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Into the Woods of Morality When discussing whether or not something is ethical, values and morals must also

be taken into consideration, for these concepts are all closely related. in life, humans are faced with situations in which they must make decisions about what is right or wrong. Fairy tales seem to reflect this need to draw a line between right and wrong or good and evil. Although a black and white dichotomy might make things easier, there is almost always a shade of gray due to the differences in values and priorities between people. Even with the variance in peoples interpretation of the gray area, an overarching foundation of the entire gray-scaled spectrum is that "moral living is about being responsive and responsible toward other people, (Guroian 4). The basis
of morality is maintaining an altruistic perspective. By Guroians definition of

moral living, one most carry a concern for the circumstances of others and be responsive and responsible to their needs. However, even if a person has a set of moral rules by which they normally live, the trill of the chase in the midst
of a quest to fulfill ones greatest desire, that line can be bent, blurred, or lost

entirely in the minds eye of the pursuer. Act I of the musical shows the tendency that people have toalmost instinctivelyput the acquisition of their goals as a more urgent or more important priority than those of others. The characters are not responsive to the needs and concerns of others, nor do they hold themselves responsible for the way their actions affect the lives of the other characters. The practice of ethical decision making and the process
of striving to reach a personal goal seem to be at odds with each other.

Because desire is, naturally, a selfish endeavor while ethics involves the consideration of other people even if their agendas may conflict with ones own, there seems to be significant disparity between the two concepts. Throughout the musical, characters repeatedly feel coerced into choosing between their values and their wishes; they chose they tend to make is predictable. Into the Woods promotes the theme of ethical decision making as a secondary priority to the fulfillment of selfish desires; we see evidence of this
in the song lyrics and characters of the Bakers wife, Cinderella, and Red

Ridinghood. The Bakers household has been cursed with infertility by the witch. in order to have the child they long for, they must search for and gather the items the witch requires for a spell. The Bakers wife, insistent upon helping her husband lift the spell, ventures into the woods on a mission to fulfill her dreams of motherhood. in her desperation to acquire the items that she needs, she feels forced to make decisions that are not morally sound. Concern about the welfare or best interest of people outside of her personal family unit (herself, her husband, and her future child) takes a backseat to the process of completing the goal of having a child; it is not until after her mission is accomplished that she begins to make decisions based on factors that lie outside the boundaries of her tiny family. "In order to break the spell of sterility, the Baker and his Wife compromise their values by stealing, lying, and cheating the other characters out of the possessions they need" (Stoddart 211). Of course in the midst of attempting to acquire their goal and greatest

desire, they try to convince themselves and each other of justification for the methods they feel coerced in to using. Because the Baker is kindhearted and sympathetic to the concerns of those around him, his Wife feels the need to persuade him into relaxing his moral standards. Baker's Wife: If the thing you do Is pure in intent , If it's meant, And it's just a little bent, Does it matter? (Sondheim 30) Her husbands answer to that question is an immediate and resounding Yes. It is obvious that he feels guilty about lying to Jack in order to obtain the cow. His thoughts about concerns of others (Jack) are proof that before being tempted by the need to break the curse in order to fulfill a wish, the Baker fit the Guroian definition of morality. Although the Baker is initially conflicted about the moral issues surrounding the way in which they he was to acquire the items, he is swayed by the determination behind his wifes words. Bakers Wife: If the end is right, It justifies The beans! Her pun about the ends justifying the means in which they reach their goal is the way she loosens the reins on her husbands sense of morality. Even after getting her wish and giving birth to her child, the Bakers Wife is unable to let go of her fascination with the Prince. She was willing to push thoughts of concern about her husband and even her long awaited child away in order to have a moment with the Prince. The Baker's Wife had to die with the regret of her decisions and

actions without being given the opportunity to return to her husband and child.
However, she was able to redeem her character in her last song where she

