, he took them, not heeding the warning the witch told him to never take her beans. Thus, the curse is brought to life. When the tasks are complete and their child is born, The Bakers wife dies in a horrible giant accident. Having being left all alone to father a child by hisself, He starts to sing, and miraculously his wife sings back. She tells him to not be afraid and if he asks, tell their baby the story of their life together and her death. But, be careful what you say for he can take it either way. The tale would best be told starting with those magical words, once upon a time.

Lena R said...

Lena Rohde
Period 4

The Tony award-winning play, Into the Woods, is an exemplary illustration of a frame story. In a frame story, an initial story or set of stories is introduced in order to establish a foundation for a larger and more complex narrative. More often than not, the opening narratives are then used as a tool to deliver a moral to the reader, or in this case, viewer. Into the Woods utilizes the stories, Cinderella, Jack & the Beanstalk, The Baker & His Wife, and Little Red Riding Hood to develop the initial plot to the overall story. This intricate frame story incorporates multiple themes into the narrative, but the most apparent lesson is to be careful what you wish for, because it may not unfold the way you expect it to. In fact, the opening number to the play begins with each vignette’s characters expressing their heart’s true wishes. Even though they may seem like ordinary desires, these innocent musings are the basis for the complicated plot of fairy tale misadventures. As all of characters begin their journey “into the woods” to attain their wishes, they discover exactly how much it will cost them. Their trek into the great unknown, literally represented by a dark forest in this play, changes their outlook on what they wanted originally. This concept is best portrayed by Cinderella’s classic journey. She begins the story with the ever famous wish to go to the royal ball and dance with the prince. However, once she receives her “happily ever after” she comes to the disappointing realization that things have changed in the woods, and her prince is no longer faithful to her. Much like Cinderella, he yearns for something he does not have and will forsake all others to achieve his wish. After surviving her second voyage through the woods, she resigns herself to life with the baker, Jack, and Little Red. Although everything ends happily, who is to say that she will be content with her new life? The plot of Into the Woods is quite unique because is examines a side of fairy tales that is hardly ever looked at: what happens when what you thought you wanted is not only harmful to you, but also to others? The intertwining story lines both support and impede each other creating an interesting dynamic of seeing certain people’s wishes fulfilled while others remain unhappy. Without certain objects, the baker cannot have a child, but will he steal from others to get what he wants? This look at the consequences of our actions is refreshing compared to the many fairy tales in which the protagonists attain anything their heart’s desire with no sense of what that truly means. This frame story takes a closer look at our society’s most beloved fairy tales and makes them far more relatable by inserting the outcomes of events into the plot, thus imparting a valuable lesson on its audience.

Merrick Santos said...

A frame story is a larger story sets up a series of smaller stories that eventually connect with a larger narrative or moral lesson. A good example is the play "Into The Woods", that brings together multiple fairy tales and delivers the moral lesson that one should always be careful what they wish for. The play/book starts with 4 separate stories, Cinderella, The Baker and His Wife, Jack and The Bean Stalk and Little Red Riding Hood.in the story of Cinderella, Cinderella wishes that she could go to the ball. When her wish is granted she goes to the ball and meets the prince and he falls in love with her. When Cinderella runs away, the Prince runs after her in an attempt to find the girl who got away. eventually the prince finds Cinderella and they get married, now the prince has the woman and no longer wants her. shortly into their marriage, Cinderella finds out that her prince is looking for another princess to charm. when Cinderella confronts him, the prince responds," I was raised to be charming not loyal." The moral of the story is to be careful what you wish for, because you might get it.

Brianna Brinzo said...

Brianna Brinzo
Period 4

“Happiness is always here, but covered by thoughts, desires and fears.” - Author Unknown

The Broadway production, Into the Woods accounts for several smaller narratives in order to emphasize the bigger picture, defined as a frame story. These less significant stories highlight the frame story as each character or group of characters underpin and endorse the primary meaning of the play. Into the Woods first tells the story of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Baker and His Wife. As their stories progress and the characters develop, the foundation of the frame story is established. These characters initially define happiness as something that someone else will provide to them, but later determine that everyone must decide their own destiny, as what they wish for does not always end up being what they want. Cinderella’s story begins with a wish to get more out of her empty and jaded life, but only after her wish is granted did she realize that though she was living the dream, she remained discontented and lonesome. She wanted a compromise between the life she once had and the life she had since acquired. She then came to the realization that she had not needed someone to rescue her from her misery; she was responsible for her own destiny. The characters of Into the Woods yearned for that what they could not have, and once they achieved it, they realized that they had overestimated their victories. However, each of the characters developed enough to realize that happiness is what you make it. Each abolished the longing for someone or something to come into their lives to improve it, and became much less dependent on others. The journey through the woods symbolizes the search for a happy ending, but the characters learn that what comes after the notorious happily ever after is real life, a life without an omniscient narrator acting as an agent of fate.

Merrick Santos said...

Like Cinderella, each character in the play sees something that they think will improve their live in some aspect or will make them happier. Only after wishing for the one thing they think they need will their eyes be opened to what they really need in their lives.

Merrick Santos said...

In a frame story the Narrator acts as a guide through the dark forest, and without the narrator leading the story along the path there is no telling in which direction the story will lead.

jack mcclain :D said...

