Carpenter
1
Jay Carpenter 7174
Children’s Literature
Dr. Kathryn Saynes
February 27, 2014
Folktale Comparison: Sleeping Beauty
In today’s “happily ever after” culture Walt Disney Studios has cornered the market
heart-melting renditions of popular folktales and fairytales. People have become so satisfied with
these renditions that they very rarely think about the origins of the tales that they have grown to
love so much. They have never considered the changes that have taken place in their favorite
folktales over the course of history, which have led to tale that they know today. One such
example of a folktale developing over time is the story of Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty is a
story that has gone through several different renditions for it to become the classic Disney
fairytale that is beloved by so many. The tale of Sleeping Beauty has gone through four main
revisions that have culminated in the Disney classic film “Sleeping Beauty.”
One of the earliest known renditions of the tale of Sleeping Beauty is tale written by
Giambattista Basile entitled “Sun, Moon, and Talia” (surlalunefairytales.com). This story, of the
four main revisions, is the more gruesome of the group. It begins with a baby girl named Talia
who is born to a great lord of the land. The great lord sent for wise men to give him a prediction
on what was in store for his daughter. The wise men prophesied that she would prick her finger
on a splinter of flax and be in grave danger. Fearful for his daughter’s life the great lord ordered
that there should be no flax allowed in the kingdom. As time went by Talia grew up and one day
she encountered and old woman who was using a spinning wheel. Talia immediately fell into a
deep sleep. Distressed the great lord left Talia alone in his castle and had everyone leave the
Carpenter
2
kingdom. One day a king was riding by on a hunting expedition and one of his falcons flew into
the castle. The king went into the castle and discovered Talia lying there and fell in love with her
and proceeded to then rape her as she slept. The king then left and forgot about the incident. As
time passed twins were born to Talia as she slept. One of the twins sucked on Talia’s finger hard
enough to draw out the piece of flax and then Talia woke up. The king returned to see Talia and
discovered that she was awake. After spending time with Talia the king eventually returned
home to his wife. In his sleep he uttered Talia’s name and the names of his twins, Sun and Moon.
The queen became jealous and decided to trick Talia into sending her twins to her. The queen
then ordered the cook to prepare the twins in dishes to feed to the king. The cook decides not to
obey and hides the twins. The queen also summoned Talia to have her killed. The king found out
about it all and instead had the queen killed. And then the cook returned the twins to Talia and
the king made Talia his new queen (pitt.edu).
This story of Basile’s is one of the earliest recordings of the tale of Sleeping Beauty.
According to Grace Hogstad in her essay “Archetypal Interpretation of ‘Sleeping Beauty’:
Awakening the Power of Love” that of all the versions of the story “Basile’s is the only one that
shows a connection between the cause of sleep and the awakening—the flax splinter and the
infant sucking it out” (Hogstad 3). This story of Basile’s was the tale that set the tone for all
future Sleeping Beauty stories in the future. There is even an evolution of the story that can be
traced starting with Basile’s telling of “Sun. Moon and Talia.” The next step in the evolution of
Sleeping Beauty was Charles Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty” which was the first version to
actually have the name “Sleeping Beauty.”
Charles Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty” is not as gruesome as Basile’s telling of the story
and there are some significant other differences between the two renditions of the classic tale. In
Carpenter
3
Perrault’s telling the young princess was doomed to prick her hand on a spindle by a fairy as
opposed to the incident being prophesied by wise men. Also in this tale, Sleeping Beauty wakes
because exactly one hundred years have passed. This is different from all of the other storied
because this is the only story in which there is not a cause for her to wake up. In Basile’s tale the
flax had to be removed from her finger for her to wake, and in all the tales after Perrault it was a
kiss that woke her. In order for the prince to make it to the castle of Sleeping Beauty he had to
pass through a forest of thorns. This was the first instance of such an obstacle arising between the
prince and Sleeping Beauty. This story also did not contain the harsher themes of rape, adultery,
and cannibalism that were portrayed in Basile’s telling of the tale, but there was still some
attempted violence involved in Perrault’s version, because in this story there is still an attempt to
kill and eat the children Morning and Day as well as Sleeping Beauty. But this attempt came
from the prince’s mother who was an ogre and fond of eating children, instead of from the
King’s wife from Basile’s tale who tried to feed them to King himself out of spite and anger
(surlalunefairytales.com).
