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Jan. 27th, 2004 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swordmageAhh, my dread ISP is done. 3000 words on Sleeping Beauty. Not much really, but still worth a quarter of my final grade.
And I like it.
I figured I may as well give those who may actually be half interested a chance to read this. I know there may be a small error here or there, but overall, this is how it stands.
The tale of “Sleeping Beauty” is one that has existed for centuries in the Western World, however, it has undergone several significant changes over the ages. Beginning with an Italian author by the name of Giovanni Batiste Basile, who included “Sun, Moon, and Talia” in his Pentamerone, the tale changed to the story more familiar to modern readers, Perrault’s “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood and” Grimm’s “Little Briar Rose,” which came later. The Perrault tale is the basis for the Walt Disney film of the same name, released in 1959. Later versions, such as that of Disney, cleaned up Basile’s tale, making it more suitable for younger audiences; however, the price of change is that much of the symbolism has been lost, destroying the deeper meaning of the story.
The first version to appear in the Western World was Basile’s “Sun, Moon, and Talia.” It is obvious when reading this tale why later generations sought to change it. The prince who rescues Sleeping Beauty in later versions is here a king, who has been hunting in the area. He stumbles upon the castle, and in one of the rooms finds Talia, who has been asleep for an unspecified time.
“At last he came to the saloon, and when the king beheld Talia, who seemed as one ensorcelled, he believed that she slept, and he called her, but she remained insensible, and crying aloud, he felt his blood course hotly through his veins in contemplation of so many charms; and he lifted her in his arms and carried her to a bed, whereon he gathered the first fruits of love, and leaving her upon the bed, returned to his own kingdom, where, in the pressing business of his realm, he for a time thought no more of this incident.” (Basile 422-423).
This appears in none of the sanitized versions of later times, in which our princess is awakened with a chaste kiss. Perrault thought rape would harm the sensibilities of his noble readers, and so got rid of the passage. The Brothers Grimm thought it wouldn’t do for children, and so eliminated it as well. This is the major change from Basile to later authors.
The curse, so well worded by the evil fairy Maleficent in Disney’s film, is merely a fortune of the sages and astrologers called upon by a loving parent in Basile, who states the verdict of their soothsaying as “... they came to the conclusion that she would incur great danger from a chip of flax.” (Basile 420). There is no mention of a curse placed by a spiteful fairy, as occurs in later versions. The curse is representative of the princess’ first menstruation. Menstrual blood is something that the king has not experienced, and so can therefore not comprehend. he orders all the spinning wheels in the kingdom destroyed, as he thinks this will prevent the curse from occurring. Spinning wheels long having been a symbol of women and the work they do. In Basile there is no source of blame for the curse’s occurrence. In both Perrault and Grimm the blame for the curse falls on the princess because her parents did not invite the evil fairy who places the curse. This implies that it is through no fault of the princess, that some evil fate had made this happen, not that it was a natural occurrence in women. Menstruation has been called “the curse” by some, and so later versions are not that far off in referring to the gift of the evil fairy as a curse. However, just as a girl will experience her first menstruation through no fault of others, Talia falls asleep because of her curiousness. By having a malevolent being of magical power causes the child to think that the blood flowing from her is because she has done something wrong, and is being punished. Not that she is merely experiencing something all members of the female race experience.