The frame story for jack and the bean stalk, Cinderella, the baker and his maid, and red riding hood, is that they all revolve around the baker and his made. Because the baker’s dad stole some of the beans from the witches’ garden, so she put a curse on their house. By getting the curse put on the house it made it so that their son, when he gets married, can not have a baby. When the son grew up and got married he and his wife found out they could not have a baby without the witch releasing the curse. Now because the witch was still made about the stolen beans the witch told them she would only release the curse if they got her four items. The items are what intertwined all the stories together; a cow as white as milk, a gold shoe, a lock of golden hair, and a red cloak. When the baker was sent of to find these items he ran into little red who had a red cloak. Now she wasn’t to willing to give it up because her granny made it for her. After getting to her grannies house she walked in and he paced back and fourth trying to think was what to do when all the sudden he heard her scream. He ran inside to find out she got eaten by a wolf. He killed the wolf and cut his stomach open hoping to find the cloak but instead finding her, her granny and the cloak. She gave him her cloak for saving her. Later on in the book he finds his wife wondering in the woods also trying to help find other objects, he tells her to go home but she doesn’t want to. Later on the baker finds the cow as white as milk. He had to trick the boy, jack, who owned her, bye telling him that he had magic beans. He traded the cow for magic beans and was off. Meanwhile the baker’s wife ran upon a tower where she found a girl named Rapunzel who had long golden hair. She had to find a way to get the hair seeing as how she was too high up. She tricked Rapunzel by saying she was prince charming. Rapunzel let her hair down and the wife grabbed some of the hair. Now the baker and his wife only had to find one more item, the shoe. The baker’s wife ran into Cinderella and tried to convince her to give the wife the shoe. At first it didn’t work but she was able to give Cinderella her shoes that would allow her to run from the prince faster in exchange for the slipper. In the end all of the stories really came together when they had to kill the giant that jack released into the world.

jack mcclain :D said...

The frame story for jack and the bean stalk, Cinderella, the baker and his maid, and red riding hood, is that they all revolve around the baker and his made. Because the baker’s dad stole some of the beans from the witches’ garden, so she put a curse on their house. By getting the curse put on the house it made it so that their son, when he gets married, can not have a baby. When the son grew up and got married he and his wife found out they could not have a baby without the witch releasing the curse. Now because the witch was still made about the stolen beans the witch told them she would only release the curse if they got her four items. The items are what intertwined all the stories together; a cow as white as milk, a gold shoe, a lock of golden hair, and a red cloak. When the baker was sent of to find these items he ran into little red who had a red cloak. Now she wasn’t to willing to give it up because her granny made it for her. After getting to her grannies house she walked in and he paced back and fourth trying to think was what to do when all the sudden he heard her scream. He ran inside to find out she got eaten by a wolf. He killed the wolf and cut his stomach open hoping to find the cloak but instead finding her, her granny and the cloak. She gave him her cloak for saving her. Later on in the book he finds his wife wondering in the woods also trying to help find other objects, he tells her to go home but she doesn’t want to. Later on the baker finds the cow as white as milk. He had to trick the boy, jack, who owned her, bye telling him that he had magic beans. He traded the cow for magic beans and was off. Meanwhile the baker’s wife ran upon a tower where she found a girl named Rapunzel who had long golden hair. She had to find a way to get the hair seeing as how she was too high up. She tricked Rapunzel by saying she was prince charming. Rapunzel let her hair down and the wife grabbed some of the hair. Now the baker and his wife only had to find one more item, the shoe. The baker’s wife ran into Cinderella and tried to convince her to give the wife the shoe. At first it didn’t work but she was able to give Cinderella her shoes that would allow her to run from the prince faster in exchange for the slipper. In the end all of the stories really came together when they had to kill the giant that jack released into the world.

Zachary Vavra said...

Zachary Vavra
Into the Woods is a musical production in which the famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are seamlessly entwined into one main story. This main story is called a frame story. According to Wikipedia a frame story is a narrative providing the framework for connecting a series of otherwise unrelated stories. The stories that make up Into the Woods are: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and His Wife, and Little Red Riding Hood. In the beginning of the play the main characters wish for something that they think will make them happy. The Baker and his Wife wish that they can have a baby, but will they truly be happy with a baby and an unstable marriage? What all of the characters don’t realize is that they do not know what will truly make them happy. In fact they will come to find out that none of them know what happiness is. They will have to come together and figure out that happiness is learning how to find the good in everything and to make the best out of every moment. I think the basis of the frame story is the song “Moments in the Woods.” This exemplifies the moral of the story in a simple yet philosophical way that provokes the listener to think more deeply about living each moment to the fullest. It also reminds the listener to take memory of those special moments in life, because they are usually rare and short lived. This lesson is what brings the unrelated Grimm stories together as they embark on journeys together in search of their own true happily ever after.

Edith said...

Edith Chavez
Period 4

The play, Into the Woods, is a great example of a frame story because it is a big picture sort of story, composed of several smaller stories (a frame story needs at least two smaller stories to be considered a frame story). These smaller stories illustrate the frame story, their sub-plots are all parts of the larger plot in the whole story itself. The sub-story story that ties in the other stories is of The Baker and His Wife. The couple wants to reverse a curse, placed upon them by a witch as revenge on the Baker's father, in order to have a child because they believe that a child will bring them happiness. In order to lift the curse, they must give the witch a cow as white as milk, a cloak as red as blood, a slipper as pure as gold, and hair as yellow as corn. This is how the other stories get tied in. The main characters in the other stories likewise believe that happiness will come should their wishes be granted. As the stories begin to interwine with eachother, the characters get their wishes granted but realize that they still are not happy. Tragedy strikes when a giant comes down from the beanstalk to kill Jack for killing her husband and stealing from them. Several characters die as a result including the Baker's wife, the remaining characters then kill the huge giant, after which they realize that happiness is a state of mind that is not achieved by getting what one wants but by accepting and being happy for what one already has which is the moral of the frame story even if it is only one of the morals withing each of the smaller stories. The suriving characters then become friends and move on past their losses. At the end of the story, they all change the mentality they had so they can finally be happy.

Weston said...