While Perrault’s tale was generally well received, the story of Sleeping Beauty did not
become widely popular until the Grimm brothers’ telling of the story entitled “Briar Rose.” This
story of Sleeping Beauty is the version that is closest to the popularized version that is so well
known because of the classic Disney film. Like Perrault’s tale “Briar Rose” opens with a King
and a Queen who have a daughter, but she is cursed by a fairy who was upset with them. This
curse eventually leads to the daughter pricking her hand on a spindle and falling into a sleep that
lasts for a hundred years. One day a prince, hearing the tale of a beautiful sleeping princess,
decides to approach the castle, now all protected with thorns, and venture in to seek this sleeping
princess. The prince enters the castle to find Sleeping Beauty and kisses her. Because it has been
Carpenter
4
exactly one hundred years to the day since she fell asleep, Sleeping Beauty woke up and it was
love at first sight. When the prince kissed Sleeping Beauty all the members of the castle woke up
from their enchanted sleep and everyone lived happily ever after (authorama.com).
In this tale by the Grimm brothers there are several things that vary from Perrault’s
telling of the story. In the Grimm version of the story the main character is named Briar Rose
instead of the traditional name Sleeping Beauty. The Grimm version is also the first time that the
sleeping princess is woken up with a kiss, although she wakes up because of the timing of the
kiss rather than from true love, an idea that has been popularized by Disney. The Grimm version
of the tale is also the first version of the story end to immediately after the waking of “Briar
Rose.” It is also the first version that does not involve any attempt at killing the children of the
prince and Sleeping Beauty, as well as Sleeping Beauty herself. This story from the Grimm
brothers is the story that has led to the popularizing of Sleeping Beauty by the Disney movie.
The classic Disney movie “Sleeping Beauty” looks almost identical to the Grimm’s
version of the fairytale except for just a couple of differences. One is that Aurora (Sleeping
Beauty) is betrothed at birth to marry a young prince from a neighboring kingdom. When she
grows up away from the castle she and the prince fall in love with each other without either
knowing who the other person really was. Another difference in the Disney version is that
Aurora is raised in the woods by fairies after being cursed. And the only other significant
difference in the Disney version of Cinderella is something that is completely unique to Disney.
In the Disney version all the events that transpire happen primarily in the space of one or two
days, rather than the one hundred years that is portrayed in all the other versions leading up to
Disney.
Carpenter
5
Now one question that arises after examining a fairy tale such as Sleeping Beauty is “why
does it change so much?” One explanation that can be made for this phenomenon can be found
in Jack Zipes’ book, “The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre.” In
this book Zipes is examining fairy tales and says about how they change, “In both the oral and
literary traditions, the tale types influenced by cultural patterns are so numerous and diverse that
it is almost impossible to define a wonder folk or fairy tale” (Zipes 3). So one explanation that
can be given for the changing of fairy tales over time is difference in communicating across
cultures. Another explanation that has appeared over time is that the older tales, which were
generally more violent and gruesome, were no longer socially acceptable and so they were
adapted so they could continually be told younger generations. Such appears to be the case with
the story of Sleeping Beauty. The original tale has themes of violence, rape, adultery and an
attempt at cannibalism. But as time went on those themes slowly went away until all that was left
is classic tale that has been portrayed by Disney.
The tale of Sleeping Beauty has become one of the most beloved fairy tales that is told
today. A large reason for that love is due to the adaptation done by Disney, but another reason is
just the love for a good tale that has come down through the ages. A tale of good versus evil,
young versus old, and true love triumphing over all is the kind of tale that can capture the hearts
and imaginations of children for years long after the original telling of such a story.
Carpenter
6
Works Cited
Ashliman, D. L. "Sleeping Beauty." Pitt.edu. Pittsburgh University, Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
"Fairy Tales By the Grimm Brothers." Fairy Tales. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Heiner, Heidi A. "SurLaLune Fairy Tales: The Annotated Sleeping Beauty."SurLaLune
Fairy Tales: The Annotated Sleeping Beauty. SurLaLune Fairy Tales, 10 Feb. 1999. Web.
26 Feb. 2014.
Hogstad, Grace. Archetypal Interpretation of “Sleeping Beauty”: Awakening the Power
of Love. Print.
Zipes, Jack. The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2012. Print.