After the kind fairies of Grimm and Perrault have blessed the sleeping princess (she receives the standard in fairy gifts of grace, beauty, luck, etc.), one uninvited fairy appears to curse the princess, as she has been overlooked by the royal parents. This places the blame for her curse on the family, removing all fault from the child. Perrault says the fairy was uninvited “the reason being that for more than fifty years she had never quitted the tower in which she lived, and people had supposed her to be dead or bewitched.” (Perrault 3-4). The fairy comes, but as the king has not had enough golden caskets made, he cannot give her one, which angers her. Grimm says the 13th Wise Woman was uninvited as the king only had 12 golden plates for the Wise Women of his kingdom, and so left her out. This curse is very straightforward, “The King’s daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself with a spindle, and fall down dead.” (Grimm 237). The evil Maleficent of Disney is not invited because she is evil. Her curse recognizes the gifts of the good fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) and she says “The Princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who know her. But, before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.” (Disney opening section). The placement of a curse by an evil woman naturally requires those of good to remove it, for otherwise the powers of evil shall triumph. In Perrault, a young fairy, “guessing that some mischievous gift might be bestowed upon the little princess, hid behind the tapestry as soon as the company left the table.” (Perrault 4). In the Disney film, Maleficent arrives and utters her curse before the final fairy has given her gift. Grimm has a scenario akin to Perrault; the final wise woman has not given her gift at the time of the curse. Therefore, these fairies must remove or lessen the effect of the curse. Removal is impossible, menstruation is something that will occur no matter what. The Perrault version is filled with the courtly prose he was fond of.
“Take comfort, your Majesties, ... your daughter shall not die. My power, it is true, is not enough to undo all that my aged kinswoman has decreed: the princess shall indeed prick her hand with a spindle. But instead of dying she shall merely fall into a profound slumber that will last a hundred years. At the end of that time a king’s son shall come to awaken her.” (Perrault 5).
This moves the focus of the story from the princess to other characters. The curse and deathlike sleep of the princess are symbolic. They represent her growth and maturation, the change from girl into woman beginning with her first menstruation.
The Disney film is the only version which even alludes to the upbringing of the princess, here called Aurora. The good fairies decide to bring her up themselves, in order to save her from the curse. It is on her 16th birthday that she meets the Prince Philip, to whom she was engaged at birth. Neither know that they are betrothed to the other, and it is love at first sight. As the girl now needs to be found in order for the curse to be carried out, the evil Maleficent entrusts her crow to find the girl, after her henchmen fail to procure the princess. The good fairies are bringing up Aurora in a cottage, and during the course of their preparations for her birthday, two of them begin to fire sparks at each other. They are arguing over what color her dress should be, blue or pink, and the sparks are seen by the crow of Maleficent, who confirms the location of the princess, and goes off to its mistress. Introducing the Prince as the one true love of Sleeping Beauty is a loss. By having the prince (or king) wake her with a kiss, the meaning is that the child will only recognize love, and the true person they are, after a period of discovering herself (represented by the sleep).
As the fated birthday of the girl arrives, so does the curse. It sets in at age 16, as at the time, this was the age a girl’s first menstruation occurred. Her father is unable to understand what will naturally happen to his daughter, and so orders all spinning wheels in the kingdom burnt. Yet, not all hear of the king’s proclamation, and so keep their spinning wheels. This shows that no matter how hard parents try to protect their child from sexual knowledge, the child will eventually learn of it. As the birthday is being prepared, the princess, in exploring the castle, comes upon a room at the top of a tower. Perrault says that
“she came at length to a garret at the top of a tower, where an old serving woman sat alone with her distaff, spinning. This good woman had never heard speak of the king’s proclamation forbidding the use of spinning wheels.” (Perrault 5).
Grimm says essentially the same thing, “She climbed up the narrow winding-staircase, and reached a little door. A rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it the door sprang open, and there in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax.” (Grimm 238). Basile makes no mention of a tower room, but in the Disney film, Maleficent leads the princess (in a trancelike state) to a tower room containing a spinning wheel. This tower room is very significant, especially in terms of Freudian analysis.
“As she approaches the fateful place, the girl ascends a circular staircase; in dreams such staircases typically stand for sexual experiences. At the top of this staircase she finds a small door and in its lock a key. As she turns the key the door “springs open” and the girl enters a small room in which an old woman spins. A small locked room often stands in dreams for the female sexual organs; turning a key in a lock often symbolizes intercourse.” (Bettelheim 232-233).
Basile has the father leave, symbolizing that a parent will at one point have to leave their child, for the child must assume a place in the adult world.