In the play Into the Woods, the writer uses the concept of a frame story to help allude to an overall moral of the story. The point of using a frame story is to help link the ideas and concepts of smaller stories and combine them to form a large and more complex story with a meaning that the viewer is able to take away from the play and apply to his or her own life. The main moral in the play, Into the Woods, would be to keep your family and friends close and your enemies far, far away. The sub story that best describes this moral is the story of Jack and the Bean Stalk, because of how close Jack is willing to get to his enemy, the closer his enemy is able to get to his family. In Jack and the Bean Stalk, Jack tries to do the right thing by selling his only friend (a cow) to help feed his family, but instead of trading the cow for some money, which would benefit his family, Jack is swindled into trading the cow for some “magic beans”. Little did Jack know the beans were actually magic and would produce a large stalk, allowing for Jack to ascend up into the house of a giant. Inside the house Jack finds a harp that can play itself and a goose that lays golden eggs, but due to Jack’s greed, he steals these items causing the giant to chase Jack back down the bean stalk. In doing this jack is unconsciously pushing his enemy closer and closer to his family and friends. Upon reaching the bottom Jack quickly cuts down the bean stalk, causing the giant to fall to his death and his angry wife to seek revenge on Jack. This action makes the giant officially become Jacks enemy and gives the giant reason to hurt Jack’s loved one in order to get her revenge on Jack. Since Jack incoherently let loose the wrath of his enemy upon his family and friends, in the end of the story his mom is killed and many of his friends are squashed by the giant’s grieving widow. The concept of keeping your friends and family close and your enemy at bay is finally not only grasped by Jack, but is also conveyed to the other characters in the frame story, when Jack’s actions indirectly cause the death of their loved ones, by the extremely large hand of the giant. In the end, every character in the play realizes that their lives are much happier when the people that wish to inflict pain on them are as far away as possible and the people that give them joy are near by ready to stand beside them against any obstacle they may face.

Gaby Guzman said...

Period 4
This play "In To The Woods" is a very well description of a frame story. A frame story consits of small stories that pile up all together that leads them to work together and figure out the ending with an interesting ending with no narrator. Every small story in the play points out a good life lesson and may change you're perspective about life. Such as "The Baker & His Wife" & "Cinderella" & "Jack & the Bean Stalk", are the stories that really stuck out to me. To me "The Baker & His Wife" teaches a good lesson to adults or a warning about being married, espicially to teenagers. If you want to fall in love with who you think is "the one" and want to have a child with that person for the rest of youre life, you would have to take many sacrifices like the Baker & his wife did. It's not easy getting everything that you want in life. Another story that i thought really pointed out to me was "Jack and the Bean Stock" becuase Jack had felt like it was his fault that his mother had died but she was really taking risks & protecting Jack with her all that she had. But then Jack later in the story realizes that he will never be alone becuase his mother will always be there with him inside his heart and he will make his mother proud of what she tought him while she lasted. When someone close to our hearts has passed away at first we cant think at all and just want to be with that person but then realize that, that person will always be by youre side threw everything.Jacks story is very inspirational to everyone, i think any parent would risk their own life for their child and wish to let them know that you are never alone. I also thought Cinderella will put everyone looking from a newer perspective. Not everyone gets everything they want or even need, not everyone see's that true beauty exsist in themself so they think no prince charming will come to their rescue's. Cinderella teaches us that you get what you want but dont reazlie you dont have what you really need & to be happy for whatever comes you're way when you least expect something & that prince charming may not be what you expected or not the perfect one you danced with at the ball. With every story in the play "Into The Woods" all meet up in the end with no narrator so they have to work together and figure out the ending, there wont be a happy ending for everyone but there will be an ending that will be a shocking to you & they will learn on their own & have to realize that there is no narrator to solve their own problems, so they must deal with their own issues and see what comes around the corner and hopefully later in their story everything will turn out the way they wanted it to be.

Weston said...

For those who have already finished their journal entry its time to party!!!!

Zachary Vavra said...

You know it!!

K-Dog said...

I am very impressed so far! Again, great insights and some fantastic phrasing of ideas in the paragraphs...some of you are just succinct, some of you are just plain poetic, and some of you are clearly carried along with the whole wonder that I think this play does manage to convey very well. I consider myself pretty fortunate to have so many of you engaging with this story on such a sophisticated level. BIG SMILE!

K-Dog said...

Weston and Zach, I want you to party like it was 1599!

Kyle McCormick said...

In To The Woods is a perfect example of a frame story, what a frame story is is a story with two or more stories in it. In the case of this play it is Jack and the bean stalk, the baker and his wife, little red riding hood, and Cinderella. The story shows that things are not always what they seem and what you do affects the people around you. One example is the story of little read riding hood when she meets the wolf he seems harmless but he is truly dangerous and ends up eating her grandmother this really shows that tings truly are not what they seem. In the case of jack and the bean stalk jack trades magic beans for his cow these beans grow a massive bean stalk to witch a giant lives at the top jack steels from the giant and the giant comes down from the bean stalk but jack kills him to protect his mother and himself. Later the giants wife comes seeking revenge on jack for what he did she torments the people in the kingdom destroys the castle and kills many of the people in the kingdom. This is a excellent example of what you do affects not just your self but others as well.This also has a positive affect on the people in the story because jack meets and becomes friends with little red riding hood, the baker and his wife, as well as Cinderella. showing that there is good in the bad things that happen to us even though the good may not be present at first.

Tyler Barrett Pomeroy said...