expressed regret and vowed to stay faithful to her family. The Bakers wife was characterized by the methods she used to reach her goal as well as her determination to conquer the curse and have a child. Even if her "beans" (means) were questionable, her willingness to work toward her dream display a heartiness of her character that others, such as Cinderella, may lack. Cinderella, on the other hand, struggles with an ethical dilemma on the opposite end of the spectrum. While the Bakers Wife toils and bargains and begs for the things she requires in order to reach her goal, Cinderella makes no major moral decision on her own and expects her dreams to come to fruition without first making difficult choices and sacrifices as done by other characters. Although Cinderella begs and weeps to get her wish of going to the festival, she toil to achieve her goal, nor does she take the initiative to make any ethical decisions. Her lack of decision-making (ethical or otherwise) shows that she is extremely dependent on the actions of others in hopes that they will ensure the fulfillment of her wishes. She naively believes that her stepmother will honor her words and allow her to attend the festival if all the lentils have been plucked out of the ashes within two hours. Instead of working to accomplish the task that could lead to her dream, she asks her feathered friends to do the work for her. After her stepmotherpredictablygoes back on her word, Cinderella runs into the woods and makes her request to the tree beside her mothers grave; she cries: Silver and gold throw down on me" (Sondheim 23).

Cinderella quite literally expects her desires to fall down to her from the sky. She does not do anything in pursuit of her goals, but instead relies on outside forces to come to her aid and rescue. Whether it is her stepmother, the birds, her mother, a tree, the prince, or anything else, she does not do much decision making of her own accord in pursuit of her goals but instead depends on the aforementioned group to make her wishes come true. After getting her wish to go to the festival, Cinderella must struggle with an ethical debate. While part of her yearns to let the prince catch her and see how things turn out, the other part of her fears the prince will be angered and disgusted at the revelation of the lifestyle she is forced to keep at home. There is also the moral dilemma of whether or not she should let the prince pursue her under false pretenses. So the ethical debate in her case would be whether or not her methods are morally sound. Is it wrong to so thoroughly depend on others to make things happen for her? Even after she attends the ball, Cinderella is conflicted as to whether she should pursue a relationship with the prince. Its your first big decision, she observes while consulting with herself (Sondheim 63). She debates with herself for some time, but she knows she must make haste for shes standing in quickly thickening pitch on the steps of the palace. Cinderella: "Then from out of the blue, And without any guide, You know what your decision is, Which is not to decide (Sondheim 64). Still she does not make any decision for herself. Her ambivalence is nearly crippling in its persistence and intensity. It could be seen as admirable that she

refused to manipulate the situation too much, for she knew the princes infatuation was based on an illusion. "In stereotypical fashion, Cinderella resigns control over the situation to the Prince," (Stoddart 213). Cinderellas apparent hesitance to make a decision in pursuit of her goals may be a result
of her indecision about what her goals are. In her haste to get to the ball, she

didnt think about the possible consequence of hiding her identity; she then feels forced to run from living a life based upon deceit when the Prince falls for her illusion. Little Red Ridinghood, unlike the others, does not venture into the woods with a wish or dream. She is merely delivering a basket of food to her sick grandmother who lives in the woods. Before being assaulted by the wolf, Little Red Ridinghood seems to wish for nothing; she simply enjoys gorging herself on sweets while journeying to her grandmother's house. Red Ridinghoods character in the musical, Into the Woods, seems to follow the plot of the Grimm Brothers version of the fairy tale up until a crucial point. Aside from the added comedy of the girls gluttonous sweet-tooth, there were no major twists thrown into her story until after she is tricked and devoured by the wolf. Firstly, the Baker is the one who saves the lives of Little Red and her grandmother instead
of the Hunter. It could be seen as ironic that the grandmother automatically

assumes that they were saved by a hunter (as the story is supposed to go) and seems surprised by the deviation from the original plot: Granny: "Don't you want the skins? Baker: No. No! You keep them. Granny (with disdain): What kind of a hunter are you?