As the princess touches the spindle, she falls into a deathlike sleep, as predicted. In Perrault and Grimm, a hedge of thorns is raised around the castle, and all the inhabitants within, who have been put to sleep by the fairies. This thick hedge of thorns lures many princes to their death, and “is a warning to child and parents that sexual arousal before mind and body are ready for it is very destructive.” (Bettelheim 233). In the Disney film, Prince Philip has been captured by the evil Maleficent, and so must get free and wake his love, as the annulment of the curse has stated
“Not death, but just in sleep,
this fateful prophecy you’ll keep,
and from this slumber you shall wake,
when true love’s kiss the spell shall break.” (Disney opening part).
She shall stay asleep until Philip arrives to break the spell. The three good fairies manage to sneak into the castle and the cell where the Prince is being held, and they free him. Philip is then told that he must rescue the princess Aurora, and so the fairies tell him “So arm thyself with this enchanted shield of virtue and this mighty sword of truth. For these weapons of righteousness will triumph over evil.” (Disney middle section). In the Basile version, a neighboring king stumbles upon the palace containing the sleeping girl, rapes her, and leaves. She awakes when the children are born nine months later, and one suckles her finger, thinking it to be her breast. In Perrault and Grimm, the Sleeping Beauty is awakened when a prince comes to kiss her, and so releases her from the spell. The sleep has been a time for the princess to grow and mature. When she fell asleep, she was but a child. Now that she has woken from her sleep she is changed, and is now an adult. Her sleep is symbolic of the “finding oneself” period we all must go through. She is now ready to be an active, adult member of society. The awakening prince has replaced her father in her life, just as a husband will replace a father in a girl’s life.
The Grimms’ tale ends with the awakening of Briar Rose. Disney ends with the defeat of Maleficent in dragon form. These two then go on to “live happily ever after.” Not so Basile and Perrault’s sleeping maidens. Basile’s king is already married, to a woman with whom he has had no children. Therefore, his rape of Talia can be seen as an effort to prove that he is not impotent. The king receives his answer upon remembering his dalliance with Talia and going to see her. She has not been asleep for 100 years, but for an unspecified time. There he finds the children, Sun and Moon, as well as Talia, awake. His first wife finds out about Talia, and summons her to the palace, which Talia gladly agrees to do. However, the first wife orders “the cook to slay them, and prepare several tasteful dishes for her wretched husband.” (Basile 423). The cook, feeling pity, hides them, and instead serves the flesh of two lambs. However, this is not good enough for the wicked woman, who summons Talia and says
“Well come, and fair welcome, O thou Madame Rattle, thou art a fine piece of goods, thou ill weed, who art enjoying my husband; it is thou who art the lump of filth, the cruel bitch, that hath caused me such a turning of head? Wend thy ways, for sooth thou art welcome in purgatory, where I will compensate thee for all the damage thou hast done to me.” (Basile 424).
In Perrault, the wicked first wife is replaced by the Prince’s mother, an ogress. Here, the prince brings his bride and children home after the death of his father. One day, he goes to make war on a neighboring monarch, and his mother seizes the opportunity to order the children cooked for herself, “in the tones of an ogre who longs for raw meat.” (Perrault 17). Here as in Basile, the cook takes pity, and hides the children. When the ogress orders the princess (now queen) to be served as the main course, the cook does the same thing. He hides the princess and substitutes a hind, cooking it “with such art that the queen mother ate it for her supper with as much appetite as if it had indeed been the young queen.” (Perrault 19) Basile’s wicked queen in contrast is represented as an ogress, yet the symbolism of the character remains. The old woman of the house is afraid the newcomer will usurp her position, leaving her without power.
