Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty Summary
Though there have been several versions of this fairy tale over time, the basic plot essentially remains the same.
Exposition: A king and queen have a beautiful princess and throw a celebration to celebrate her birth.
Rising Action: Everyone, including fairies, bring gifts for the young girl, but one fairy is upset about not being invited and curses the baby to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on her 16th birthday and die/fall into a death-like sleep forever. In response, the king burns all of the spinning wheels and sends the baby princess off with the fairies to keep her safe until her 16th birthday.
Climax: The curse is fulfilled! On her 16th birthday, the princess pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and falls asleep.
Falling action: Many try to save the princess and fail. Finally, a prince arrives and kisses the princess. His kiss is true love’s kiss, and the curse is broken.
Resolution: The princess and the prince who saved her are married and live happily ever after. In some versions, they have children.
Giambattista Basile (1634)
Giambattista Basile was an Italian poet. He wrote “The Sun, Moon, and Talia” which is one of the earliest versions of the Sleeping Beauty story, but even this story was inspired by other folk tales and myths. This version was published in 1634, 2 years after Basile’s death. Though the basic story is the same, there are also many differences including the king who has sex with the princess while she is asleep. She has twin babies and wakes up when one of her children sucks the splinter from her finger, but then she must deal with the jealous rage of the king’s wife.
Charles Perrault (1697)
Charles Perrault was a French author who included his story “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” in his collection of fairy tales titled Histories ou Contes due Temps Passe, or Stories from Past Times with Morals, which was published in 1697. This version was published in two parts. Part one is the basis of the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty. Part two depicts what happens to the princess and the prince after their wedding. In this version of the tale, the prince’s mother is an ogre queen who, in an effort to keep the prince from taking the throne, attempts to cook and eat both children and the princess. Thankfully, the cook has a soft heart and tricks the ogre queen, saving the children. The ogre queen’s evil plan is exposed and she jumps into a pit of vipers.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1812)
The Grimm Brothers published their version of Sleeping Beauty, “Little Brier-Rose”, in 1812; it was included in their first collection of fairy tales, which also included their versions of “Cinderella”, “Snow White”, “Rumpelstiltskin”, and many more well-known fairy tales. This version is heavily influenced by Perrault’s version of the fairy tale and ends with the prince and princess getting married.
Origins: Perceforest (1330-1344)
Perceforest was written in France between 1330 and 1344 and was passed through the oral tradition until it was first published in 1528. Perceforest is a combination of narrative prose and poetry which tells the fictional story of Great Britain’s origin. While the legends of King Arthur and Alexander the Great are the primary influences for this story, there is a chapter which depicts a male character raping a female character while she is in a coma-like sleep; later, she gives birth to two children while still asleep. This clearly reflects the origins of “The Sun, Moon, and Talia” which later inspired the Sleeping Beauty story we know today.
Archetypes
Character Archetypes
The Mother Figure - Fairy Godmother(s)
The Villain - Maleficent
The Prince Charming-Prince Phillip
The Damsel in Distress - Aurora
Situational Archetypes
The Journey - Prince Philip must go through a series of obstacles in order to defeat Maleficent and save his kingdom from crumbling.
Symbolic Archetypes
Black - Maleficent is known as the evil fairy and because of this her character is often dressed in black which represents darkness, the unknown, evil, and mystery.
Compare and Contrast to Disney
Plot Element | Fairy Tale | Disney Version |
King and Queen wanted a child | Yes | Yes |
Daughter is born with celebration | Yes | Yes |
# of Fairies to attend celebration | 12 invited, 1 not invited | 3 invited, 1 not invited |
Fairies raise princess in the forest | No | Yes |
Who had the spinning wheel | An old woman | Maleficent |
Amount of time she sleeps | 100 years | A short while |
Prince has to fight someone | No | Yes |
Princess woken with a kiss | No - she wakes when he kneels next to her | Yes |
Popular References to Sleeping Beauty
Movies - Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mickey’s House of Villians, Disney’s Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, Charming, Some Call it Loving, Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty: Enchanted Melody, The Curse of Sleeping Beauty
Video Games - Kingdom Hearts
Board Games - Sleeping Beauty Game, Disney Princesses
TV Shows - Once Upon a Time
Plays - Sleeping Beauty KIDS
Books - Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer
Ballet - Sleeping Beauty - Tchaikovsky
Sleeping Beauty in Other Cultures
*Brunhild (Norse) *Pandragus et Libanor (France) *The Petrified Mansion (India) *Sun, Moon, and Talia (Italy)
*Frayre de Joy e Sor de Plaser (France) *The Glass Coffin (Germany) *Sun, Pearl, and Anna (Italy) *The Ninth Captain's Tale (Arabia)
*The Son of a King (Ireland) *Little Briar-Rose (1812- Germany)
*Wadiah (Palestine) *The Neapolitan Soldier (Italy)
*The Young Slave (Italy) *Troylus and Zellandine (France)
*The King of Erin and the Queen of the Lonesome Island (Ireland)
Works Cited
Ashliman, D. L. "Sleeping Beauty." University of Pittsburg, 7 June 2013. Web. 4 May 2017.
Heiner, Heidi A. SurLaLune Fairy Tales: Annotated Fairy Tales, Fairy Tale Books and Illustrations. CafePress.com, 2 Dec. 2016. Web. 04 May 2017.
O'Brien, Aillin. "Comparison of Three Versions." Comparison of Three Versions of Sleeping Beauty. LaTrobe University, 2 Sept. 2005. Web. 04 May 2017.
"Sleeping Beauty." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 May 2017. Web. 04 May 2017.
VonBuchholz, Jutta. "Archetypal Patterns in Large Groups." Archetypal Explorations (n.d.): 230-49. Jungatlanta.com. Jung Society of Atlanta. Web. 4 May 2017.