Sleeping Beauties: An Evolution

1580 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The evolution of fairy tales

We have often seen numerous folktales that appear to be similar among different cultures. Often at times, the characters or locations change to accommodate the surrounding culture, but the message or moral of the story stays the same. In the case of the story, Sleeping Beauty, we notice that the earlier versions of the story are more crude and “adult” and as time passed on, the story evolved to become more suitable for a younger audience. Sleeping Beauty became a story of “rape, adultery, sexual rivalry, and attempted cannibalism” (Hallett, 1) to the clean and innocent Disney version we know today. The three versions of Sleeping Beauty that I will compare are Sole, Luna, E Talia (Sun, Moon, And Talia) by Giambattista Basile, The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood by Charles Perrault, and Brier Rose by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
Sole, Luna, E Talia (Sun, Moon, And Talia) by Giambattista Basile tells the story of the princess, Talia who was cursed into a deep sleep, and raped by a King and awaken after giving birth to twins. This version is very shocking and repulsive because the King, impregnates the Sleeping Beauty character as she’s sleeping, and then leaves her. She awakens not at the kiss of the Prince, but at the birth of her twin children. The story also deals with the Queen (the King’s wife), whose jealous rage forced her to get revenge on her husband for cheating on her by making the cook kill the two children and serve them to the King to eat.
Taboo is a social and often sacred prohibition put upon certain things, people, or acts, which render them untouchable or unmentionable. (Goding, 214) In this version of Sleeping Beauty, there are many examples of taboo such as adultery, rape, and an attempt at cannibalism. These acts are ...

... middle of paper ...

...ng, Anne. Storytelling: Reflecting on Oral Narratives and Cultures. San Diego, CA: Cognella, 2013. Print.

• Lafferty, Anne. "Folk and Fairy Tales. By Martin Hallett and Barbara Karasek, Eds. Ethnologies 24.2 (2002): 261. Print.

• Sleeping Beauty. Perf. Mary Costa, Eleanor Audley, Barbara Luddy, Taylor Holmes, Bill Shirley, Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen, and Bill Thompson. Walt Disney, 1959. Pilhofer, Frank. “Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.” Disney Scripts.

• Willard, Tracey. "Maternal Cannibalism: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Juniper Tree, & The Virgin Mary's Child." Maternal Cannibalism: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Juniper Tree, & The Virgin Mary's Child. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

• Willard, Tracey. "Tales at the Borders: Fairy Tales and Maternal Cannibalism." Tales at the Borders: Fairy Tales and Maternal Cannibalism. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Leslie Silko's, Yellow Woman: An Old Myth Changed into a Modern Story

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...n” is a great example of an old myth or tale reconstructed and adapted for a modern audience in a new medium. It is a progression on one hand in its use of modern language, setting, and style but it is also the product of the old myths in that it is essentially the same on the thematic level. In addition, the level of self-awareness on the part of the narrator and, by extension, the author marks it out as an illustration of the very notion of evolutionary changes of myths and fairy tales. Adaptation is the solution to the fairy tale, and fairy tales have been endlessly changing themselves throughout history and, by some strange transforming or enchanting power endlessly staying the same.”

    Read More

  • The Little Mermaid: Hans Christian Andersen vs Walt Disney

    2433 Words  | 5 Pages

    Trites, Roberta. "Disney's Sub / Version of Andersen's The Little Mermaid." Journal of Popular Film and Television 18.4 (1991): 145-52. Print.

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing The Sun, Moon And Talia

    1627 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everybody loves a fairytale story, one that has a happily ever after in the end. In the 21st century, the fairy tales of Cinderella, Snow White, and the sleeping beauty have been extensively over told. However, the 1632 literary Italian fairy tale “The Sun, Moon, and Talia” by Giambattista Basile was a different kind of fairy- tale. It was basically the sleeping beauty story, but different to the one told to kids in the present day. The sleeping beauty story and the 1634 fairy have a lot in common as well as differences. Take for instance the deep slumber, both Talia and the sleeping beauty both go into a deep sleep, however, in “The Sun, Moon, and Talia,” Talia gives birth while she was still asleep as a result of rape by the king in her slumber

    Read More

  • Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Critics

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    The biological differences that set apart the male and female gender throughout any culture remain eminent. Men are perceived as the stronger and dominant gender; women play the role of the weaker. In each culture the expectation of the manner in which men and women behave are influenced by the ideals and customs of that culture. In most predominant cultures, the man undertakes the role as a leader, and the woman devotes her life to the husband. Throughout history, traditions and literature provide a template to the identities of various cultures. Sleeping Beauty’s classic tale of a beautiful princess takes a central precept that previous patriarchal archetypes dominated during the 17th Century. The archetypal perceptions of women resulted from conscious and unconscious literature influenced by male-dominated perspectives and social standards.

