IT’S OK TO NOT BE OK: EPS 3/4 SLEEPING BEAUTY (WITCH).
Another dark and disturbing original.
“The Sun, Moon and Talia” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun,_Moon,_and_Talia
written by Giambattista Basile
ORIGINATION
Early contributions to the tale include the medieval courtly romance Perceforest (published in 1528). In this tale, a princess named Zellandine falls in love with a man named Troylus. Her father sends him to perform tasks to prove himself worthy of her, and while he is gone, Zellandine falls into an enchanted sleep. Troylus finds her and impregnates her in her sleep; when their child is born, the child draws from her finger the flax that caused her sleep. She realizes from the ring Troylus left her that he was the father, and Troylus later returns to marry her.
The second part of the Sleeping Beauty tale, in which the princess and her children are almost put to death but instead are hidden, may have been influenced by Genevieve of Brabant. Even earlier influences come from the story of the sleeping Brynhild in the Volsunga saga and the tribulations of saintly female martyrs in early Christian hagiography conventions. Following these early renditions, the tale was first published by Italian poet Giambattista Basile who lived from 1575–1632.
INTERPRETATIONS
According to Maria Tatar, the Sleeping Beauty tale has been disparaged by modern-day feminists who consider the protagonist to have no agency and find her passivity to be offensive; some feminists have even argued for people to stop telling the story altogether.
60 years later, Disney received “harsh criticism” for depicting both Cinderella and the Sleeping Beauty princess as “naïve and malleable” characters.Time Out dismissed the princess as a “delicate” and “vapid” character. Sonia Saraiya of Jezebel echoed this sentiment, criticizing the princess for lacking “interesting qualities”, where she also ranked her as Disney’s least feminist princess.Similarly, Bustle also ranked the princess as the least feminist Disney Princess, with author Chelsea Mize expounding, “Aurora literally sleeps for like three quarters of the movie … Aurora just straight-up has no agency, and really isn’t doing much in the way of feminine progress.” Leigh Butler of Tor.com went on to defend the character writing, “Aurora’s cipher-ness in Sleeping Beauty would be infuriating if she were the only female character in it, but the presence of the Fairies and Maleficent allow her to be what she is without it being a subconscious statement on what all women are.” Similarly, Refineryranked Princess Aurora the fourth most feminist Disney Princess because, “Her aunts have essentially raised her in a place where women run the game.”[30] Despite being featured prominently in Disney merchandise, “Aurora has become an oft-forgotten princess”, and her popularity pales in comparison to those of Cinderella and Snow White.
The brother’s Grimm tale of “Little Brier-Rose” contains a mythic element of prophecy. This prophecy is revealed to the king at a banquet celebrating his daughter’s birth, announcing that Brier Rose will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. In desperation to save his daughter, the king tries everything he can to protect his daughter from this fate. However, since this prophecy is foretold, it finds a way to become true. This idea of prophecy is found in other Greek myths, like the story of Oedipus. “Whether recounting the distant past or rapidly evolving in the present, Oedipus the King remains a tragedy of belief, even as the conditions of that belief change over time. Each having disbelieved horrific prophecy and striven to prevent it, Jocasta and Oedipus then join forces doubly to strive against prophecy that has already materialized as fact”. Regardless of the preventative measures taken against it, prophecy will always reign true. For Brier Rose, even though her father demanded all spinning wheels should be burned to stop her from pricking her finger, she still manages to do so. The prophecy is fulfilled even though measures were taken to avoid it.
These are dark stories. They keep being reinvented and despite the best efforts to dip them in sugar, they sake it off and still tell us what they really are.
kiara
June 28, 2020 at 12:46 PM
IT’S OK TO NOT BE OK: EPS 3/4 SLEEPING BEAUTY (WITCH).
Another dark and disturbing original.