The frame story in “into the woods” is centered on the story of the baker and his wife, it starts with the baker wishing he could have a child but learns that his dad got a curse on his family. This leads to him needing to find a red cape [red riding hood], a gold slipper [Cinderella], golden hair, [Rapunzel], and a cow as white as milk [jack and the bean stalk]. The baker then goes into the woods to find red riding hood to get her hood. Then he runs into a man needing to sell his cow but he only has 4 beans he sells 3 of the beans to jack for his cow, he then sends his wife back to the home but while she is traveling back she loses the cow. The baker gets red riding hoods hood and is going back to his wife, he then finds out about what happened to his cow. While the wife is looking for the cow she sees a girl running the girl has slippers as yellow as gold so she tries to convince her to give then to her but she is denied. The wife is traveling back when she runs into the tower of Rapunzel. She sees that the prince calls her down by saying let down your hair, she then says this and tears a hand full out of the girls hair and runs. The baker finds the dead cow and tells the wife to find another. The wife then runs into Cinderella again this time she trades the slippers for her shoes. The baker and wife find the witch and the wife comes in with a cow covered in flower the witch sees this and tells them to find the dead cow she will b ring it back to life. Once they have completed the tasks the witch had given them they end with them having a baby. The whole story is about how the baker and his wife’s journey to fulfill a wish by them self’s and along the way the other stories help them along. A frame story is basically a group of stories used to convey a larger meaning like love concur all or without help you couldn’t get anywhere I think the meaning of into the woods is no matter what don’t give up. For example the baker wanted to give up but his father said don’t be like me and run from your problems this made the son think and made him go back and help the other characters .

Sonia Mendonca said...

Period 4 (recent version)

In the play, Into the Woods, it shows a secondary story or stories embedded in the main story, also known as a frame story. It is also providing the framework for connecting a series of otherwise unrelated stories. The stories of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and His Wife, and Little Red Riding Hood are frame stories because they all have their reasons for making their wishes come true. In one of the stories, The Baker and His Wife, wish upon a child of their own which causes all of the stories to intertwine. The items they intend to find, a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold, all relate to the characters in this play. A cow as white as milk, relates to Jack and the Beanstalk, a cape as red as blood corresponds to Little Red Riding Hood, hair as yellow as corn correlates with Rapunzel, and a slipper as pure as gold refers to Cinderella. Finding all of these items causes dramatic changes to the stories. Midway through the play, the characters seem to have found their happiness, but instead it is only the beginning for them. When the baker and his wife have been blessed with a child from the ingredients they have found in the woods, they thought that their wish has come true. On the contrary, once the giant strikes them, many of the characters die including the baker’s wife. You never know what could happen in the woods; anything is possible. Acts of selfishness also corresponds to this play when the giant had come upon them, and they begin to blame each other for the cause of this disaster, also known as “The Blame Song”. Towards the end of the play one character remains from each story showing that making your wishes come true comes with consequences and does not always turn out as planned. Now that the baker does not have his wife to support him and his child, Cinderella steps in as the mother figure, and Jack and Red Riding Hood come as well to live with them. In the finally, everyone’s wishes came true. The baker had his child, Cinderella found her happy medium living with the baker, Red Riding Hood had made her mother and grandmother proud, and Jack found someone to take care of him, and a friend. Now, their ending was not a happy ever after like many of the stories end with, but now turns into a whole new fairy-tale with new characters. The lesson learned from this play is what will characters do in order to acquire a happy ending in their lives, and how can it affect everyone around them. This frame story shows that you should appreciate what you have in life and not wish for a change because you never know what’s in front of you until you lose it and I think the remaining characters at the end figure this out when all they have is each other.

Kealani Beltran said...

I really like this new method, it's different, and definitely fits my timing scedule so much better. Thank-you Mr K.

Manisha said...

Period 4
The play, Into the Woods, is a multitude of stories that make up a frame story. A frame story is a secondary story or stories that are embedded into the main story that link all the other stories together. The stories within Into the Woods make up its overall frame story, such as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and the Baker and his Wife. They all cross paths throughout the play and all have to find out the bigger picture. For instance be careful for what you wish for because sometimes it is what you wanted not what you actually needed. Cinderella is one example of this; she had spent a chunk of her life wishing for a that life that she always wanted and to get away from scrubbing the floor, picking lentils out of ashes, and talking to birds. Get the undying love of her dream prince and live happily ever after in this fantasy world dancing and bursting out into song every moment that they can possibly get. After she got her chance and married her Prince and later found out that she wasn't going to live happily ever after because her husband was going into to the woods to get with other women. After she had this realization she found out that she was no longer happy. She couldn't find the balance to her life. Once she was miserable but had talking bird friends and then another time she had all the happiness she could ever want but it wasn't really what she really needed. When sh met the baker she knew that she found what she needed not necessarily what she had wanted. The frame story basically takes all three child classics and puts them into a more realistic form and put a certain twist to then with a touch of music.

Anne Broussard said...

A frame story is a narrative providing a framework for a series of stories that would have not been related by themselves. The play, In To The Woods, is a frame story because of the way the stories that the play tells inter weave with each other, for example, The Baker and His Wife, want a child of their own, creating the premise of the whole play. The items that they must find for the evil witch are a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. The cow belonging to Jack and his mother, the cape belonging to Little Red Riding Hood, the hair belonging to Repunzel, and the slipper belonging to Cinderella. As The Baker and His Wife begin the journey to find these missing items they soon learn that this task at hand isn’t as easy as they had thought it was going to be. Soon, The Baker and His Wife find all of the items, they have a child, and they assume that they will live happily ever after, that is until the narrator of the story is killed. The characters stories begin to unravel, many characters die, including the Baker’s wife. At the end of the play, Cinderella steps into the Baker’s wife as sort of a wife/mother figure to his (the baker’s) son, Jack and Little Red Riding Hood also join the “family” somewhat creating the allusion of a happy ending. This frame story shows that not every story is planned out, not everything will happen just the way that you will expect them too, I think that at the end of the play all the characters learn that all they needed was to help each other and they could have made their lives a lot easier to begin with.

Eva Gaza said...

The play, Into the Woods is a frame story, which is in my opinion an overall story explained through two or more stories within it. A frame story is an overall unifying story within which one or more tales are related. The play, Into the Woods consists of the stories Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and His Wife, Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel. I feel the story that explains the frame story most is the story of The Baker and His Wife. I feel that The Baker and His Wife explains the frame story because in this story the baker and his wife lie and fool the other characters in order to get what they need to have a child. The baker and his wife need to find a red cape, hair as yellow as corn, the golden slipper, and a white cow, while they are trying to find these items is when they come across the other characters from the stories. They end up collecting all the items and are granted with a baby as the witch promised. However, as the story continues the baker's wife dies and he is left to take care of the baby on his own. It seems as if their bad decisions caught up to them, like karma which explains the frame story. The frame story is that if you make bad decisions, those decisions will slowly but surely catch up to you sometime in your life. The characters in the story all realize that the decisions they had made are the reasons why everything occurred in the first place, due to their selfish choices. The play, Into the Woods shows that all the decisions we make in life will determine how your future will be.