As fairy tale custom demands, the princess must not die at the hands of a jealous woman; and so in Basile, the wicked first queen orders Talia to strip, before she has her burned at the stake. Talia protests this treatment
“and at every piece of garment she drew off she uttered a loud scream, and having doffed the robe, the skirt, the body, and the under-bodice, she was on the point of withdrawing her last garment, when she uttered a scream louder than the rest.” (Basile 424)
In Perrault, the ogress happens to hear one of the children being scolded for an offense, and so realizes she has been deceived. She orders the Princess, the child, the cook, and his family, to be be executed. For this purpose, “she ordered a huge vat to be brought into the middle of the courtyard. This she filled with vipers and toads, with snakes and serpents of every kind.” (Perrault 20) In both tales, the husband of the princess shows up just as she (and the others) are about to be executed. In Basile, the king hears Talia’s screams and arrives to find her about to be killed by order of his first wife. The king orders his first wife executed, in place of Talia. In Perrault, the ogress throws herself into the vat in place of those she has condemned.
The elements of rape and cannibalism make Basile’s “Sun, Moon, and Talia” morally objectionable by today’s standards, and later versions do not contain these elements. However later versions in leaving out the objectionable elements seem also to omit Basile’s reflective conclusion, that sometimes happiness in life does not come when it is expected. It is only after love, marriage, intercourse, and childbearing, that women may find happiness. Perrault cleaned the story up a little bit, and kept some of the symbolism which made it important. The Brothers Grimm gave us the story that modern day children know; one rich in symbolism and deep in meaning. In 1959 Walt Disney took the tale and made it much more acceptable to American people of the era. There is just good and evil,. black and white. The Disney version oversimplifies the meanings of many important elements, rendering them nauseously saccharine, including the key of Basile’s story.
“He whom fortune favoureth
Even in sleep good raineth for him.” (Basile 425)
It's such a nice feeling.
Hopefully school will be cancelled tomorrow.
And I like it.
I figured I may as well give those who may actually be half interested a chance to read this. I know there may be a small error here or there, but overall, this is how it stands.
The tale of “Sleeping Beauty” is one that has existed for centuries in the Western World, however, it has undergone several significant changes over the ages. Beginning with an Italian author by the name of Giovanni Batiste Basile, who included “Sun, Moon, and Talia” in his Pentamerone, the tale changed to the story more familiar to modern readers, Perrault’s “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood and” Grimm’s “Little Briar Rose,” which came later. The Perrault tale is the basis for the Walt Disney film of the same name, released in 1959. Later versions, such as that of Disney, cleaned up Basile’s tale, making it more suitable for younger audiences; however, the price of change is that much of the symbolism has been lost, destroying the deeper meaning of the story.
The first version to appear in the Western World was Basile’s “Sun, Moon, and Talia.” It is obvious when reading this tale why later generations sought to change it. The prince who rescues Sleeping Beauty in later versions is here a king, who has been hunting in the area. He stumbles upon the castle, and in one of the rooms finds Talia, who has been asleep for an unspecified time.
“At last he came to the saloon, and when the king beheld Talia, who seemed as one ensorcelled, he believed that she slept, and he called her, but she remained insensible, and crying aloud, he felt his blood course hotly through his veins in contemplation of so many charms; and he lifted her in his arms and carried her to a bed, whereon he gathered the first fruits of love, and leaving her upon the bed, returned to his own kingdom, where, in the pressing business of his realm, he for a time thought no more of this incident.” (Basile 422-423).
This appears in none of the sanitized versions of later times, in which our princess is awakened with a chaste kiss. Perrault thought rape would harm the sensibilities of his noble readers, and so got rid of the passage. The Brothers Grimm thought it wouldn’t do for children, and so eliminated it as well. This is the major change from Basile to later authors.
