Jack and the Beanstalk Shorts

Jack and the Beanstalk is a tale that reveals deep truths about childhood. Jack, the protagonist, goes through various stages in the story. It starts with a problem - Milky White, the cow, stops giving milk. Jack then exchanges the cow for magic beans and plants them overnight. A beanstalk grows, connecting two realms. Jack climbs it and meets a giant and his wife. Jack steals gold coins and a hen that lays golden eggs. In the end, Jack defeats the giant and returns home. The story raises questions about the symbolism of names, events, and actions. Script 1 Jack and the Beanstalk seems like a simple tale, childish almost. What if that misses the point, that it reveals deep truths about childhood? Let me, Jack, be your guide to the tale. It's one you probably know well, but may not have explored it since reading it as a child. I'm Jack, and known as the protagonist of this story. It's my story, if you like. You will learn more about me and my real nature by considering the various stages of the story as it goes through. You will learn more about me and my real nature by considering the various stages of the story as it goes through. The story starts with a problem. Milky White. Milky White the cow is not giving milk. This is noticed by my mother. These details are important as she initiates the action in this story. Watch out for names, too, they may be significant. So let's look at how the story starts. Script 2 Jack, that's me, sets off to market. You might want to think about what a market might symbolise. On the way he meets a funny-looking old man. It is this event that diverts Jack and his mother from opening a shop or something with the proceeds of Milky White's sale. The story goes in another direction altogether. On the way he meets a funny-looking old man. It is this event that diverts Jack and his mother from opening a shop or something with the proceeds of Milky White's sale. The story goes in another direction altogether. Jack exchanges the milkless cow for some allegedly magic beans. Five beans to be precise. He is told that they have to be planted overnight. In this story it is important to see where events occur in terms of night and day. Jack is very happy to have made the exchange of the cow for the beans. His mother is much less happy. She cannot understand at all and that point is significant. Script 3 The best fairy tales move through clearly defined stages, although not in the same way. This is part of their charm. I know I'm biased as a fairy tale character. Jack, that's me, awakens to find his attic room has changed. The light is entering in in a different way. Jack finds the magic beans have sprouted and the beanstalk grows up to the sky. Essentially it forms a ladder between the earth and sky. Jack climbs onto the beanstalk from his attic window. The climbing takes an effort. The beanstalk now connects two realms and Jack is able to move from one to the other. What of these realms do you think? Script 4 Jack that's me, in the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, arrives above the clouds and finds a long broad road travelling straight as a dart. He walks along it some distance until he comes to a great tall house. At the doorstep is a tall woman. I, Jack, am hungry. I ask to be fed. The giantess gives me fair warning that her husband may come. I, Jack, am hungry. Jack asks to be fed. The giantess gives Jack fair warning that he may end up being eaten. Jack persists and she does feed him. Only then her man, an ogre of great size, starts to return. Ask yourself, in this tale of mine, where has the ogre been when he has been there? This may be significant. The ogre arrives for breakfast. Jack is in real peril, but the ogre's wife hides him in an oven. This is significant. So significant it happens twice in the tale. Script 5 Jack is hidden in the oven when a huge ogre states, Fee, fie, foe, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive or be he dead, I'll have his bones to grind my bread. I'm Jack, by the way, and this is my story. Now we move towards the climax of the tale. The giant, having sated his appetite, goes and collects two bags of gold coins from his chest. The giant ogre's tall wife has warned Jack to stay hidden until the ogre falls asleep. This he does, and then takes the gold coins and descends down the beanstalk. Note that the giant's wife helps Jack. It's certainly worth asking what the gold coins symbolise. Script 6 I found my way to the giant ogre's home and made off with some of his gold. I'm Jack, and this is my story. When you take stories like mine and try to understand their deeper significance, it's good to spot similarities as well as differences. The second time I go to the giant's house is similar but not identical to the first. Jack demands something to eat when he returns for the second time. As the story says, it happens as it did before. But there are differences. The ogre's wife fetches the hen that lays the golden egg. Jack learns by observation how a gold egg may be produced. Now, when Jack returns to his mother, they have gold eggs on demand. This is different to the outcome of his first visit. What does that suggest? Script 7 I'm Jack, and at the climax of my story a lot happens as you'll see. Jack returns for a third time up the beanstalk to the big house in the clouds. This time he hides and avoids being seen by the giant's wife. He chooses to hide in the copper rather than in the oven. The giant ogre senses his presence but even aided by his cleverer wife, the giant cannot find Jack. And after his gargantuan meal, he still looks for Jack. It's worth noting what his wife does and does not do. The ogre calls for his harp that plays on command. After the harp sends him to sleep, Jack steals it. But it, the harp, cries out and wakes the ogre. Jack has to run. The ogre gives pursuit. Again, the details here are important. Jack, towards the end of this story, still needs his mother's help. The demolition of the beanstalk takes place in stages. The ogre falls and meets his demise when he crushes into the ground. The link between the cloudy realm in the sky and the earth is severed. Finally, consider what happens to the ogre's wife. And what happens to Jack? What is different for Jack at the end of the story in contrast to the beginning? What might the princess represent? And what of me, Jack? Clever clog said I am. What am I, do you think? Which of the soul's faculties do I represent? The best answers to these questions are those you discover for yourself. Some describe me as a trickster, and I suppose that's true. But who was my teacher? Finally, note what I steal from the giant. And you may want to think what is symbolised by the act of stealing. It occurs a lot in fairy tales where robbers are involved. The gold comes in three different forms. What is this gold and how is each step in Jack's stealing a progression? We will have more to say about this story. Watch this space, as they say in your world, or once upon a time, as they say in mine.