Unknown said...

Cynthia Arocan
period 6

A frame story is several little stories that ties together at the end, making one big story with a moral. Into the woods blends a variety of well known fairytales. It starts out with Cinderella then Jack and the beanstalk, the baker and his wife, and little red riding hood.Each and everyone of these characters wish for something they dont have.For exsample in Cinderella she wishes to go to the ball and not to be treated like a slave. In Jack and the beanstalk he is to go into the woods and sell his best friend/ cow for money but in exchange he gets three magic beans, which eventually leads to wealth. Then in the story of the baker and his wife, they wish to have a child. But to their surprise they are cursed by a witch who is seeking revenge and the baker and his wife are to gather up four things for the witch so that the curse shall be broken. A cow as white as snow, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. These for items relate to the four little stories, Jack and the beanstalk, little red ridding hood, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. Everyone got what they wished for. In the responce of Jacks actions the giant comes down in search of Jack and her gold, while doing that she takes the lives of many. Then everyone starts blaming eachother, and they realize how foolish their actions were. The moral of this frame story is to be careful what you wish for and to be happy with what you have got.

Anonymous said...

Hailey Wall
Period 4

First opened in 1987, the beloved Broadway, Into the Woods, shows the true meaning and importance of a frame story. A frame story is exactly what its name suggests; it is a series of narratives that interlace and link to form a frame capable of holding an even greater story. In Into the Woods, a frame story is used to give examples of a message that the entire tale is trying to convey. This moral, or life lesson, reveals that although people’s paths may lead through dark woods, it is through these tough times that people grow, guiding them past their selfish desires and helping them find what they truly need.
There are many characters that create the frame story of Into the Woods. They all shine in their own way, leaving no character lost in the shadow of another. These important characters are included in the stories of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, the Baker and His Wife, and Little Red Riding Hood. Each character contributes to the story through their relatable personality and applicable struggles—Cinderella wants her prince, Jack wants companionship, the Baker and his wife want a child, and Little Red Riding Hood wants to live a harmless life. In the end, these characters realize the importance of a journey, rather than the destination.
The story of Cinderella paints a clear picture of how a simple dream can be as faint and cloudy as the forest itself. Once Cinderella thinks she is living her dream, it once again becomes a distant fantasy when her prince finds himself in the dark woods of lust and unfaithfulness. Like many of the other characters, Cinderella demonstrates the humanly mistakes commonly seen throughout Into the Woods. Her story leads her to interact with other characters that have their hold on the story through selfish desires as well. In the end, all the characters seem to express a single message: what you want is not always what you need, and in order to get what you need, you must first fall and stumble along the wrong path to find the one you’re looking for…

Alissa Maggard said...

I've been trying to submit my comment but it keeps saying "Your HTML cannot be accepted: Must be at most 4,096 characters"
>:C
I've copied it into to word to check how many characters I have but it says about 3,900. I really like this type of assignment, though, because it's more convenient and the whole frustration over printing isn't a bother.

Anonymous said...

Christian Filbrun
In the 1987 play, Into The Woods, there is a frame story, or a story, where other smaller stories, in this case fairy tales, help to paint a bigger picture or moral. For example; in the play the moral painted in The Baker and His Wife is that eventually you need to grow up and become independent. The baker's wife dies, leaving her husband, who is entirely dependent on her. He has to learn how to live on his own. There are other morals painted in the three other key stories, such as in Cinderella, she learns that not everything you wish for is as good as when you wanted it. She learns this when she discovers that her prince, prince charming, is cheating on her. The moral of Red Riding Hood is realized from the start as Red Ridding Hood is told by her grandma not to leave the path this is the moral of her story because when ever she leaves the path something bad happens. The moral of Jack and the Bean Stock is also told from the beginning, and because he doesn't listen to his mother, many disasters fall upon him and the others. Overall the picture of all of the stories is this: You must pick yourself up when you get knocked over by the "giant."The only way you are able to do this is by uniting with others as it is told in the story. These frame stories use little stories and morals that interweave and produce their own morals in order to produce the larger picture or moral. FIN

steven F said...

Steven Fraser
Per 4

A frame story is a when a set of stories is used to illisturaite a larger moral meaning. an execllent example of this is the award winning play, into the woods which uses the stories of jack and the bean stock, the baker and his wife, cinderella, and little red riding hood to devlope the plot of the overall story. There are many themes in into the woods but in my opinion the must apparent one is be careful for what you wish for because not everything turns out how you think it will. this is exactly how into the woods begins with the characters saying what thier inner most desires are. these desires form the foundation of the adventure faced by the charcters as they journey into the woods to fullfil thier wishes.they soon relize they will have to travel into the unknown, repersented by a dark forest in the play, to acomplished thier wishes and this journey changes the way they looked at thier wishes. The story that best repersents this is cinderella.She begins the story with her wish to go to the royal ball with the prince. once she has recived her wish she comes to the relization that it is not all it was made out to be. her prince is unfaithful to her. the prince wishes for things he dosent have and is bored with cinderella. after her second trip though the forest she dumps the prince and resings herself with living with the baker, jack, and little red ridinghood. even thought the story ends happily how does one know if she will be content with her new life? into the woods plot is interesting because it shows a part of fairytales that is past the glamour. it shows how one character getting his wish fullfiled can cause anothers to remain unfullfiled. This makes the fairytales more realistic and allows aduencies to learn from them.

steven fraser
per 4

Thorhian said...