The curse, so well worded by the evil fairy Maleficent in Disney’s film, is merely a fortune of the sages and astrologers called upon by a loving parent in Basile, who states the verdict of their soothsaying as “... they came to the conclusion that she would incur great danger from a chip of flax.” (Basile 420). There is no mention of a curse placed by a spiteful fairy, as occurs in later versions. The curse is representative of the princess’ first menstruation. Menstrual blood is something that the king has not experienced, and so can therefore not comprehend. he orders all the spinning wheels in the kingdom destroyed, as he thinks this will prevent the curse from occurring. Spinning wheels long having been a symbol of women and the work they do. In Basile there is no source of blame for the curse’s occurrence. In both Perrault and Grimm the blame for the curse falls on the princess because her parents did not invite the evil fairy who places the curse. This implies that it is through no fault of the princess, that some evil fate had made this happen, not that it was a natural occurrence in women. Menstruation has been called “the curse” by some, and so later versions are not that far off in referring to the gift of the evil fairy as a curse. However, just as a girl will experience her first menstruation through no fault of others, Talia falls asleep because of her curiousness. By having a malevolent being of magical power causes the child to think that the blood flowing from her is because she has done something wrong, and is being punished. Not that she is merely experiencing something all members of the female race experience.
After the kind fairies of Grimm and Perrault have blessed the sleeping princess (she receives the standard in fairy gifts of grace, beauty, luck, etc.), one uninvited fairy appears to curse the princess, as she has been overlooked by the royal parents. This places the blame for her curse on the family, removing all fault from the child. Perrault says the fairy was uninvited “the reason being that for more than fifty years she had never quitted the tower in which she lived, and people had supposed her to be dead or bewitched.” (Perrault 3-4). The fairy comes, but as the king has not had enough golden caskets made, he cannot give her one, which angers her. Grimm says the 13th Wise Woman was uninvited as the king only had 12 golden plates for the Wise Women of his kingdom, and so left her out. This curse is very straightforward, “The King’s daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself with a spindle, and fall down dead.” (Grimm 237). The evil Maleficent of Disney is not invited because she is evil. Her curse recognizes the gifts of the good fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) and she says “The Princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who know her. But, before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.” (Disney opening section). The placement of a curse by an evil woman naturally requires those of good to remove it, for otherwise the powers of evil shall triumph. In Perrault, a young fairy, “guessing that some mischievous gift might be bestowed upon the little princess, hid behind the tapestry as soon as the company left the table.” (Perrault 4). In the Disney film, Maleficent arrives and utters her curse before the final fairy has given her gift. Grimm has a scenario akin to Perrault; the final wise woman has not given her gift at the time of the curse. Therefore, these fairies must remove or lessen the effect of the curse. Removal is impossible, menstruation is something that will occur no matter what. The Perrault version is filled with the courtly prose he was fond of.
“Take comfort, your Majesties, ... your daughter shall not die. My power, it is true, is not enough to undo all that my aged kinswoman has decreed: the princess shall indeed prick her hand with a spindle. But instead of dying she shall merely fall into a profound slumber that will last a hundred years. At the end of that time a king’s son shall come to awaken her.” (Perrault 5).
This moves the focus of the story from the princess to other characters. The curse and deathlike sleep of the princess are symbolic. They represent her growth and maturation, the change from girl into woman beginning with her first menstruation.
The Disney film is the only version which even alludes to the upbringing of the princess, here called Aurora. The good fairies decide to bring her up themselves, in order to save her from the curse. It is on her 16th birthday that she meets the Prince Philip, to whom she was engaged at birth. Neither know that they are betrothed to the other, and it is love at first sight. As the girl now needs to be found in order for the curse to be carried out, the evil Maleficent entrusts her crow to find the girl, after her henchmen fail to procure the princess. The good fairies are bringing up Aurora in a cottage, and during the course of their preparations for her birthday, two of them begin to fire sparks at each other. They are arguing over what color her dress should be, blue or pink, and the sparks are seen by the crow of Maleficent, who confirms the location of the princess, and goes off to its mistress. Introducing the Prince as the one true love of Sleeping Beauty is a loss. By having the prince (or king) wake her with a kiss, the meaning is that the child will only recognize love, and the true person they are, after a period of discovering herself (represented by the sleep).
