Sleeping Beauty

[DimMak]

What are your thoughts on Sleeping Beauty?
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What do you think of Sleeping Beauty as a representation for women?
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How many different version of Sleeping Beauty do you know about? (With out looking it up on the internet.)
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What do you think the moral is…the meaning of…what does it represent to you?

[DimMak]

This is for a Research Paper...I would love your opinion--especially a woman's opinion. A couple of you I know and have respect for. Some of the people I’ve asked in my work area didn’t know the difference between Sleeping Beauty and Snow White.

[charlesp]

Hmm, I don't know that I have thoughts on sleeping beauty (cept as a parent of little kids I'm envious she gets to sleep at all).

I can't really think of variants on sleeping beauty except that Orson Scott Card wrote one called Enchantment that was pretty danged good. I can't even recall seeing the Disney version (oh, I guess that's another version).

The OSC version of it has probably skewed my whole memory of the story... which makes it hard to say how I think it represents women or the moral of the story.

[timberline]

This classic--and somewhat grim--fairytale is sooo appropriate to the American concept of love and happiness. Maybe the key to the theme is the fairy's statement, "Love," replied the fairy. "If a man of pure heart were to fall in love with her, that would bring her back to life!"

The mythic truth embedded in Sleeping Beauty suggests every couple can find happiness, there is predestination, and money/nobility/character will win out at the end. Does anyone ever doubt Sleeping Beauty will awake to the Prince’s kiss (unlike Doreothy getting back to Kansas, or Peter Pan being saved)? The happy ending is engrained in our collective DNA as well as our literature.

[Mlou]

That must have been one of the first fictional uses of putting a whole group of people into stasis for a long period of time. (I'm sure it predates Rip Van Winkle).
The idea moved with the times, into space travel, with pharmaceticals and cold, instead of an angry fairy, to accomplish the deed. And then, ugh, into the current idea of freezing people until cures are found.
Not that all the above adds anything to the topic.
I was so enthralled by Sleeping Beauty's story as a child that I don't think I can even dissect it now from an adult point of view. I utterly went along with it all, as complete truth and relished the happy ending. And believe it or not, I still have my fairytale books, one of which includes this tale. Thinking of it now, I see all the cliches of the weaker sex needing men to rescue them from their plight. And the sort of cautionary lecture hidden within but it doesn't dull the remembered pleasure of reading it.

[pengwenn]

I always feel sorry for the prince. He's got to go through all those brambles to get to the castle, fight a dragon (I think), fight the evil witch all for a women he hasn't met and not sure if he'll love forever (despite how the story ends). Love shouldn't have to be that hard. It just seems he's being set up for disappointment. The Disney movie was the first movie that really scared me as a child in the fight scenes and disappointed me that there wasn't a splattered body to gaze down on when he defeated the witch. I think I might have had issues as a child.

[xcheck24]

I always have a problem with stories like Sleeping Beauty. It's a woman that everyone wants to protect. She gets a little rebellious because of it and it lands her in trouble. So perhaps we shouldn't be protecting our girls from the evils of the world and help them learn what's good and bad and how to make the best decisions for their life.

And don't even get me started on the whole concept of waiting for a prince to come and sweep me away thing. ugh.

[JillStar]

How many different version of Sleeping Beauty do you know about? (With out looking it up on the internet.)

I only know of the Disney version... though I've heard there are more. So my thoughts only apply to that story, I guess.

What do you think of Sleeping Beauty as a representation for women?

I think answering this will lead me to answering about many of the different Disney versions of women because they definitely say different things about women.

Sleeping Beauty is about a woman who has no ability to change her life or the fate of it. She's left to the whim of an evil witch's vengeance, a fairy's caring nature and a possible man showing up at some future date. She has no way of changing her fate. It portrays her as helpless and needing rescue... as many old Disney movies did... but it isn't because she herself is helpless... she has no choice. It's the way the author wrote her.

As a child, like Mlou, I loved these movies... but mostly because of the animation and characters... not necessarily the story-line.

The thing I don't like is the, what I always found unbelievable, love at first site for the prince and then the princess when she woke. They never had a chance to get to know each other and yet... wham-o... they're in love.

Note: I didn't believe in love at first site until now.

What do you think the moral is…the meaning of…what does it represent to you?

Hmmm... I think the moral really has nothing to do with Sleeping Beauty since she can't make real choices about her future. I think the moral is focused on the evil witch's spell and how it brings out the best or worse in others. It shows the true love of a father for his daughter... the friendship from the fairies and the devotion to helping someone no matter what the consequences from the prince.

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Snow White on the other hand... though I loved it as a small girl and still love the visuals and bright colors... is definately not representative of how women generally see themselves. She's over-the-top innocent yet somehow knows how to please men when it comes to the home. She can't understand how anyone would want to hurt her or why... nor does she really ever find out. There's lots to say about Snow White, I think.

But honestly... her voice just makes me cringe.

Cinderella is probably my favorite since she pretty much takes control of her life. She's still somewhat in need of saving... but she's still taking charge and moving forward BEFORE she meets the prince.

[bfsooner]

DimMak, Sleeping Beauty is my second favorite Disney movie (behind Cinderella). However, it is my all-time favorite ballet. Tchaikovsky's musical rendition of this tale is beautiful. If you have not already listened to it, do. It tells the tale beautifully.

[DimMak]

Excellent, thanks for all the information, everyone!