By Joshua Berensen
In “Into the Woods”, several different fables come together to form a greater story. These all form one “frame story”. The frame story connects usually unrelated stories to form a greater moral and “picture”. In the beginning of “Into the Woods”, we see Cinderella, Jack and the Bean Stalk, and the Baker and his wife (Little Red Riding Hood also ties in with the Baker and his Wife). While Cinderella’s and Jack’s stories are going, the baker and his wife must go and retrieve items from other fables, including Cinderella’s golden slipper and magic beans (and several other items like Red Riding Hood’s hood) to lift a curse from an evil witch. In the end, all of their stories have their happy endings and the baker learns a few lessons himself. But, when the giant’s wife comes after the characters get their “happy endings”, things start turning into real life. The narrator dies, and life is no longer a story anymore, and they all must make their own decisions. It’s almost like a newly wedded couple coming home from their honeymoon, only to have life start putting them through its hardships. The baker losses his wife, only because the prince who was with Cinderella cheated on her and tried seducing another “Maiden in Distress” in the woods. Life may seem like a fairy tale at first, but no one truly can be happy their entire life, there are many hardships in life we must get through. We can either run away or deal with those hardships and accept its consequences.

Anonymous said...

Krizelle DeGuzman
A frame story is a story made up of smaller stories that are not usually intertwined with one another to show a moral or message. Into the Woods is considered a frame story because it takes the stories of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, The Baker and His Wife and makes them all work together to get the things they want. There are many different morals that can come out of this story depending how you take it, but in my opinion the moral in Into the Woods is one that we all recognize; Be careful what you wish for. For example, Cinderella wished to go to the ball so she could meet the prince and get her happily ever after. She did not realize that once she got the prince as her husband, that there would be a possibility of her one true love having an affair and being unfaithful to her. But even before she discovered that, Cinderella was not happy at the palace even though it was everything she dreamed. No more cleaning after everyone else, all the new clothes and shoes, and getting anything she desired. But that did not satisfy her, Cinderella expressed that she did enjoy cleaning sometimes and that the palace life was not for her. Cinderella was granted her wish through other people that she never would have originally guessed to make a difference in her life. The moral can also relate to The Baker and His Wife. The couple had wished for a child for many years but when they had the child the Bakers wife died in the woods and the Baker didn't know what to d. He was totally dependent on her. The Baker did get the child he wished for but in return his wife died. Jack also discovered this once a giantess came to kill him. Jack and his mother had both wished for a better life so Jack took the opportunity to get money when he saw it but once Jack slayed the giant and took some of his riches, the wife came for revenge and his mother ended up dying. So in the end the most important moral, or the one which really stood out, is to be careful for what you wish for.

K-Dog said...

Almost everyone did their blog and did it on time. For those of you who still have not done it, you need to very soon decide whether or not you want to improve. As a sophomore, it is important that you begin to start doing things for yourself without having to have your hand held all the way all of the time. If you were unable to do this because of a technical problem, please let me know. If you did not do it simply because no one sat there and made you do it, it is time to wake up and start be proactive about your education. For everyone else, GREAT JOB in piloting this idea. I want to keep it up with other assignments!

brynnlynae27 said...

Into the Woods, a Broadway play, is a story with many stories wrapped into it to make one climax. You have the very common tales of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and his wife, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood. These Tales combine into one story. The Baker and his wife ask for a child from an evil witch, but in order for them to receive this child they must retrieve different things for the witch to make a potion out of. They must retrieve: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. As they go about their way searching for these items, they stumble upon Little Red, Cinderella, Jack, and Rapunzel. They go through great difficulties to retrieve these items, but they later are granted a child. As we go through the story, some trouble occurs from Jack and his magic beanstalk. This trouble is so great that it costs many people their lives. We notice that these characters learn their lessons in the end. The Baker learns to be a responsible single father and to take great care of his child. Jack learns to head his elder’s advice. Little Red learns to not be spoiled. With this big story we also learn from these stories to be careful what you wish for and be careful with the things or people that have been given to you. From the Baker and Cinderella, we learn things can be gone within a second of grasping them in your arms. From Jack and Little Red, we learn to head our authority’s advice. From Rapunzel, we learn to not freak out about everything and to be calm or we may later die of doing something stupid.

brynnlynae27 said...

Into the Woods, a Broadway play, is a story with many stories wrapped into it to make one climax. You have the very common tales of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and his wife, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood. These Tales combine into one story. The Baker and his wife ask for a child from an evil witch, but in order for them to receive this child they must retrieve different things for the witch to make a potion out of. They must retrieve: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. As they go about their way searching for these items, they stumble upon Little Red, Cinderella, Jack, and Rapunzel. They go through great difficulties to retrieve these items, but they later are granted a child. As we go through the story, some trouble occurs from Jack and his magic beanstalk. This trouble is so great that it costs many people their lives. We notice that these characters learn their lessons in the end. The Baker learns to be a responsible single father and to take great care of his child. Jack learns to head his elder’s advice. Little Red learns to not be spoiled. With this big story we also learn from these stories to be careful what you wish for and be careful with the things or people that have been given to you. From the Baker and Cinderella, we learn things can be gone within a second of grasping them in your arms. From Jack and Little Red, we learn to head our authority’s advice. From Rapunzel, we learn to not freak out about everything and to be calm or we may later die of doing something stupid.

bailey fitzpatrick said...

A frame story is multiple stories combined to make one big story. A perfect example of this is the play, Into the Woods. Into the Woods is Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and The Baker and his Wife. The main story is The Baker and his Wife because in their part of the play they wish for a child and in order to do this they have to collect items for a witch. the items they have to collect are a cow as white as milk, hair as yellow as corn, a cape as red as blood and a slipper as pure as gold. Each item is from a different story in the play. These items are what connect The Baker and his Wife to the other stories in the play. the main message or lesson in the play is that the grass isn't always as green on the other side as you think it is. For example, in Cinderella she wanted to go to the ball and not be treated bad by her stepmother and stepsisters. When she went to the ball she met the prince and they got married. she became a princess and never had to do another chore. she eventually became bored of this and realized that she didn't like having everything done for her. she finally left the prince when she realized that she was never going to be enough for him.