As the fated birthday of the girl arrives, so does the curse. It sets in at age 16, as at the time, this was the age a girl’s first menstruation occurred. Her father is unable to understand what will naturally happen to his daughter, and so orders all spinning wheels in the kingdom burnt. Yet, not all hear of the king’s proclamation, and so keep their spinning wheels. This shows that no matter how hard parents try to protect their child from sexual knowledge, the child will eventually learn of it. As the birthday is being prepared, the princess, in exploring the castle, comes upon a room at the top of a tower. Perrault says that
“she came at length to a garret at the top of a tower, where an old serving woman sat alone with her distaff, spinning. This good woman had never heard speak of the king’s proclamation forbidding the use of spinning wheels.” (Perrault 5).
Grimm says essentially the same thing, “She climbed up the narrow winding-staircase, and reached a little door. A rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it the door sprang open, and there in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax.” (Grimm 238). Basile makes no mention of a tower room, but in the Disney film, Maleficent leads the princess (in a trancelike state) to a tower room containing a spinning wheel. This tower room is very significant, especially in terms of Freudian analysis.
“As she approaches the fateful place, the girl ascends a circular staircase; in dreams such staircases typically stand for sexual experiences. At the top of this staircase she finds a small door and in its lock a key. As she turns the key the door “springs open” and the girl enters a small room in which an old woman spins. A small locked room often stands in dreams for the female sexual organs; turning a key in a lock often symbolizes intercourse.” (Bettelheim 232-233).
Basile has the father leave, symbolizing that a parent will at one point have to leave their child, for the child must assume a place in the adult world.
As the princess touches the spindle, she falls into a deathlike sleep, as predicted. In Perrault and Grimm, a hedge of thorns is raised around the castle, and all the inhabitants within, who have been put to sleep by the fairies. This thick hedge of thorns lures many princes to their death, and “is a warning to child and parents that sexual arousal before mind and body are ready for it is very destructive.” (Bettelheim 233). In the Disney film, Prince Philip has been captured by the evil Maleficent, and so must get free and wake his love, as the annulment of the curse has stated
“Not death, but just in sleep,
this fateful prophecy you’ll keep,
and from this slumber you shall wake,
when true love’s kiss the spell shall break.” (Disney opening part).
She shall stay asleep until Philip arrives to break the spell. The three good fairies manage to sneak into the castle and the cell where the Prince is being held, and they free him. Philip is then told that he must rescue the princess Aurora, and so the fairies tell him “So arm thyself with this enchanted shield of virtue and this mighty sword of truth. For these weapons of righteousness will triumph over evil.” (Disney middle section). In the Basile version, a neighboring king stumbles upon the palace containing the sleeping girl, rapes her, and leaves. She awakes when the children are born nine months later, and one suckles her finger, thinking it to be her breast. In Perrault and Grimm, the Sleeping Beauty is awakened when a prince comes to kiss her, and so releases her from the spell. The sleep has been a time for the princess to grow and mature. When she fell asleep, she was but a child. Now that she has woken from her sleep she is changed, and is now an adult. Her sleep is symbolic of the “finding oneself” period we all must go through. She is now ready to be an active, adult member of society. The awakening prince has replaced her father in her life, just as a husband will replace a father in a girl’s life.
The Grimms’ tale ends with the awakening of Briar Rose. Disney ends with the defeat of Maleficent in dragon form. These two then go on to “live happily ever after.” Not so Basile and Perrault’s sleeping maidens. Basile’s king is already married, to a woman with whom he has had no children. Therefore, his rape of Talia can be seen as an effort to prove that he is not impotent. The king receives his answer upon remembering his dalliance with Talia and going to see her. She has not been asleep for 100 years, but for an unspecified time. There he finds the children, Sun and Moon, as well as Talia, awake. His first wife finds out about Talia, and summons her to the palace, which Talia gladly agrees to do. However, the first wife orders “the cook to slay them, and prepare several tasteful dishes for her wretched husband.” (Basile 423). The cook, feeling pity, hides them, and instead serves the flesh of two lambs. However, this is not good enough for the wicked woman, who summons Talia and says
“Well come, and fair welcome, O thou Madame Rattle, thou art a fine piece of goods, thou ill weed, who art enjoying my husband; it is thou who art the lump of filth, the cruel bitch, that hath caused me such a turning of head? Wend thy ways, for sooth thou art welcome in purgatory, where I will compensate thee for all the damage thou hast done to me.” (Basile 424).
