Dragon Daughter

Fairy Tales Told Wrong I

'The Ugly Duckling' is a meaningful story about identity.

But it's not a story about transformation. It's not about a duckling that becomes a swan. It's not about a hero evolving or inner beauty blossoming.

The cygnet was always a swan.

What happens in 'The Ugly Duckling' is a cygnet is held up against a duck's expectations and standards. The baby bird is grey with a black beak, not bright and bouncing. It doesn't look like a duck or quack like a duck. The ducks don't recognise the cygnet is swan and the poor little thing doesn't know any better than the ducks tell it.

Then the cygnet matures and one day he meets swans and learns who he is and to hold himself to his own standards. He doesn't have to be what a duck is, because he is not a duck.

The story of 'The Ugly Duckling' is not about an ugly duckling, it's about a young swan.

If the standards you think you're supposed to live to are making you unhappy, really think about whose standards they are. Is there another path which works for you? There is no universal truth. There is no perfect answer. There's only your answer.