Tristan Mauricio said...

Tristan Mauricio
Period 6 English
11/20/11
There are stories that are mixed in with bigger stories that turn out to be confusing and forcing the reader to think. Frame Stories are literary devices that start off with main narrative and events that introduce and include completely different and sometimes random stories. The first examples of Frame Stories take place in Ancient India with the Sanskrit epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana and Vishnu Sharna’s Panchatantra. The play “Into the woods” is a good and more modern example of a frame story. However is a main theme that sets the stage and it’s mayhem, “be careful and think about what you wish for”.
The very long and sometimes confusing play starts out when some magic beans from a witch’s garden is stolen by the troublemaker Rumpelstilkskin. There are three main stories that tie into each other with little things like meeting in the woods or running into each other, all of the characters in each of these stories wish for something to make their lives better. The Baker and his wife are a lively couple that wish to have a child but for some reason they cannot so they go to the witch to ask for help, Cinderella just wants to get out of the house, and Jack wants an adventurous life instead of his boring and dull one. The Witch sends the Baker and his wife to find objects that will basically pay for the spell but all of those items belong to other characters of different stories. The Baker and his wife must get these items no matter what and it leads to confusion and frustration which leads to the wife’s death and the second giant coming down the beanstalk. The Baker tricks Jack into trading his milky white cow with his “magic” beans and Jack accidently grows the beanstalk and even though he ended up rich in the end, the second giant came down and destroys everything. When the giant comes everyone goes into panic mode and the baker and his wife become separated and when the wife gets sidetracked by Prince Charming she gets lost and crushed. The Baker and his Wife could have thought their wish a bit more through and prevented the mayhem it caused.

Nick Palmares said...

Nick Palmares
Period 4 English
The 1987 broadway musical, into the woods, is a prefect example of a frame story, which is multiple stories combined into a big story for a deeper meaning. Into the Woods is, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Repunzal. They all wish for something that lacks in their lives, so as the story progresses each of the characters will pursue to attempt to get their wishes granted but each character's adventure will merge to make one main plot. these individual stories to make one big story with one praticular lesson and links the other fables by having the characters cross paths throughout the story. the main lesson that determines their happiness is crucial for the outcome of the journy. For example, the story of Cinderella, she belived in a fantasy made from an attraction twards a prince, hoping to leave her life of being abused and worked to death behind her forever. Because of reaching the point of beliving that she could live a life of a flawless fantasy, she strived for that more then anything else. originally she belived she was indeed living her fantasy life, she later became bored, all the remaining happiness that she had was crushed by discovering that her prince was having affairs in the woods with other women. All she ever wanted was to be happy but cinderella also felt no long satisfied and ultimatly created a new fantasy for herself, one far superior then the previous one. after the fall of the Giant did she cease her cease her own sadness and boredom. each of these characters all experienced similar situations, from all their genuine needs were out casted by their wants and desires. so in the end each of the characters from each of the stoires all came to relize that what they wished for ultimatly wasnt what they truly needed.

Moriah said...

A frame story is a narrative with a series of smaller stories joined together to form a larger story to create a message. Into The Woods, a play, created by small versions of classic stories was a frame story because it included Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and His Wife, Litte Red Riding Hood, Repunzel, and Cinderella. All of those stories combined and created a story which was, The Baker and His Wife wanted their own child but couldn't have one because they couldn't have a child they had to find items for the evil witch. The items were "a cape as red as blood" which belonged to The Little Red Riding Hood. Also,"a cow as white as milk" belonging too Jack. She needed "hair as yellow as corn" which was on the head of Repunzel. "a slipper as pure as gold" was the last on her list, the slipper belonged to Cinderella. The Baker and His Wife were determined to find the items the evil witch wanted. They began the journey worried but ended successfully and found all of the item. Now that they have ended and have their child they predict life will be wonderful! Until the narrator of the story and the Bakers wife dies. Cinderella see's the tragedy and joins the Bakers family with his new child as well as Little Red Riding Hood and Jack. To them that creates a happy ending by everyone coming together and helping each other out like a family. Which is what they should have done in the first place to avoid problems they call came across.

Moriah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pauly B said...

A frame story is a big story composed of several smaller stories that connect with it. With the case of the play Into The Woods, it connects to stories Jack and The Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, The Baker and His Wife, and Rapunzel. I think the frame story behind Into the Woods is to “take action by yourself”. This can apply to all of the stories because all the stories’ main character(s) are faced with a problem that they think they need another person to help them when they really can take action by themselves. In Little Red Riding Hood, Little Red is disappointed in herself because when she’s setting up the trap for the giant because it goes against what her grandmother and mother taught her. In Cinderella, Cinderella is always wishing for a miracle to happen and is finally given a miracle by her godmother who gives her a dress to go to the royal ball. When she finally is with the prince and living in the royal castle, she begins to discover that the high life isn’t as fun as it sounds. When she discovers that the prince is flirting with other woman, she leaves him and lives with the Baker, Jack, and Little Red and discovers that this was the miracle that she wanted all along.

ChaosAxel said...

*testing xD

ChaosAxel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ChaosAxel said...

