Briar Rose Archetypal Analysis Essay

751 Words2 Pages

In the twenty-first century, children still spend countless hours reading fairy tales. They read about their favorite heroes, witches, villains and damsels in distress. One story that has lasted all this time is the tale “Sleeping Beauty.” An older version written of the tale was written by the Grimm Brothers, which was named “Briar Rose.” The fairy tale of “Briar Rose” been around for hundreds of years and has inspired many other versions to follow such as “Snow White.” “Briar Rose” is appealing to so many readers because it has components of royalty, romance, and a happy resolution. Through analyzing the history, archetypal elements, and the psychological value of “Briar Rose,” the tale of “Briar Rose” is a story that has and will continue …show more content…

Three of the archetypal elements are the number seven, the damsel in distress, and the hero. First, the number seven appears at the beginning of the tale, when seven fairies attend the birth of Briar Rose. Each fairy gives the newborn princess a gift. However an older fairy shows up, who had not invited, and grants a horrible spell on the newborn. The seventh fairy attempts to make the spell better, but there was only so much the fairy could do. She was able to change death to a one-hundred year sleep. The number seven is important because “it appears in the Bible in many places in numbering years and other important events” (Annotations for Sleeping Beauty). Some scholars say that the first seven fairies were ‘holy’ like and the last was evil. Next is the damsel in distress. After Briar Rose was pricked by the spindle she fell on the bed and began her century of sleep. Briar Rose was a princess, who was always vulnerable. When the angry fairy placed her evil curse on the baby princess, the king and queen took every precaution in protecting her daughter. Even though her parents burned almost every spindle in the kingdom, Briar Rose was still vulnerable. Briar Rose was vulnerable, and she required the help of a hero to be rescued. When she was pricked everyone the castle fell asleep, and the castle was surrounded by a huge rose bush that did not allow anyone in for a century. This is when the hero arrives at Briar Rose’s

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