    Read More

  • The Perfect Moral Example

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Anne Sexton And The Brothers Grimm's Cinderella

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the world has transformed and progressed throughout history, so have its stories and legends, namely the infamous tale of Cinderella. With countless versions and adaptations, numerous authors from around the world have written this beauty’s tale with their own twists and additions to it. And while many may have a unique or interesting way of telling her story, Anne Sexton and The Brother’s Grimm’s Cinderellas show the effects cultures from different time periods can have on a timeless tale, effects such as changing the story’s moral. While Sexton chooses to keep some elements of her version, such as the story, the same as the Brothers Grimm version, she changes the format and context, and adds her own commentary to transform the story’s

    Read More

  • Zipes's View on Fairytales

    1969 Words  | 4 Pages

    The simplicity of fairy tales and non-specific details renders them ideal for manipulation allowing writers to add their own comments often reflecting social convention and ideology. Theref...

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky is another ballet that is based on a fairy tale, and was first presented to the Tsar of Russia.

    Read More

  • Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” and the Characteristics of Fairy Tales

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fairy Tale Text & Motif. Prod. Distribution Access. Distribution Access, 2001.Discovery Education. Web. 1 December 2001. .

    Read More

  • A Two Tale Comparison

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thinking back to our childhood, we all remember hearing many kinds of fairy tales. Some of them inspired us others confused us, and most of them taught us valuable lessons. Through out centuries tales and stories have been used as a valuable tool to pass on our culture to new generations. There is a strong belief that these fairy tales mirror and influence society. All cultures interpret tales in their own unique way. They add and subtract various aspects of the tale to fit the needs of their particular society. The same tale in the United States is different from the tale told in Asia. A good example of tale evolution can be seen in one of the most famous tales ever told which is “Cinderella”. As a professor of women’s history Karol Kelley points out in her essay Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella “There are some 700 versions of Cinderella”.This fairy tale as many others has been changing for many years, and in recent years Cinderella has come under some criticism for its depiction of women’s roles in society.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast: Beauty and Beast

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most modern fairytales are expected to have happy endings and be appropriate for children, nonetheless, in past centuries most were gruesome. Consequently, fairytales have been modified throughout time. The stories “Beauty and the Beast” by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont and “The Summer and Winter Garden” by Jacob and Wilherm Grimm share similarities and differences. The two stories are distinct because of the peculiar year they have been written in. LePrince de Beaumont’s story is written in London of 1783 and Grimm’s in Germany of 1812. At the time, wealthy people in London, were educated and had nannies who would read to their children; whereas, in Germany, the Grimm brothers created their own interpretation into a short story. Because many high class parents in 18th century London would not be able to spend time with their children, nannies would read “Beauty and the Beast” to them since they were intended for children and considered appropriate. In “The Summer and Winter Garden,” the Grimm’s’ story was mostly based to entertain misbehaved children and teach them the valuable lesson that everyone should be treated with kindness. The Grimm brothers’ goal in rewriting this short story is to better children’s behavior which worked quite well. Since these stories have been re-written for children, it would be safe to say the reason why parents expose the two stories to their children is because they both portray the same moral: good things happen to good people. The two interpretations of “Beauty and the Beast,” although written in separate countries, share important similarities and differences even though the authors have different interpretations and came from different cultures.

    Read More

  • Little Red Riding Hood

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: the Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. London: Thames and Hudson, 1976. Print.

    Read More

  • Beauty And The Beast

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beauty and the Beast is probably one of the most well known fairy tales that the Grimms’ reproduced. In it’s original form it was a long, drawn out story that was catered to adults. The Grimms’ changed the story to be more understood by children and made it short and to the point. Unlike many of the other fairy tales that they reproduced, Beauty and the Beast contains many subtle symbols in its purest form. It shows a girl and how she transfers to a woman; it also shows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The one major thing that separates this story from all the rest is that Beauty gets to know the Beast before marrying him.

    Read More

  • Use of Supernatural Elements in Literature

    3356 Words  | 7 Pages

    Zipes, Jack. Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk & Fairy Tales. Revised and expanded ed. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1979. Print

    Read More

  • Essay On The Influence Of Fairy Tales On Children

    2515 Words  | 6 Pages

    By exposing the role of fairy tales in the cultural struggle over gender, feminism transformed fairy-tale studies and sparked a debate that would change the way society thinks about fairy tales and the words. “Fairy Tales and Feminism.” Project MUSE -, https://muse.jhu.edu/book/31411.

    Read More

More about Sleeping Beauties: An Evolution

Open Document