::Evelyn::

A frame story is a story that contains a series of smaller stories in which may or may not be similar to each other to bring up a moral or message. The play, Into the Woods, is one great example of a frame story because it combines the stories Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Baker and His Wife, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel. All of those stories cross paths and the characters either work individually and selfishly to get what they want, which causes problems for everyone including themselves, or they help each other as they each follow their own path in which they believe is the best. There are many morals coming from this frame story but one is “be careful what you wish for.” All the characters wish for something that their lives lack and once they get them they realize that they are not satisfied or simply changed their minds about everything. Cinderella for example, wants to go to the ball to be seen as someone else other than that “slave girl” and soon finds her prince. Life with him is “perfect” until she realizes what he is up to. She blames it all on him but she too is getting rather bored. That is when she realizes that something in between “a dream and a nightmare” will be better. Apart from that, it seems as if The Baker and His Wife, is the story that pulls the rest of the stories together. The reason is because the baker and his wife wish for a child but for that, the witch tells them, they must give her: “a slipper as pure as gold, a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood,” and “hair as yellow as corn.” All of those belong to one of the mentioned stories. As the baker and his wife search for those items they meet up with the other characters which forms a problem because of everyone’s separate wishes. Once they finally obtain those items they get the child they have wished for and believe that that is the end of their worries and life is perfect. The rest of the characters move on with their “perfect” lives forgetting those items but problems are brought forth one by one after the narrator is killed. Without the narrator there is no way of knowing what will happen next so the characters become afraid of creating their own future and just want the narrator to “hold their hands” and lead them. They no longer know what to do and blame each other which later of course leads to a couple of them dying and some completely losing it. The remaining characters realize that they will all end up like the rest of them if they do not step up without the narrator and work together towards one goal in which each will be happy with. They also realize that if they had just worked together in the first place maybe none of that would have happened, but too late, they have to learn from their mistakes and move on reaching for a different goal.

Annelise Rank said...

A frame story is a narrative providing the framework for connecting a series of otherwise unrelated stories. Into The Woods is considered a frame story because It combines a series of tales such as; Cinderella, Jack and The Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Baker and His Wife. Each tale has it's own hero and that hero begins with a desire and must make a journey into the woods to fulfill their wantings. Cinderella only wishes to attend the King's festival, Jack a simple young man, only wishes that his cow Milky-White would give milk, and the Baker and His Wife only long to bare a child. To fulfill their desires, each character has personal run ins with many other characters, in order to get things from each other. A quest by a baker and his wife anchor the story, a witch curses the Baker and his wife, making them unable to have children However, she tells the Baker and his Wife they can undo the spell if, before the stroke of midnight in three days' time, they can go into the woods and find the four ingredients needed for a potion: "The cow as white as milk; The cape as red as blood; The hair as yellow as corn; The slipper as pure as gold." So, the two set off to find the items. Along the way, Jack is seen roaming through the forest with Milky-White. He is greeted by a mysterious man, who lingers just long enough to tell the boy he'd be lucky to exchange his useless cow "for a sack of beans." The Baker's Wife suggests to Jack that he swap Milky-White for five of their six beans, and leads him to believe they carry magic. Remembering the mysterious man's warning, Jack agrees to the exchange. The Baker is upset about lying to jack to get the cow, but his wife doesn't budge. So, he insists that his Wife just take the cow and go home. The Baker is searching for Red Ridinghood, who finally arrives at her Grandmother's - where she is promptly swallowed up by the Wolf, who has already eaten the old woman. The Baker rescues them both from the inside of the Wolf's stomach. Back in the forest, the Baker's Wife is making her way home with Milky-White when Cinderella stumbles into view. The bakers wife starts talking with cinderella and soon notices that the girl is wearing slippers "as pure as gold." She is all set to follow Cinderella when Milky-White takes off in the other direction. The Baker's Wife chases after the cow, but never gets him back. Now distraught, having defied her husbands orders of returning home and losing milky-white, the couple bicker over how to get another cow, the Baker gives his wife their last bean deciding that he will search for a new cow, and she will again attempt to get Cinderella's shoe. Desperate for the remaining slipper, the Baker's Wife gives Cinderella the last magic bean - which she throws away, Cinderella handed over the golden slipper to The Wife for no cost at all but to swap for the other woman's shoes, easier for running away from the Prince. The Baker now returns with another cow, and it appears that the Witch's demands have been met. But she discovers that this cow is not "as white as milk", it has been covered with flour. She tells the couple to "fetch" the dead Milky-White, so she could bring her back to life. They did as they were told then they fed the cow the special ingredients. When Milky- White gave milk, the witch drank the potion and the spell was broken. The Baker's Wife became pregnant, the family of three then lived happily ever after until the Wife soon dies. All this drama is a pure example of a frame story.

Pauly B said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cori Brunet said...

Cori Brunet

A frame story is a linking narrative that provides the framework within which a number of different stories can be told, connecting a series of otherwise unrelated stories. The Broadway play Into the Woods is a prime example. The characters in the tales of Little Red Riding Hood, The Baker and His Wife, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Cinderella all have wishes they pursue in order to attain supposed happiness. In their pursuit, they unintentionally leave behind wakes of problems that leak over into the other fairy tales. For the baker and his wife, infertility leaves them yearning for a child. This is their deepest desire, and they are willing to do whatever it takes in order to achieve it. Though they succeed in getting the child they want so badly, the baker’s wife ends up being killed. If the baker and his wife were given a chance to look back they would realize all the trouble and chaos was not worth it, and they could never be as happy as they were in that moment in the beginning, even though they were childless. Their pursuit of what they believed would bring happiness ultimately led to destruction, and the child’s life was traded for his mother’s. The human flesh will always desire something more; nothing will ever completely satisfy the hunger inside of us for that ultimate happiness. It is an endless pursuit. From our perspective as well as the all of the characters in this frame story, our lives can always improve and be “better,” but what we often overlook is the fact that they can also be much worse. The character in this play learns this life lesson the hard way, through the loss of material possessions as well as loved ones, but ultimately for the greater good. The characters develop enough to realize they were certainly better off with what they had originally, and happiness is what you make it. I believe that is also part of the intent behind a frame story: to incorporate an underlying life lesson into relatable and seemingly simple stories the audience or reader can enjoy and hopefully learn from.