In Perrault, the wicked first wife is replaced by the Prince’s mother, an ogress. Here, the prince brings his bride and children home after the death of his father. One day, he goes to make war on a neighboring monarch, and his mother seizes the opportunity to order the children cooked for herself, “in the tones of an ogre who longs for raw meat.” (Perrault 17). Here as in Basile, the cook takes pity, and hides the children. When the ogress orders the princess (now queen) to be served as the main course, the cook does the same thing. He hides the princess and substitutes a hind, cooking it “with such art that the queen mother ate it for her supper with as much appetite as if it had indeed been the young queen.” (Perrault 19) Basile’s wicked queen in contrast is represented as an ogress, yet the symbolism of the character remains. The old woman of the house is afraid the newcomer will usurp her position, leaving her without power.
As fairy tale custom demands, the princess must not die at the hands of a jealous woman; and so in Basile, the wicked first queen orders Talia to strip, before she has her burned at the stake. Talia protests this treatment
“and at every piece of garment she drew off she uttered a loud scream, and having doffed the robe, the skirt, the body, and the under-bodice, she was on the point of withdrawing her last garment, when she uttered a scream louder than the rest.” (Basile 424)
In Perrault, the ogress happens to hear one of the children being scolded for an offense, and so realizes she has been deceived. She orders the Princess, the child, the cook, and his family, to be be executed. For this purpose, “she ordered a huge vat to be brought into the middle of the courtyard. This she filled with vipers and toads, with snakes and serpents of every kind.” (Perrault 20) In both tales, the husband of the princess shows up just as she (and the others) are about to be executed. In Basile, the king hears Talia’s screams and arrives to find her about to be killed by order of his first wife. The king orders his first wife executed, in place of Talia. In Perrault, the ogress throws herself into the vat in place of those she has condemned.
The elements of rape and cannibalism make Basile’s “Sun, Moon, and Talia” morally objectionable by today’s standards, and later versions do not contain these elements. However later versions in leaving out the objectionable elements seem also to omit Basile’s reflective conclusion, that sometimes happiness in life does not come when it is expected. It is only after love, marriage, intercourse, and childbearing, that women may find happiness. Perrault cleaned the story up a little bit, and kept some of the symbolism which made it important. The Brothers Grimm gave us the story that modern day children know; one rich in symbolism and deep in meaning. In 1959 Walt Disney took the tale and made it much more acceptable to American people of the era. There is just good and evil,. black and white. The Disney version oversimplifies the meanings of many important elements, rendering them nauseously saccharine, including the key of Basile’s story.
“He whom fortune favoureth
Even in sleep good raineth for him.” (Basile 425)
It's such a nice feeling.
Hopefully school will be cancelled tomorrow.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
I can't believe I read that...
Date: 2004-01-28 09:45 am (UTC)Ah, but then, I LIKE reading long analyzing articles...that's why I always lurk at the theories threads of message boards.
Just once I'd like to read the orignal version of some of these fairy tales. I keep looking around for the books, but can never find them. And just how many of the stories we have now started as sexual morals/warnings? I only know of Red Riding Hood, and now, of course, this one, but all of them seem to have possible bases...
I am going to go drink coffee now. Hey, what class was this for?
Re: I can't believe I read that...
Date: 2004-01-28 10:25 am (UTC)As for long, analyzing articles, look at some of the essays (it's pretty much all folklore and fairy tales) here (http://www.endicott-studio.com/). The site is run by Terri Windling, and the essays are very informative and interesting.