Disney Princess Archetypes

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For my research essay, I want to look into the archetypes of Disney princess and how much they have changed as society goes into its fourth wave of feminism. I believe Disney princesses reflect on the way society portrays women; starting back in the twentieth century when the first Disney princess movie was released, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. For many years, princesses have been one of the top selling trends for young girls and I would like to determine if these heroines have a harsh impact on how girls think. I also want to see how much, if any, our Disney princesses have changed since the first animated film was released in 1937, all the way up to the most recent animated Disney film, Frozen, which was released in 2013. I believe Disney …show more content…

The characteristic’s I will mostly be focusing on, that portrays a female hero, is independence, intelligence, confidence, and courage. In addition, I hope to find a few articles that deal with heroines from a feminist standpoint. Feminism has changed dramatically since the first wave and I believe digging into the mind of a strong feminist would be a good asset to my research. I also have found a few articles that compare these three princesses to those who came before them, such as, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan. Since I haven’t found a feminist yet, my first approach will be to find a feminist author who wrote a scholarly book or article that will either discuss how these princesses are not good for society or if they really even make a long term difference. I would then like to organize my findings as follow: first, I will examine each princess from the movies I have selected and determine which archetypal figure they represent. Then I will determine if their story overall ties into their figure or if the figure they represented was overshadowed by the moral of the story. I will then investigate whether or not these princesses’ personalities have changed over time due to society, and if modern day feminists influence the way Disney creates new princesses. I also want to investigate how much these new princesses influence girls for the

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