Baker: Im a baker!" (Lapine 34). It is as if Granny is somehow aware that the story has been altered and reacts accordingly. With the squeamish Baker as the one to save them rather than the fearless hunter, Granny apparently believes it necessary for Little Red Ridinghood to take her safety into her own hands and thus gives the child a blade for protection. This leads to the other, more troubling, change to Red Riding Hood's story. The Grimm's tale ended with: "But Red-Cap [Red Riding Hood] went joyously home, and never did anything to harm anyone,"(Grimm). Yet in the musical, the young girl walks around welding a blade and supposedly goes on ravenous rampages of revenge and makes a habit out of skinning any wolf that dares cross her path. This difference from the original tale paints a much darker picture than the Grimm tale did and speaks of a complete loss of innocence in the girl after she is attacked. Little Red Ridinghood: This is terrible. We just saw three people die! Witch (Bitter): Since when are you so squeamish? How many wolves have you carved up? Little Red Ridinghood: A wolf's not the same. Witch: Ask a wolf's mother! Red Ridinghood has made the unethical decision to take revenge against all wolves who approach her in order to ensure that she is never fooled and harmed by one again. Red Ridinghood's struggle is not with ambition or the advancement of a dream but a desire to protect herself. After being assaulted by the wolf, she becomes defensive, assertive, cynical, and suspicious of other people. It is not until far after the fact that the girl is forced to confront the ethics of her actions. Even if she was seeking revenge and eliminating the

need for her caution and fear one wolf at a time, wolves still have mothers and people who care for them. Someone else besides the wolf and herself may be severely affected by her actions. No one is alone. After losing her way from the path, then losing her innocence, then losing much of her compassion, to finally losing her mother, the poor girl is in need of some guidance. Because morality and ethics is so complex and values
of some people different from those of others, Cinderella attempts to put

things into prospective for the young child. Her song seeks to make Little Red understand that the world is not simpleit is full of nuances that may test the foundations of prior conceptions and complicate decision-making. Baker/ Cinderella: "Witches can be right, Giants can be good. You decide what's right, You decide what's good," (Sondheim 131). Cinderella redeems her own character by giving Red Ridinghood the lessons and support needed to make ethical decisions in the future. For what is most likely the first time, Little Red Ridinghood is made aware of the gray area in ethics and morality. There is no longer a clear cut good and bad; there is not necessarily an obvious right or wrong. in her song, Cinderella puts emphasis on the idea that right and wrong is something that each person must discover and determine for themselves. Cinderella reminds the young girl that mother cannot guide her in the values the girl will choose to set for herself yet insists that no one is alone (Sondheim 128). Red Ridinghood is told no one is alone as both a comfort and a warning. That statement indicates to her that she will always be able to find support and compassion somewherefrom

someone. Unfortunately, it also means that anyone she has wronged or harmed had people on their side too. They have people who care about them, support them, and are hurt when their loved ones are hurt. With this lesson, the girl is made more aware and ashamed of the pain she may have unknowingly caused by seeking revenge against the wolves. She is now responsible for interpreting these concepts and forming her own judgments about morality and ethics. In conclusion, the characters of the Bakers Wife, Cinderella, and Little Red Ridinghood from the musical Into the Woods, through song lyrics and characterization, display the instinctive human tendency to choose the acquisition of their desires over ethical decision making. The Bakers Wife is willing to put her goals over the concerns of others in Act I in pursuit of her dream of a child. She develops as a character and comes to appreciate what she has after her affair with the prince, but unfortunately, does not live to put this new attitude into practice. Cinderella does not know what dream she is pursuing aside from her obsession with attending the festival. Her lack of any ethical decision making could indicate that she hands off moral dilemmas to others because she is also conflicted about her values. Little Red Ridinghood, even after her crusade for revenge against wolves, is the next generation responsible for setting moral standards. According to Guroian, morality is not something that is easy to teach. It is built upon so many values and different interpretations that an instructor could not with any certainty know which values to bring before the class and which ones to omit. Because there is not

one handbook on teaching moral values, ethical thinking is something that is typically influenced by many other sources and shaped in many different ways for children. Morality is not typically something that is explicitly taught, but rather absorbed by children through observation of the world around them. After the goals are reached for the characters of Into the Woods, the consequences are seen. The characters learn and grow from their mistakes and acknowledge new aspects of morality.

Works Cited Grimm, the Brothers. "Little Red-Cap". Gold Scales. Web. 17 Apr 2011. Guroian, Vigen. "Awakening the Moral Imagination: Teaching Virtues Through Fairy Tales". Intercollegiate Review 32.1 1996: 3-13. Web. 24 April 2011. Lapine, James and Stephen Sondheim. Into the Woods. Theatre Communications Group, Inc. New York: 1987. Print Stoddart, S. F. "'Happily...Ever' NEVER: The Antithetical Romance of Into the Woods". Garland Publishing Inc.: New York. 2000. 209-220. Print.

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