Damsel in distress
Beastly male
Faraway castles/isolated settings
The evil matriarch (e.g. wicked stepmother/queens)
Handsome prince
The big bad wolf
The innocent heroine
Happy endings
A knight in shining armour
Heroine usually forms positive relationships with animals
Stereotypical female roles:
- Dutiful daughter
- Carer/nurturing woman
- Sexually promiscuous
- Mad bad and dangerous
"Such stereotypes included the woman...as an immoral and dangerous seductress, the woman as eternally dissatisfied shrew, the woman as cute but essentially helpless, the woman as unworldly, self-sacrificing angel and so on" (Taken from Literary Theory: The Basics by H Bertens p29 of the Critical Anthology)
