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Sunny Simounet

Professor A. Grefski

ENGL 102*05

6 February 2017

Responding to a Text

While many have grown to love the classic Disney film, Sleeping Beauty, most are

unfamiliar with the original, not-so-magical version of the story. The original Sleeping Beauty,

dates back to the year 1697. The men who brought the beloved Briar-Rose to life, go by the

names of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. A plethora of The Brothers Grimm stories have been

popularized and adapted into famous movies over the past 100 years, Sleeping Beauty happening

to be one of the most well-known. When Walt Disney decided to take his fantastical spin on

Sleeping Beauty, he had only produced fifteen movies at that point. The animated feature film

was released in January of 1959. Although it was poorly received upon first release, Sleeping

Beauty has taken upon a world of its own in the modern Disney realm. Without Disneys

animation and creative take on this story, I cannot imagine it to be the household name that it is

today. Although I enjoy the changes made to the original story, and very much prefer the

animated, Disney rendition of Sleeping Beauty, over The Brothers Grimm original, I have to

disagree with both stories on their portrayal of the princess.

Due to the fact that Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale, it is understandable that the aspect of a

true love's kiss, or handsome prince saves the day. Although this idea may be appealing to

young audiences, its quite insulting when one really dissects Briar Roses true value in the story.

Both the text and the film place emphasis on the princesss grace and beauty, yet nothing much
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more. In The Brothers Grimm version, during the post-christening feast, the fairies proclaimed,

The princess shall be the most beautiful woman in the world... She shall have a temper as sweet

as an angel... She shall have a wonderful grace in all she does or says... She shall sing like a

nightingale... What I take from this is that the princess is only valued for how beautiful she

looks, how well she sings, and her endearing persona. Instead of bestowing upon the princess

great knowledge, strength, bravery, and so on, the fairies are thinking shallowly with their gifts.

Why is it that a young girl is only worthy if she is beautiful? No woman should strictly be

recognized for her looks alone, but acknowledged for other redeeming qualities as well.

I believe both versions of Sleeping Beauty could have been enhanced if the princess had

more substance. The story and movie never seem to go far beyond developing the character of

Briar Rose. In the film, she sings, dances, wears beautiful gowns, but is not known for

furthermore. There are truly no other aspirations for the princess in either versions of Sleeping

Beauty, aside from being a trophy to her parents and husband-to-be. In both versions, as soon as

the fear arises that Briar Rose will be put to rest after pricking her finger on the spinning wheel,

the good fairies reassure the King and Queen that their daughter will be saved, and awoken by a

prince, saying, She shall fall into sleep that will last a hundred years. At the end of that time, a

kings son will find her and awaken her. Out of all the possible ways Briar Rose couldve been

awoken, it was decided that a handsome prince could save her with a true loves kiss. Both

versions of the story rely on the hopes of a heroic man to come and save a helpless, beautiful,

young girl. What if the princess wasnt as sweet, or as beautiful as the kingdom had hoped for

her to be? Would the prince still kiss her? Save her? In the end, what truly rescues the princess

from the curse is her good looks, and a clich prince on a white horse.
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Overall, while the Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty is much more entertaining than

The Brothers Grimm original, the two versions still face issues with their portrayal of the

princess. Women are far more than just their looks, or a body needing to be saved. Authors,

directors, and so on, should reevaluate their perspective on women's roles and abilities in society,

and portray them accordingly. If Maleficent can thrive independently, whilst possessing such a

powerful persona, then why cant Briar Rose do so as well?

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Works Cited

GrimmBrothers.SleepingBeauty.FairyTalesandOtherTraditionalStories.(1917):
Web.http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/68/fairytalesandothertraditionalstories/5102/sleeping
beauty/31Jan.2017.