The Damsel and I
Introduction to the Archetype
The Damsel has spanned throughout history as a popular archetype in literature, movies, and music. Through these forms of entertainment, The Damsel is portrayed as naïve, innocent, and feeble. In media, she eagerly awaits to be rescued and protected by a handsome prince, and live “happily ever after.” The Damsel has potential for greatness, yet only realizes it when guided by a prince. In addition to the naïve feebleness of The Damsel, the archetype originally symbolized purity, kindness, and an immunity to the taint of evil. In relation to romance, the light attributes of The Damsel encourages her to rely on herself, and recognize the qualities of a healthy romance. The shadow attributes of The
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Throughout the years, I have developed a pattern regarding intimate relationships that prevents me from facing The Damsel archetype within myself. When I have concluded that a relationship has lost its spark, I begin to strategize on how to end it gracefully, and arrange a new relationship to assume its position. I fear prolonged periods of loneliness, as I am left to face my inner-critics on my own. Intimate relationships act as a distraction to my internal wounds, as I tend to focus on my time with the person involved. Often times the relationship one its own personifies the ‘rescuer’ engaged with The Damsel archetype. I have found myself involved with individuals in the past who were abusive both mentally and physically, yet I continued the relationships on of fear for being …show more content…
When I am entirely enthralled by an individual, I exhibit sense a naivety. In that situation, it became difficult for me to detect dangerous vibe this individual was emitting as I was intoxicated by the euphoria of love. In the beginning, it was not apparent that this person was using similar techniques to those I would normally utilize for personal gain. They would swoon me with sweet words, and strengthen my confidence. However, once I admitted my desire to begin a relationship with this individual they lashed out at me, stating that they were only using me for the sexual benefits. Those words shattered me completely, and it took nearly four months to regain a stable mentality. Until recently, I was fueled for my hatred of them and my disgust in their actions. When suddenly, it dawned on me that I have behaved similar to that individual in the past. Although, I have never manipulated anyone for sexual benefits, I have coerced people into emotionally rescuing me. Through this realization, I have let go of my distain for this person, and begun working on improving my relationship with The Damsel
In James Poniewozik's "The Princess Paradox" (323-325) the author explains how the idea of a feminist, independent woman becoming a fairy tale princess is a paradox and that society is engaging in a paradox through the belief of it. He utilizes the recent bout of Cinderella retellings to show the paradox of how girls cannot be both completely independent and a fairytale princess, and yet society perpetuates the paradox through believing that this is not only possible, but realistically attainable as well. Poniewozik exposes the contradictions that surround these new Cinderellas to defy these "realistic" stories that society has come to embrace. By showing how truly constrictive and illogical these fantasies are, Poniewozik also shows how hypocritical society has become for idolizing them and why this new princess is a true paradox.
In the article “Are All Princesses Really Waiting for Princes to Come?” Jack Heckel discusses some of the most common Disney princesses and the stereotypes that come along with them, as well as some of the stereotypes that are seen in the Disney princes. He supports his article by providing a variety of sources not only from Disney movies, but also from various authors and blogs. The analysis of Disney princess stereotypes has been a very common topic for years, and this overall analysis has revealed that a lot of Disney princesses are not good role models. Heckel uses many techniques including using credible, non-Disney sources, discussing other fairytales besides Disney, displaying a timeline of Disney
Throughout this paper, it was able to analyze how a love story developed through time between a hero and a damsel with the presence of good and evil having the ending of living together in great happiness and joy. This paper was able to scrutinize the archetypal villains, hero, and damsel in relation to the opposing concepts such as “good versus evil” and “sorcery versus reality”. It started out as a quest for an answer and later on it turned out to be a discovery for love upon seeing the real beauty within.
When studying gender roles in history, one will find that females are often depicted in similar ways no matter the era or region of study. Even when comparing the industrialized, early, twentieth century to today’s progressive era, there are striking similarities between female roles. We can see that over the course of the twentieth century, the qualities of loyalty and honesty have decreased in marriages due to the treatment of the two main female roles as depicted literature. The first was the role of the wife. The wife was often portrayed as a housekeeper and a nanny. Dull in appearance, there was no aesthetic beauty to this typical female. The other main role was the “other woman.” The more mysterious and promiscuous character, this woman portrayed the other part of the female population. Both of these types of characters are composites that portrayed the average, disposable female while how they were treated conveyed the general handling of females in the early, twentieth century.
For starters, Disney princess movies display the image of extraordinary beautiful sexy girls as princesses. They have long hair, small waist, flawless skin, nice cloths and beautiful voices (England, Descartes, Collier-Meek, 2). Unsurprisingly, young Girls want to have the qualities of these fictitious characters. They define beauty as having the perfect body image, just as Disney princess movies have taught them. Moreover, the bad people or witches in these movies always seem to be ugly, fat, or basically unattractive. This changes young girls’ view of the society, leading them to develop low self-esteem if they don’t meet the princesses’ standard (Dundes, 8). Since, Disney features the male character (prince) to be romantically linked to the female character (princess), young girls who do not think that they have the image of a princess will get the impression that they cannot be loved by handsome wealthy men (England, Descartes, Collier-Meek, 3). Also, they will consider themselves to b...