“The Sun, Moon and Talia”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun,_Moon,_and_Talia
written by Giambattista Basile
“Little Briar-Rose – A Sleeping Beauty Story” from the Brothers Grimm.
https://www.pookpress.co.uk/little-briar-rose/#:~:text=Little%20Briar%2DRose%20(Dornr%C3%B6nschen),the%20one%20of%20the%20tamest.
ORIGINATION
Early contributions to the tale include the medieval courtly romance Perceforest (published in 1528). In this tale, a princess named Zellandine falls in love with a man named Troylus. Her father sends him to perform tasks to prove himself worthy of her, and while he is gone, Zellandine falls into an enchanted sleep. Troylus finds her and impregnates her in her sleep; when their child is born, the child draws from her finger the flax that caused her sleep. She realizes from the ring Troylus left her that he was the father, and Troylus later returns to marry her.
The second part of the Sleeping Beauty tale, in which the princess and her children are almost put to death but instead are hidden, may have been influenced by Genevieve of Brabant. Even earlier influences come from the story of the sleeping Brynhild in the Volsunga saga and the tribulations of saintly female martyrs in early Christian hagiography conventions. Following these early renditions, the tale was first published by Italian poet Giambattista Basile who lived from 1575–1632.
INTERPRETATIONS
According to Maria Tatar, the Sleeping Beauty tale has been disparaged by modern-day feminists who consider the protagonist to have no agency and find her passivity to be offensive; some feminists have even argued for people to stop telling the story altogether.
60 years later, Disney received “harsh criticism” for depicting both Cinderella and the Sleeping Beauty princess as “naïve and malleable” characters.Time Out dismissed the princess as a “delicate” and “vapid” character. Sonia Saraiya of Jezebel echoed this sentiment, criticizing the princess for lacking “interesting qualities”, where she also ranked her as Disney’s least feminist princess.Similarly, Bustle also ranked the princess as the least feminist Disney Princess, with author Chelsea Mize expounding, “Aurora literally sleeps for like three quarters of the movie … Aurora just straight-up has no agency, and really isn’t doing much in the way of feminine progress.” Leigh Butler of Tor.com went on to defend the character writing, “Aurora’s cipher-ness in Sleeping Beauty would be infuriating if she were the only female character in it, but the presence of the Fairies and Maleficent allow her to be what she is without it being a subconscious statement on what all women are.” Similarly, Refineryranked Princess Aurora the fourth most feminist Disney Princess because, “Her aunts have essentially raised her in a place where women run the game.”[30] Despite being featured prominently in Disney merchandise, “Aurora has become an oft-forgotten princess”, and her popularity pales in comparison to those of Cinderella and Snow White.
The brother’s Grimm tale of “Little Brier-Rose” contains a mythic element of prophecy. This prophecy is revealed to the king at a banquet celebrating his daughter’s birth, announcing that Brier Rose will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. In desperation to save his daughter, the king tries everything he can to protect his daughter from this fate. However, since this prophecy is foretold, it finds a way to become true. This idea of prophecy is found in other Greek myths, like the story of Oedipus. “Whether recounting the distant past or rapidly evolving in the present, Oedipus the King remains a tragedy of belief, even as the conditions of that belief change over time. Each having disbelieved horrific prophecy and striven to prevent it, Jocasta and Oedipus then join forces doubly to strive against prophecy that has already materialized as fact”. Regardless of the preventative measures taken against it, prophecy will always reign true. For Brier Rose, even though her father demanded all spinning wheels should be burned to stop her from pricking her finger, she still manages to do so. The prophecy is fulfilled even though measures were taken to avoid it.
bbstl 🧹
June 28, 2020 at 1:27 PM
Thanks for all this background info, it’s great!
dramalover4ever
June 28, 2020 at 7:07 PM
These are dark stories. They keep being reinvented and despite the best efforts to dip them in sugar, they sake it off and still tell us what they really are.
dramalover4ever
June 28, 2020 at 7:07 PM
shake
kiara
June 28, 2020 at 9:35 PM
So true!