This essay explores the role of women in Homer's Odyssey, James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and Derrick Walcott's Omeros (1990), epics written in very different historical periods. Common to all three epics are women as the transforming figure in a man's life, both in the capacity of a harlot and as wife.
Lady Chudleighs’s “To the Ladies” exhibits a remorseful stance on the concept of joining holy matrimony. Chudleigh’s usage of metaphoric context and condescending tone discloses her negative attitude towards the roles of a wife once she is married. It is evident that Mary Chudleigh represents the speaker of the poem and her writing serves a purpose to warn single women not go get married and a regretful choice to women who are.
Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s fairytale Beauty and the Beast and Shakespeare’s novel Othello both feature a beautiful heroine that both develop in their own way. Beauty, from Beauty and the Beast, the youngest and most beautiful daughter of a merchant, remains extremely loyal to her father, and depends on her family greatly. While Desdemona, from Othello, is a young, wild, and independent woman who doesn’t depend on anyone other than Othello. In how they reflect the change in the heroine characters relationships, both Beauty and Desdemona conform to the concept of the Beauty character, or the main beautiful heroine of the story. Beauty and Desdemona are both these amazing beauties, and yet each of the characters find themselves in different developments throughout the stories. Although, Beauty and Desdemona have similarities, especially in their astonishing beauty, nevertheless, they differ in their advancing relationships with the beast character, their readiness for marriage, and the overall independence of both character.
The representation of female characters in the work may initially come across as acting irrationally, but closer examination shows that in fact their motivations were guided by contemporary values and therefore are more reflective of more positively portrayed characters.
A prolific exemplification of the ideal female virtues portrayed in fairy tales is Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper”. Perrault presents the ideal female fairy tale character through his portrayal of Cinderella. Cinderella is a tame and forgiving individual who subjects herself to the will of her father, stepmother and s...
Les Femmes Savantes The Learned Ladies is an astounding play. As each new character enters time transforms characters are bedazzled, enchanted and wigged we know we are sharing the stage with royalty. The women’s gowns are extremely detailed with hoop shirts to make them puffy the men are wearing exceptionally detailed waistcoats. This comical drama is set in the living room or “salon” of the family. This plays plot is focused on one major couples chaotic and forbidden love. The characters are joined by blood and lead by the controlling wife, Philamonte (Maya Jackson) and her weak spouse Chrysale (Edward Brown III). Jackson’s voice is directing with a profound tone that would have the capacity to stop anybody dead in their tracks. It is not
Some people might say that these movies provide entertainment and transport families into the lives of princes and princesses. Many critics have said that the films have amazing soundtracks and have detailed and interesting plots. Still, however entertaining the films may be, the way women are viewed and treated outweigh any enjoyment that a viewer could have. The subliminal lessons young women learn from these films have lifelong repercussions and negatively affect the female
In conclusion, the development of the folktales leads to the obtaining of ideas about gender. In many ways our society supports the idea that women seem underestimated as well as physically and mentally weak in comparison with the men who is portrayed as intelligent and superior. This can be shown in many ways in the different versions of this folktale through the concepts of symbolic characters, plot and narrative perspective.
Carver , Joseph M. "Love and Stockholm Syndrome: The Mystery of Loving an Abuser." 03 Feb 2009. n. pag. Web. 14 Feb 2011. .
Over the years, Disney has presented many movies to their audience—most having a Princess as the protagonist. These movies became a babysitter for most parents in the early stages of their child’s life. Most people found these movies as relatively harmless. The obvious assumption about the Disney Princesses is that they only desire true love since almost every movie ends in romance. Parents just viewed these movies as romantic movies on a child’s level. However, these movies were not solely intended for an audience of an age that can be counted on both hands. They were intended to speak to “an intelligent and active audience” (Sumera 40). However, there are many people who disagree with the ways of the Disney Princess movies. The disagreements lie within the portrayal of women gender roles in these movies. It is argued that Disney portrays women as a being nurturing individuals without any control over their identity. The women are unable to think for themselves, because they are uneducated, and they are quick to fall in love with the first man that pays them any attention. However, this is not completely true. The people that are against the portrayal of women in the Disney movies are failing to recognize the underlying concepts in these movies. For example, Belle, in Beauty and the Beast, was well educated, Mulan went to war despite the consequences, and Merida, in Brave, stood up to her mother in refusal to marry. The Disney Princesses desired intelligence, bravery, strength, and independence—not true love’s kiss.